Citrea stands out as being unique: it is not a burger joint, brewery or a steakhouse. Even calling it a “pizza place” isn’t entirely fair, as Citrea boasts a shifting menu that is incredibly ambitious, especially with respect to its peers.
For Restaurant Week, I sampled two salads — the pear salad and house salad — both of which were tasty. Citrea locally sources as many of their ingredients as possible, which was evident after tasting the freshness of the salads. The Pear Salad is probably the weaker of the two, as the gorgonzola and vinaigrette overpowered the pears. Though the pear is supposed to serve as the star of the dish, it’s treated almost as an afterthought, and the dish would have felt the same had it been replaced with green apples.
I would have liked to see the bacon in the house salad cut a little thinner and cooked a bit crispier to add to its role as a textural presence. This is admittedly nit-picky though, as the ranch had superb consistency. It was seasoned excellently and finally, after eating at restaurants for years, I saw a new variation of a crouton. Although this seems like a small detail, it illustrates the amount of respect that Citrea has for its craft.
Citrea serves homemade ketchup with its fries instead of just placing a standard bottle of Heinz on the table, and the difference is noticeable. The tomato taste is pungent in the ketchup, in a good way; proof of the extra effort that Citrea takes to prove how fresh its ingredients are. The fries themselves, however, left a little more to be desired, as the garlic oil was almost nonexistent. I was also disappointed to see some black in a few of my fries.
Next came the crispy brussels sprouts. The sprouts were tasty on their own, but the mustard vinaigrette added a little too much to the dish. Also, my plate barely had any bacon and I left wondering why its presence was necessary to the dish.
Unfortunately, the pizza was the lowest point of my experience at Citrea, mainly due to the presentation and execution of the wildly creative variations. Citrea’s self-serve presentation, while whimsical, leaves its customers hacking at watery and paper-thin dough. This led to a difficult first bite because toppings, and even pieces of dough, would fall off the slice before they hit my mouth.
This is a shame, as Citrea’s pizza has the potential to be excellent. It should be noted that Citrea’s crust is up there with some of the best New York style crust I’ve ever had, complete with a perfect salt consistency and “fluff.” It’s truly the light at the end of the slice. The toppings are ambitious and playful, especially the combination of shrimp, jalapeño and lemon. It is just unfortunate that these bites were marred by the dough.
The dessert, conversely, marked a high point, as the semifreddo — a cherry-vanilla frozen custard — was sublime in taste, presentation and creativity. Hopefully, the owners at Citrea will consider including this as a year-long treat from its current seasonal status. The zeppolle would have benefited from powdered sugar over sugar crystals, as well as a dollop of whipped cream, but was also excellent.
Citrea’s high points are certainly high, especially in regards to the freshness of their ingredients, creative pizzazz and philosophy. While far from perfect, Citrea is a restaurant on the rise. I look forward to seeing where its adventurous menu, and the staff that create it, goes in the future.