Democrat and Chronicle from Rochester, New York • Page C3

ROCFLAVORS Friday, March 22, 2013 Page 3C Restaurant Review Oven yields tasty crust DemocratandChronicle.com SIX50 BLACK OVEN COOKING Location: 3765 Chili Chili; (585) 889-1650 Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday to Saturday; 4 to 9 p.m. Sunday. Seating capacity: 86 indoors; additional 70 to 80 on seasonal outdoor patio.

Appetizers: $5 to $12. Entrees: $10 to $17. Diet: Many vegetarian choices; new spring menu starting April 1 will feature additional gluten-free and lighter options. Handicapped accessible: Yes. Kid friendly: Yes; kids' menu has more selections than most.

Attire: Casual. Parking: Free parking in Creekside Commons lot. MORE TO TRY If you liked Six50, then you might want to try Napa Wood Fired Pizzeria. 573 S. Clinton (585) 232-8558; 687 Mose-ley Road, Perinton, (585) 223-5250.

The smell of wood-fired pizza hits you long before you reach the entrance, thanks to the outdoor pizza oven on Clinton Ave. The new Perinton location offers another option. Brick Wood Fired Pizza Pasta. 2833 Monroe Brighton; (585) 225-2725. A new entry into the market, pick your own toppings or order a specialty pie here.

There are also burgers, steak and classic Italian entrees. Tony D's. 288 Exchange (585) 340-6200. Located in Corn Hill Landing and with an excellent view of the riverfront, you can eat crisp wood-fired pizza in a variety of flavors. Pierogi Pizza features pierogies, potatoes and onions.

The potatoes and farmer's cheese-stuffed pierogies are mild in flavor. The crust is thin on the inside with a thicker edge, tracy schuhmacher Tracy Schuhmacher At Six50 Black Oven Cooking, the oven takes center stage. "Black oven" refers to the kind of wood-fired oven used at the Chili eatery. In a black oven, food is cooked in the same chamber as burning wood (as opposed to a white oven, in which food cooks in a separate chamber). Six50 refers to 650 degrees the average temperature at which the Italian-inspired fare is cooked in the oven.

The black oven also is an intrinsic part of the restaurant's decor. As you enter the wood oven is straight ahead; you can see the wood burning in the oven and food being put in and taken out. In fact, the kitchen is on display behind a glass divider so you can watch the cooks in action. (I never tire of watching people who are deft at forming and tossing a pizza, a skill I've never mastered.) Enticing scents from the kitchen waft through the dining room. The menu includes appetizers, salads, sandwiches, pizzas and pastas.

The selection ranges from familiar favorites (greens and beans, Caesar salad, pepper-oni pizza) to more unusual creations (wood-fired polenta cakes; pan-fried pie-rogi; pizza with bacon, arugula, sharp provolone and a fresh egg). We started with two appetizers. The house mixed olive plate was a flavorful nosh: a generous bowl of mixed olives, shaved slices of sharp provolone cheese, spicy banana peppers and chewy, warm ciabatta. A drizzled balsamic reduction added a sweet note to the contrasting flavors. Our second choice, a house-made fig and onion jam, was sugary, thick and very sticky.

Sturdy, warm crostini were a good match, and pungent gorgonzola nicely cut the sweetness. Instead of the prosciutto promised on the menu, it was served with slices of ham, which was disappointing but not a disaster. When we told our waiter we were ing been exposed to air. We liked the crust, though, which was thin on the inside with a thicker edge. It was quite black from its time in the oven, but did not taste scorched.

Instead, it had a mild smoky flavor and a pleasant chew. The pizzas come in one size: 12 inches, generally considered a medium. Cut into eight pieces, they are a good size for two people with a normal appetite. Split a pizza and an appetizer or salad, and two people can easily dine for $20 plus beverages. Six50 is located near the corner of Chili Avenue and Union Street in Chili, about two minutes off Route 490.

Although my meal had a few shortcomings, I would gladly return to see what new creations are coming out of the unusual oven. Freelance writer Tracy Schuhmacher reviews restaurants after a one-time visit. sharing a Spinaci salad, he thoughtfully served it on two separate plates, with gorgonzola on the side as requested. The salad had an abundance of fresh baby spinach. Cold, sliced wood-fired chicken was fresh and nicely cooked, but we could not discern a distinct flavor from its time in the oven.

It was served with a pungent maple-mustard vinaigrette more mustard than maple that cleared our sinuses. It was topped with a few slices of apple (I would have liked more), and walnuts billed as candied, but more plain. Six50 offers 13 pizzas, plus a Butcher's Pie special that changes daily. We tried the day's special, Pierogi Pizza, which featured pierogies, potatoes and onions. After the lively flavors of the previous dishes, the mild flavors of potatoes and farmer's cheese-stuffed pierogies struck us as lackluster.

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