"Campo! Campo! Campo!" In recent months, I've heard that about as often as poor Jan Brady of "The Brady Bunch" heard, "Marcia! Marcia! Marcia!" Glowing online reviews and word-of-mouth recommendations made Campo out to be not only the best Italian restaurant in Reno, but the best restaurant, period.
My husband and I had high hopes for a terrific dinner when we booked a reservation for this past Saturday. The outcome? Let's put it this way. Campo is a lively (albeit very noisy) place in a hip location, 50 N. Sierra St., overlooking the Truckee River in downtown Reno. The waitstaff is good-looking and friendly. It's a cool "see and be seen" kind of place.
But Campo's hugely-hyped pizzas were what the kids would call "an epic fail." Mine was a Margherita Pizza ($13).
How could anyone, especially a restaurant that brags about its ultra-fresh, local, premium ingredients, mess up something as simple as a pizza with three stellar components — tomatoes, mozarella and basil? Expecting actual tomatoes and plenty of top-quality cheese, I got an overly bready and overcooked crust, scantily clad with a thin smattering of tomato sauce, an equally paltry amount of cheese and a few puny basil leaves.
My husband's Meatballs Pizza ($14) looked as though one medium-sized meatball had been crumbled into small pieces. His pizza's crust was also like a doorstopper, dressed with a miniscule amount of tomato sauce and cheese. Honestly, we've had better frozen pizzas from Walmart.
The Campo salad ($6) was actually very good. The mixed greens were accompanied by sliced red onions, radishes, a few shards of cheese and a perfect white balsamic dressing.
But we didn't come to Campo for salad — we were promised amazing pizzas. We're wondering just where these critics have ordered pizzas before, if these are the best in Reno.
Maybe Campo's pasta is better than its pizza. I'm skeptical. But I would highly recommend another Italian restaurant in Reno: La Vecchia, which moved from a longtime location on South Virginia Street at Moana Avenue, to 3005 Skyline Blvd. Yes, that's Northwest Reno, not my neighborhood, but worth the drive.
On a visit earlier this year, my Scaloppine Di Vitello Emiliana ($18) was spectacular. This was veal scallopine topped with roasted eggplant, Proscuitto, mozarella and roasted tomato-white wine sauce.
Also wonderful was my Insalatina Di Spinaci, Pere, Gorgonzola ($6). It featured spinach with roasted pear, pistachios, red wine vinaigrette and Gorgonzola.
La Vecchia doesn't serve pizza, so I guess I'm comparing apples to oranges. But after the subpar pizzas we had at Campo, I'm not sure that I care to try their pastas. La Vecchia, however, is definitely an Italian restaurant to which I'd gladly return.
For more information about La Vecchia, call (775) 825-1113 or visit http://www.lavecchiareno.com/
0 comments:
Post a Comment