Story and Photo By Karen Talbot
Pazzo Pizza & Trattoria is a brand new handsome Tuscan restaurant with stucco stone walls and a tiled floor. It is located in the Armonk Town Center near I-684. Pete Monteleone, the owner, is proud to be the only restaurant in Westchester where you can find the Romana Pizza from Rome, done in true Italian fashion. Chef Andrea Inganito uses “Double O” Italian flour to create this thin crusted square shaped pizza pie. Three popular choices are the Margherita … made with house made fresh mozzarella, San Marzano tomato sauce, parmigiano cheese and fresh basil…the Calabrese … made with hot soppressata, San Marzano tomatoes, carmelized onions and fontina cheese…and the Contadina … which consists of arugula, prosciutto, San Marzano tomato sauce, extra virgin olive oil, parmigiano cheese, cherry tomato and buffalo mozzarella. The Romana pizza has eight slices and ranges from $12.95 to $15.95. One slice costs $4.50. They also have traditional pizza in many combinations and a traditional Sicilian which has a thicker crust.
Another specialty of the restaurant are the Panuzzos, which are also made with the special “Double O” Italian flour. These are described as: “Not a sandwich, Not a Panini, but better”…crispy on the outside and soft and delicious on the inside. There are eight choices to choose from: the Puglia … eggplant, zucchini, red peppers, mushrooms, fontina, pesto acetobalsamic is one of the choices and they are all priced at $9.95.
Nick Croce, the Manager, states that Penne Vodka with béchamel tomato sauce and Pappardelle Bolognese with thick noodles, and traditional meat sauce are good pasta choices for dinner. The two dinner chicken offerings that are ordered most are Chicken Capricciosa … boneless with grilled arugula, tomatoes, shaved parmigiano in vinaigrette and Chicken Campagnola … on the bone with Vidalia onion, new potatoes, hot cherry peppers and garlic, rosemary and thyme. Wild Bronzino is an excellent fish entrée done with lemon, mint, extra virgin olive oil and “lentone.” Keep an eye out for special dinner entrees which may be added for the Holidays.
575 Main Street, Armonk
914-273-6999
pazzoarmonk.com
Karen Talbot is a Westchester-based personal shopper and restaurant reviewer. The love of cooking runs in her family! Karen’s son Alex and his wife Aki Kamozawa started a food blog “Ideas in Food” in early 2000, and they have just opened “Curiosity Donuts” in the Stockton Market in Stockton, New Jersey.