Zavino Gets Two Bells

Craig LaBan finds the nightly specials to be the real treat at Zavino but what does he say about the pizza?

But I’m not on the Zavino-as-Pizza-King bandwagon quite yet. In my ever-evolving scale of micro-ratings between the “good” and the “great,” Zavino’s pies are still not quite on par with those at Stella or Osteria. They have a pliantly soft Neapolitan-style puff that could benefit from a hint more crusty snap. The array of toppings, while built on such quality elements as Claudio’s mozzarella and Kennett Square mushrooms, is limited and predictable. The bright Stanislaus tomato sauce is milled a bit too chunky for my tastes, then ladled on too thick.

The mushroom pie with béchamel was surprisingly bland. The minimalist “Rosa” was overwhelmed by too many singed leaves of whole oregano. The “polpettini” pizza was easily Zavino’s best, with soft veal meatballs rolling amid molten clouds of fresh mozzarella in a zesty variation on the basil-topped Margherita (which was also great).

Zavino [Philadelphia Inquirer]
Zavino [Official Site]