RESTAURANT REVIEW
Village Host Pizza & Grill: 431 Old Vine St. (859) 455-3355. Hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sun.-Thu.; 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Fri., Sat. Villagehostlex.com. Credit cards accepted. Wine and beer. Vegetarian-friendly. Appetizers and salad bar $2.50-$8.95, soups and chili $2.15-$6.50, pizzas $4.95-$23.95, sandwiches and pastas $5.95-$9.95, desserts $2.95-$5.50.
Naked Pizza: 561 S. Broadway, Suite 110, in The Lex. (859) 523-7600. Hours: 10:30 a.m.-midnight Sun.-Wed., 10:30-4 a.m. Thu.-Sat. Nakedpizza.biz. Credit cards accepted. Vegetarian-friendly. Gluten-free crust available. Nutritional information available on Web site. Appetizers and salads $5.99, basic pizzas $4.99-$9.99, additional toppings $1.89 each, specialty pizzas $12.99-$16.99, delivery charge $2.
Pizza's the star at Sutton's
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Pizza's the star at Sutton's
The walls of Sutton's long dining room are festooned with gangster-era posters and newspaper copy. There is a small, adjacent pub area that does little to hide its intimate sports-bar soul, and an attractive patio that could (almost) make you forget it's in a parking lot.
The fare, delivered with great service, is resolutely Italian-American. The pub persona seems to be a culinary concession to die-hard burger and fries lovers, but the restaurant's real bragging rights go to the flatbread pizza of their family ancestors.
And that pride is justified, because Sutton's pizza is the highlight of the menu and currently among my favorite pies in town.
La Tela - Where Passion Persists
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La Tela - Where Passion Persists
I recently made a trip to Kiawah Island. The Charleston area is one of my favorite spots on earth; a place abundant in Southern charm, outdoor activities, fabulous food, history, clear night skies, and bright blue days. I am not unique in my affection for coastal South Carolina; there are many Lexingtonians who have second homes, kids in college, and ties that bind them to the “Holy City” and nearby beach communities. For all those venturing to paradise sometime soon, I have a dining spot to recommend – La Tela.
Lexington pub gooses its grub
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Lexington pub gooses its grub
Most of us aren't going to a bar for some culinary epiphany. The fare is usually predictable, packaged, processed or just plain bad. But occasionally, someone gets the idea that, just because an environment might render you temporarily senseless, your taste buds don't necessarily die, and snacking need not be a mere afterthought.
That most recent "someone" is The Grey Goose, the bar with a wildly popular patio scene on Jefferson Street — Lexington's corridor that is proof positive of successful urban reincarnation. (A second Goose location, in Midway, opened in the summer.)
Its justified claim to food fame is its pizza: super-size, cracker-crisp, thin-crust pies that, even lacking an interesting pizzaiola sauce, vastly improve on the soggy rafts of sticky bread served at other places. With toppings ranging from vegetables (fresh and pickled) to fried eggs to the components of a hot Brown, they deserve their reputation.
Lexington pizza lovers soon will have 2 new places for pies
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Lexington pizza lovers soon will have 2 new places for pies
Naked Pizza, 561 South Broadway, is expected to open this weekend. The niche: pizzas with no artificial additives, preservatives or "freaky chemicals," area developer David Lawyer said.
Cooks are rediscovering root vegetables
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Cooks are rediscovering root vegetables
MILWAUKEE — It's time that root vegetables come out of the cellar and into the spotlight, says Andrea Chesman, who recently devoted an entire cookbook to recipes from the root cellar.
Milwaukee chef John Raymond — whose mother filled a root cellar with canned parsnips and carrots and pickled beets when he was a kid — agrees.
Raymond showcases root vegetables at his Roots Restaurant and Cellar when they're in season. The restaurant features the vegetables he grows at a farm he leases from a friend.
Both places under discussion today have "pizza" in their names and both are chains that entered the Lexington market during the past few months, but the similarities end there. Village Host is for eating in, Naked Pizza is only take-out and delivery. The former has a broader focus, offering soups, sandwiches and desserts, whereas the latter zeroes in on one product. The first is about good vibes; the second, good health.
Given each's respective place on the dining spectrum, they are as far apart as an arcade and an ashram in their emphasis and target audience. So, depending on your mood, you will surely be drawn more to one than the other at any given moment.
In devoted sports mode, when loaded pizzas and big mugs of beer are the norm, I would find my way to Village Host. You can't turn your head more than 10 degrees without spotting a large screen. This outlet of the California-based chain is the classic American package of television and food.
There are 24 toppings from which to choose, but if you want to get a feel for what Village Host is about, order the namesake pizza.
The Village Combination is a generous mountain of salami, pepperoni, mushrooms, green peppers, ground beef, black olives, onion and sausage with melted cheddar cheese. All these ingredients arrive piled on a medium-thick white crust, with some, like the onion and green peppers, chilly and undercooked. They would have been better slightly charred and piping hot.
Raw vegetables are more appropriate at the abundant salad bar. Village's is a cornucopia of salad greens; condiments like pickles and olives; legumes and pastas; fresh cruciferous florets; shredded carrots and sliced cucumbers; and myriad other choices of veggies, fruits and cheeses. There are seeds and nuts, too, and several toppings, the star of which was the anomalous but delicious ginger-sesame dressing. The low point was the tough and greasy croutons.
But let's not pigeonhole Village too much. The service is outstanding, the volume is manageable, and the food tab is affordable. This casual spot's wine list even includes surprises including, believe it or not, Dom Perignon.
At the end of the day, however, pizza is really about three basics: great bread; a light and tangy pizzaiola sauce with tomatoes, garlic, onions and herbs; and restraint with good mozzarella.
The New Orleans-based chain Naked Pizza has built its reputation on these elements, plus its selection of 15 vegetable and five meat toppings. In addition, it addresses another classic American preoccupation — health — with pride of less fat, lower calories, improved digestion and "reduced glycemic response" thrown in for free.
But all this appeal to nutrition only works if the food pops. Thankfully, it does.
Naked's fame rests on its fiber-rich "Ancestral Blend" dough. The skinny crust was my favorite because it successfully fuses the suppleness of a Neapolitan crust with a slightly grainy texture and a lovely nutty flavor. And, because this recipe is the brand, the results are consistent with every pie.
I could truly eat this terrific pizza "naked" with nothing more than sauce and cheese, but variety is the spice of life. The Sonoran features onion, grilled chicken chunks, smoky red peppers and mushrooms. Vegetarians will enjoy the Mediterranean, topped with artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes, finely sliced red onions, black olives and feta cheese.
After the wide choice of vegetables that top the pizzas, the plastic box of spinach salad with packaged dressing seems like a forced, if healthy, afterthought.
So, with the NCAA men's Final Four this weekend — and Kentucky in it for the first time in 13 years — choose your viewing venue, choose your crust, choose your toppings, but definitely choose pizza.
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