Vallozzi's Pittsburgh is Downtown in location, Old Italy in taste
BACKGROUND
The new Vallozzi's Pittsburgh is, basically, a “traditional Italian restaurant.”
OK, that's not terribly exciting description, particularly in Pittsburgh, where not too long ago, that broad brush could have been applied to all but a handful of restaurants — whether they relied upon regional recipes from the Old Country, or (more likely) red-sauce, Italian-American comfort food.
The Vallozzi name has been associated with Italian food in Western Pennsylvania for a long time, particularly its long-running restaurant in Greensburg, and other stints in Latrobe and Squirrel Hill.
Vallozzi's Pittsburgh, on Fifth Avenue, Downtown, is different enough to stay interesting, but run by people who are seasoned enough to stick with what works when it does, in fact, work. Italian food didn't make it to the top of the culinary heap in America by accident, after all.
“I guess we're getting into more dishes that have been forgotten,” says Julian Vallozzi, son of Ernie Vallozzi, who runs the Greensburg restaurant. “Like Veal Osso Bucco — classic Italian dishes that a lot of places have forgotten about. A lot of things have come from my grandma's restaurant. The pizzas and pastas have kept us around for 40-plus years. (They're) still the original recipes.”
Vallozzi's has taken a risk by renovating a high-profile Fifth Avenue location into a sleek, contemporary restaurant, instead of, say, doing something safe and predictable off a highway somewhere. Then again, doing things differently isn't unprecedented for the Vallozzis. Their restaurant in Squirrel Hill, Pi by Vallozzi (which closed several years ago), brought unusual, high-end gourmet pizza to Pittsburgh before just about anyone else.
Another risky innovation is Mattiniero by Vallozzi, the breakfast-and-lunch takeout spot next door to the main restaurant. Then, there's the mozzarella bar.
“We're shipping cheese in from Campania, Italy every week,” says Julian Vallozzi, who runs the Downtown location. “We're also getting meats from Salumeria Rosi in New York City — like a 20-month aged prosciutto right now. His meats are just outstanding, and that's part of the fresh mozzarella bar.”
“Traditional” or not, Vallozzi's does things their way.
ATMOSPHERE
It's hard to get more “Downtown” than this. Right across the street is Pittsburgh's newest skyscraper, 3 PNC, with its chic Fairmont hotel and sharply dressed clientele. To the back is a fully revitalized Market Square, slowly rediscovering its long-ignored role as the heart of Downtown.
“The space was in pretty bad shape, but the location was perfect,” Vallozzi says. “It was a complete build-out. There were a lot of construction headaches.”
With elegant stonework dividing the dining rooms, and subtle wall-length murals of pastoral scenes, Vallozzi's arrived on the scene fully-formed, without fanfare. In fact, they could stand to toot their horn a bit — at least, put a formal sign out front, instead of just low-contrast small-print lettering in the windows.
Sometimes it's a little too “Downtown” — like the party room with giant windows giving you a view of the alley and dumpsters. Our server apologetically said there would soon be a “scrim” on the windows, improving this a bit.
MENU
The “Fresh Mozzarella Bar” isn't a physical bar, with cheese served up between glasses of wine (or beers, shots, whatever), which would be cool. And it's not just mozzarella — it's a choice of three or five imported Italian cheeses and/or meats, brought to your table.
When you get really good cheese, details seem to melt away. We got a five-piece selection ($11.48). The Mountain Gorgonzola was as pungent and powerful as expected, and the Cacio di Bosco was a nutty, almost-sweet, truffle-inflected delight. The bright, creamy Buffalo Mozzarella, of course, bore no resemblance to anything bought in a shrink-wrapped package at the grocery store. As for the meats, the Prosciutto Cotta Natural was comfortingly familiar, while the coarsely ground pork of the Finocchiella salame was boldly different, with hints of anise and fennel.
Several cheese on the menu were unavailable, which happens. Vallozzi's could use a better-quality bread to go with these top-notch cheeses.
Although there are sections on the menu for veal, fish and meat, our particular party couldn't be talked out of pizza and pasta.
The Bucatini Amatriciana ($17.95) resembled a slightly thicker spaghetti with a spicy, robust tomato sauce — a nice, hearty, rustic dish for a hefty appetite. The Papardelle ($20.95) was a lighter, subtler contrast, redolent of wild mushrooms, with just the right amount of truffle oil and Parmigiano-Reggiano.
Vallozzi's pizzas are a marvel, and utterly unique in the region. They have a light, thin crust with an almost pastry or pie crust-like texture and sweetness. The Traditional Pizza ($11.95) has a host of topping options ($1.50 each) — mushrooms and/or pancetta are good choices. The Sicilian Pizza ($10.95), with fresh crushed tomatoes, provolone and romano cheese, is served in four cuts, can be handled by one (hungry) person, but is probably best split between two.
The dessert menu offers Bread Pudding, Cannoli, Italian Apple Dumplings and Creme Brulee, but we didn't have enough room to sample them.
— Michael Machosky
