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Vito's Delivers
• by Joe Pollack
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Statues and sculptures and huge signs that soar over streets like giant clotheslines clutter St. Louis University and its environs these days. Their presence seems to define territory, to convert the center of the city into what looks more and more like a self-contained principality. With St. Louis U. advancing from the east, and Washington University marching from its medical center complex to the west, it appears that one of these days, the universities' agents, thick bankrolls in hand, will meet somewhere around Boyle Avenue, or maybe Newstead Avenue, and establish a demilitarized zone.
Grand Center, the so-called arts and entertainment area that is looking more like the staging area for the Billikens' new basketball arena, is being pushed to the north along Grand Boulevard, and Vincent Schoemehl soon will have no space to post his own signs delineating his fiefdom. He can't do it solely with ugly signs at parking lot entrances, but perhaps he's plotting to write in between the letters -- with contrasting colors, of course -- or on the backs of the St. Louis U. signs.
But whether people are going to Midtown for culture, or for basketball, or for education, they will need to eat, and Vito's has dug in an early foothold with some excellent pizza. Vito's, and its predecessors, have had several restaurants. There was one in Clayton, and another on Lindell
Boulevard close to Grand Boulevard, in a half-basement that gave it a very New York-Little Italy feel.
Now it has a larger space, just west of where the dear, departed Mammer Jammer held forth, and many styles of hand-tossed pizza come out of the kitchen with a variety of toppings. So do some very good entrees and appetizers, including a caponata that I'll match against any in town.
Pizza, however, is a highly personal dish, like barbecue. Some like the crust as thin as a saltine cracker and maybe as crisp. Others prefer it with large pillows of dough. Some want only mozzarella cheese and turn up their noses at provel. Others think that the artificial, "cheese-type" substance known as provel, a processed mixture of Swiss, cheddar and provolone cheeses is the only way to go. And don't start discussing toppings on a first date or the relationship may flounder right there. Last, but certainly not least, is the question of shape -- squares or pie-style wedges.
The Guru likes thin crust pizza with spicy toppings, and either meat or vegetables, or both, are fine. Anchovies are good, too. Vito's produces a pizza I like. Unfortunately, the ones we sampled were on the bland side, without a proper pop from sausage, for example. Cracked red pepper is a splendid condiment, but it only takes a little to complement spices laid on with a proper touch
Pizza at Vito's is what I'd call east coast style, not thin but certainly not Chicago-thick. I like its texture, its tenderness, its softness under the fingers, its nicely roasted flavor when you get a piece without cheese or topping. Vito's does three styles, all with mozzarella and parmesan cheeses and fresh oregano, but there are more differences in the toppings than in the crust. The standard offers 16 different toppings, and the diner can mix and match to the heart's delight or the stomach's discontent.
Le Pizze della Sicilia, with 11 choices, is a group of what I'd call composed pizzas, fixed and traditional toppings like tomatoes and basil, or eggplant and riccota, or four cheeses (mozzarella, asiago, parmesan and fontinella), or tomato, anchovy and oregano. You get the idea. The pizza Norma, with eggplant and ricotta, was tasty, but bland; next time, the capricciosa, with prosciutto, basil, portobello mushroom and olive oil sounds like a good choice, as does la Diavola, with salame, roasted red peppers and crushed red peppers.
Pizze della Casa, or House Pizza, is heavier on meat, less delicate than the Sicilian ones above. House Pizza offers sausage, pepperoni, ham and bacon on the same pizza, or chicken and pesto, or the super, a pile of sausage, pepperoni, black olives, red onion, mushrooms, ham, green pepper and tomatoes. In all, there are a dozen, and the several we sampled were first rate, with a generous portion of toppings. The grilled chicken and spinach provided an excellent combination, with the fresh spinach extremely tasty.
If the pizza mood has vanished, there's a good selection of standard pastas. Old fashioned baked lasagna was good, but unexciting, bland, even a touch on the sweet side and a long way from what it should have been.
I was most taken with the appetizers, however, because an appetizer for two to share and a regular pizza is plenty of dinner for most couples.
The caponata, as mentioned, is glorious, with eggplant, sweet peppers, celery, capers and big Sicilian green olives all marinated in a tangy vinaigrette dressing and lots of garlic and pepper. Wonderful on bread, or just by the forkful. And the antipasto was delightful, too, with large portions of sun dried tomatoes, salami, those tangy green olives and chunks of fresh mozzarella combining for some wonderful flavors.
And there are pleasing salads, too, with a choice of dressings, and a pleasant house salad offered the right amount of good feelings for a conscience that had been tempted by other things. Other salads are more complex, more laden with ingredients.
The room is pleasantly decorated, the service is brisk -- a pre-game meal to prepare one for any sort of Grand Center entertainment event.
And one final note -- falling asleep in the theater or at a concert, or even at a basketball game, is not necessarily because of too much pizza, but simply one of the many forms of criticism.
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