Photography by Rob Ballard
Pomo pizza legend Stefano Fabbri strums a familiar but fantastic Italian-American tune at this ballpark-area eatery.
When I consider the forward-thinking chefs who elevate our Italian restaurant scene, Stefano Fabbri of Pomo Restaurant Group springs to mind. He’s the Italian-born chef and restaurateur who introduced thin-crust Neapolitan pizza to Phoenix when he opened Pomo Pizzeria at the Borgata in 2010. He later helped Scott Conant launch Mora Italian and The Americano, then struck out on his own again, opening Rosso Italian in CityScape this past February.
In many ways, Rosso is a dressed-up version of Pomo, but its brick walls and vibrant colors also suggest the urbanity of modern cafes in Italy. There are Neapolitan pizzas here, as well as Americanized Italian classics – bruschetta, meatballs, eggplant Parmigiana, Caesar salad – found all over town. I’d probably quibble about the menu’s quasi-mainstream nature if it weren’t for the two chefs – Livio Leoni and Marco Pitone, both from Italy – Fabbri hired for this venture. They make familiar dishes seem new, elevated, better.
Spongy grilled focaccia, sided with verdant house-made pesto, makes a terrific opening nibble with a glass of wine. Another starter standout is calamari and shrimp fritto, which manages to be tender, sweet, light and complicated all at once, tossed with a riotous jumble of roasted cherry tomatoes, fried carrot and zucchini strings, delicately fried lemon wheels and melted Pecorino, sided with roasted red pepper sauce. Short ribs, slow roasted to unctuousness and set over creamy polenta, are in the same otherworldly stratosphere, an elegant appetizer as rich and satisfying as an entrée.
Naturally, the pizzas – which headline an entrée menu of about 15 items, including a pair of crudo dishes – are spot-on. Combining burrata and mozzarella with hot soppressata, local honey and chile threads, the Burratella pizza brings sweet heat to a thin, puffy crust, charred at the edges. And I can’t think of when I’ve had better gnocchi: pillowy potato dumplings nestled amid milky globs of burrata, fresh basil and a cherry tomato sauce so light it tastes like nothing more than the tomato’s natural juices.
For dessert, you can hardly go wrong with an ethereal tiramisu lightened with house-made mascarpone.
Rosso has rekindled my love for America’s Italian classics, and I can’t wait to see what else Fabbri and his talented crew will do.
Rosso Italian
Cuisine: Italian
Contact: 2 E. Jefferson St., Phoenix, 602-218-6001, rossoitalian.com
Hours: M-W 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Th-Sa 11 a.m.-10 p.m.
Highlights: Calamari fritto ($18.95); short ribs and polenta appetizer ($18.95); Burratella pizza ($21.95 ); burrata gnocchi ($19.95); tiramisu ($8.95)
