Pizzeria Lauretano

291 Greenwood Ave., Bethel, CT - (203) 792-1500

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Posted By Michael Stern on November 29, 2009 8:47 AM

A gracious restaurant that also is a gallery for local artists and a Sunday-night venue for jazz musicians, Pizzeria Lauretano has become my favorite place to eat near home. Good as its pizza is, I never can start a meal without tucking into a walnut cranberry salad. There is nothing particularly exotic about it – the walnut-cranberry combo has become commonplace on menus – but this salad is inspired. Its ingredients include crisp romaine and tender red lettuce, a few hoops of ultra-thin-sliced red onion, plenty of dried cranberries, and a generous spill of crumbled gorgonzola cheese. It is dressed with a little olive oil and enough lemon juice to make every bite citrus-bright. The dissimilar sweetness of the cranberries and onion are a fascinating duet, as is the richness of the cheese poised against the tang of lemon. And the one element that puts the whole package into the stratosphere is a scattering of meaty halved toasted walnuts. The depth of their earthy crunch is beguiling contrast to the way the fresh romaine breaks with slight tooth pressure. It all adds up to a fabulous medley of taste and texture … and fine prelude to one of Lauretano's expertly-made brick-oven pizzas.

The single-size, single (large) serving pizzas are elegant and refined, and yet every bit as soulful as those from Connecticut's funkier famous places. They are very thin-crusted, cooked in a dome-top, wood-fired oven that proprietor Michael Lauretano obtained in Naples. The crust's chewy-brittle balance is exquisite, its flavor distinctive. The dough is made with flour also imported from Naples; and when it is baked, it puffs up along the edge so there may be a few spots that taste (quite deliciously) of carbon; but the whole thing is insinuated with fire because just before the pizza is ready to be pulled off the oven's floor, the pizzaiolo slides his peel underneath and holds it directly over the smoldering wood pile for a few moments, giving it a smoky perfume. I love the plain garlic pizza – a less-is-more gilded flatbread; heaven for crust-lovers – as well as the mighty sausage and broccoli rabe white pizza; there are tradition-minded margheritas and puttanescas as well as occasional specials that include a flank steak pizza with chimichurri sauce and a multi-vegetable garden pizza during the fall harvest.

Overall Rating

Walnut Cranberry Salad

Garlic Pizza

Bread Sticks

Garden Pizza

Panini

Pizza Margherita

Pizza Puttanesca

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