Consuming Passions - December 2009

10/22/10

Pizza Bracket 9: Romeo & Juliet's vs. Siena

Sometimes the best teams meet before the Super Bowl, and sometimes the best pizzas suffer this fate as well. You can almost hear the sportscaster saying that it’s a shame one has to lose. Either Romeo and Juliet or Siena would be a worthy Best Pizza in Buffalo, but only one will advance. Here’s the bottom line. Pizza is bread. It is not a delivery system for cheese or sauce or toppings—if the crust isn’t great, the entire pizza experience is flawed. Both of these places understand this. Both are thin-crusted, both are hearth baked. Siena’s oven is wood fired, but in my experience, fuel is less important than temperature: both Siena and Romeo and Juliet bring the heat that is necessary to create the ideal snap. Their crusts taste fresh because...

Posted at 08:08 AM | Permalink | Comments: 1

10/21/10

Pizza bracket 7: Siena vs. Tratttoria Aroma

It’s almost unfair to call the pies that emerge from Trattoria Aroma and Siena “pizzas,” so far removed are they from the classic Buffalo pie. It should also be noted that these are full-service fine dining experiences, with a wide range of refined Italian offerings on their respective menus and extensive wine lists. Nonetheless, both are known for their pizza, which accounts for their inclusion in this competition. Trattoria Aroma is, of course, part of the Aroma Empire, with its brethren Vino, Café, and Trattoria Aroma City. We decided to grab ours from Trattoria Aroma in Williamsville. Siena, an outpost of Henry Gorino-ville on Main in Snyder, produces fine chow like its cousins, 800 Maple in Williamsville and Oliver’s on Delaware Avenue in...

Posted at 10:05 AM | Permalink | Comments: 2

10/21/10

Pizza bracket 8: Zetti's vs. La Nova

Cries from worried La Nova partisans were heard when this bracket was established, so towering is the repute of Zetti’s.Zetti’s, of course, lit up the landscape some years ago, as folded-pizza doyens, especially those hailing from downstate, extolled its virtues—large slices, chewy, thin crusts, high quality toppings. Perhaps the leading cheerleader was Spree’s own Alan Bedenko, who sang the pie’s praises in many a dispatch. In contrast, La Nova owns a major piece of Buffalo’s pizza history. Started over fifty years ago by the Todaro family, it claims to be the largest independent pizzeria in the United States. Its pies are found all over late-night WNY.At first, we thought Zetti’s would win in a walk. The La Nova pie had...

Posted at 10:04 AM | Permalink | Comments: 4