A few weekends ago we spent the day in Rochester with friends. To finish off our visit, we took a stroll around the historic Corn Hill district and had dinner at Tony D’s. I’d found them on egullet-org – great recommendations for restaurants just about anywhere in the world there – so we took our chances and were not disappointed. To sum up:
- Their coal-fired oven makes awesome pizza. It’s got a very thin crust that becomes nearly crispy. The flavors of the toppings are the star because they’re not being swallowed up in a inch of bread dough.
- The ambiance is fun, warm, friendly. The place is small, so we found ourselves sitting close to other humans (horrors!). If you don’t like feeling as though you’re in Europe, you’ll probably want to go back to Pizza Hut.
- The location at 288 Exchange Blvd. is great, on the Genesee river, right at the edge of the Corn Hill district, so nice for a stroll before or after stuffing yourself. (This is only about three blocks from the Rochester Dinosaur Barbecue. Eat at Tony D’s, go dancing at the Dino – you can eat at the Syracuse Dino any time!)
- They have great wine and beer selections.
- You can get a seat at the counter overlooking the chefs’ station. Now that’s fun.
- The prices can’t be beat.
- Oh, and did I say the pizza was awesome? Don’t miss it. And for God’s sake, don’t complain about the bit of charring that makes this pizza unique. It’s part of the flavor profile. If you don’t like that, try a different dish. You will not be disappointed.
Now the last thing Syracuse needs is one more pizza joint. But I want to know if anyone in Syracuse can duplicate this pizza. I don’t require that you have a view of a river. Just get that oven incredibly hot and the crust thin and really crispy. For God’s sake, know what you’re doing with a pizza. Be from Brooklyn. 
A glass of good chianti or even a shiraz would make me happy, too. Can anyone in Syracuse do this?
I actually produce a pizza at home that is very very close to what you describe but with slightly less char as I don’t have the blazing heat of a coal oven.
1) Use Peter Reinhardt’s slow overnight cold ferment method for the raising the dough – it allows extensive cross linking of the gluten and provides the texture as well as the silky flexibility needed to properly hand stretch the dough.
2) Get a 3/4″ thick pizza stone and place it on the bottom of the oven – the bottom not just the bottom rack. Leave the oven at the highest setting and preheat for no less than 45 minutes to make sure the stone is scorching hot.
3) keep the pizza size relatively small… dust peal with cornmeal… add quality toppings in small quantities. Thin sliced chorizo, caramelized onions, San Marzano tomatoes, small slices of fresh mozzarella (buffalo milk if the budget works)… and maybe a sprinkling of an Italian grating cheese or two.
4) Slide the pie in carefully and cook for 5 to 6 minutes then waiting at least 5 minutes between pies for the oven to get hot enough again.
5) Skip the above and ask me to invite you over for pizza.
No place in Syracuse is doing pies of the type you tried in Rochester but given funding and the right location…. a place that offered that pizza style, gelato, and an outstanding coffee/espresso bar *might* be viable here.
Imagine if we had a place like that on Westcott instead of Dominoes…I’d be there every day!
I have had good luck with the following method:
For the dough:
Jeffrey Steingarten’s “Perfection Pizza” recipe (but with what is intended to make 4 pizzas I make 8 very thin crust pizzas)
Heat a square thick pizza stone (the round ones will crack) on gas stove top (it should cover two burners, make sure they are both on high) for at least ten minutes.
Prepare pizza on cornmeal dusted peel.
Turn on broiler, with rack at highest level.
Slide pizza onto stone, put stone under broiler.
Check frequently, you may have to turn the pizza and it cooks within a few minutes.
The result is a crisp crust with nice chewiness inside, good charring, and overall delicious pizza.
Note: real fresh mozz is too wet for this thin crust unless you dry it between paper towels before using it. What works best is the braided fresh mozz that is sold at the coop.
Also, check out this method:
http://www.goodeater.org/2/post/2009/02/pizza-revelation-full-post.html
Be careful if you use the silpat – I lit mine on fire under the broiler!