Nice Slice

(Thursday, August 28, 2003) - In the play "The Glass Menagerie," author Tennessee Williams wrote a scene where
Jim O'Connor, the gentleman caller, refers to Laura, a girl he knew in high
school, as "blue roses." Readers understand the author wanted to express how
unique Laura was among all the other girls in her class.

Pizza restaurants these days are one times one million, as the playwright
Williams might say. But in Geneva, Pizzeria Venti is a blue rose.

The owner opened the venue eight months ago after tinkering for months
with an authentic Italian pizza recipe that uses flour and tomatoes imported from
Italy. Despite baking it on a stone and finding it tasty, the persnickety
owner still felt something wasn't right.

"We finally realized it was the water we were using to make the dough, so now we
import pallets of it from Tuscany every month," he said.

"There's an incredible lightness to the dough you won't find anywhere else, and
using that water has made all the difference."

Located on Main Street in downtown Geneva, Pizzeria Venti is the perfect spot for
a quick carryout lunch or a simple evening meal. A small cluster of tables found
just inside the entrance is flanked by a counter along a side wall with bar
stools. The high walls are decorated with a few pictures, adding to a simple, yet
neighborly feel.

Diners walk to the rear where a glass case displays a number of menu items and
orders are placed. Cans of imported Italian tomatoes are on display and prices on
the menu board read "4 ¨ bucks." All dishes are made to order, with a little head
start on the pizzas. More about that later.

We visited during the dinner hour, about 40 minutes before closing. Our hosts
acted like we were the first people they had seen that day.

Since the menu lacks appetizers, we ordered two of the pizzas, two salads and a
pasta dish, plus drinks. After paying the bill, my two dining companions and I
found a seat and waited to be served.

The salads came first and the three of us shared one called field greens and
apples, which featured a tender leafy lettuce, dried cranberries, blue cheese,
tomato and red onion slices, walnuts, and slices of crisp Granny Smith apples.
The salad was bathed in the house dressing, a yummy Vidalia onion vinaigrette,
which worked wonderfully with the fruit and cheese. It would have made a nice
light lunch all by itself.

We also had a refreshing summer strawberry salad not found on the menu.

It featured the same leafy lettuce, slices of ripe strawberries, Spanish peanuts,
star fruit and the same house dressing. Every food category on the Venti menu
includes a "del giorno" option, which we figured out meant "the special." Since
strawberries are still available, we gathered this salad was the current flavor
of the week. And it was tasty.

The pizzas and pasta were next. We ordered a cheese and spinach ravioli, which,
like the salads, was served on a silver rectangular platter with a handle. A
piping hot plate of spinach pasta dough (yep, it was green) was wrapped around
more spinach and cheese, and smothered with a chunky style tomato sauce and a
generous portion of melted cheese. Two little rolls made from the signature pizza
dough accompanied the dish.

The pasta was a little softer than most, al dente wouldn't describe it , but
there was a savory quality to the cheese, spinach and tomato mixture that worked
well together. It might be fun to give some other pasta dishes, like the lasagna
or pesto gnocchi, a try to see how they compare.

The owner told us the pizza and timpanini were the signature dishes of the house,
and we can sure see why. One of my companions ordered the "everything" pizza that included sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms, green peppers and onion. I went with a choice more outside the box, even for me: the chicken vesuvio, which did not include potatoes, but had chunks of chicken, mushrooms, olives and cheese.

Pizzeria Venti pre-bakes its yummy crust partially before customizing it with the
toppings. The restaurant's name, "Venti," refers in Italian to the number 20, the
minimum number of pizzas available there each day.

Think of a light croissant with about twice the bulk, and you might come close to
the pizza crust the owner has brought here from Italy. Both the vesuvio and the
everything pizzas featured a light coating of tomato sauce and a nice covering of
cheese. Toppings were like any other veggies we've had a million times, but as
our server told us, the crust at Pizzeria Venti provides more than just the
foundation for the ingredients. The whole thing works magically, and we all
agreed this place deserved a second visit.

Desserts change weekly and vary according to the season. My two companions split a cannoli, which was finished with walnuts instead of the signature pistachios.
Walnuts can be a bit bitter, but the nuts on this Italian dessert weren't.

Blue roses aren't ingenious to any species of flower, and neither is Pizzeria
Venti to others in its class. Evidently there's something in that imported
Italian water after all.


• Entrees under $10 is an occasional review that features a restaurant at which
most entrees cost $10 or less. Reviews are based on one anonymous visit. Our aim is to describe the overall dining experience while guiding the reader toward the menu's strengths. The Daily Herald does not publish reviews of restaurants it
cannot recommend.

Pizzeria Venti
127 W. State St., Geneva, (630) 262-1020

Cuisine:
Pizza, pasta, salads, soups

Setting:
Very casual, limited seating

Price range:
Pizzas $2.50 to $3.50 per slice, full pans $10.50 to $14; baked pastas $4.50 to
$5; timpanini (stuffed pizzas) $3.50 each; salads $3.50 to $5; desserts $3.50 to
$4; no appetizers

Hours:
11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday;
11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday

Accepts:
Major credit cards

Also:
Catering and parties available

View all Pizzeria Venti Press Releases

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