Fortina is another restaurant that we discovered primarily because they're dog friendly: They have…read moreoutdoor seating on the patio in nice weather, and many servers genuinely like dogs.
Dog-friendliness got us in, but it has been both that and the food that kept us going back, a few times a year for at least six years.
We've always found Fortina to be likable at a minimum and often very good. The food can be of variable quality depending on who's at the helm of the wood-fired oven operations (if you can forgive me the mixed metaphors: I know ovens don't have helms. ;).
On this past visit, we ordered two pizzas, a salad, and a number of vegetable sides to share:
THE BEET SALAD (beets, watercress, lemon, robiolina, almonds, poppy seed; $16) was made with extremely acidic beets -- probably a bit too acidic for our tastes and we do enjoy acid. (I think the beets had been pickled for a long while in undiluted white vinegar and were quite harsh as a result.) They would've paired very nicely with the fresh, slightly bitter watercress, crisp almonds and creamy Robiolina-based dressing had they not been so intensely and uni-dimensionally vinegary.
The WOOD FIRED CAULIFLOWER (goddess dressing, chili crisp; $14) and BRUSSELS SPROUTS BRAVAS (spicy marinara, Calabrian mayo, Espelette, parm; $16) were both overdressed with creamy dressings, which overwhelmed these dishes. The cauliflower could've used a bit more time in the wood-fired oven.
WOOD FIRED BROCCOLI RABE (garlic, chili flakes, lemon; $12) was simply and pleasantly dressed (read: NOT overdressed), but were more stemmy and tough than ideal.
Tenderoni pizza (pepperoni, fresh mozz, parm, calabrian chili-honey; $20) and Spicy Meatball Pizza (Fontina, Calabrian chili, onion, vodka sauce; $20) were made with excellent dough, but the pizzas were underbaked and as a result, the dough was a little too wet in the center. (I know fans of original Neapolitan style pizza go for this, but we prefer the non-soggy NeOpolitan style that Fortina has always served in the past. Toppings were in good balance and flavorful, though, the dough a perfect balance of glutinous and tender.
An Up in Smoke Cocktail (mezcal, tequila blanco, lime, chili honey) was delicious, not too wimpy, but perhaps spendy for the area ($17).
We alternate between Meraki and Fortina every time we pass through Armonk. I personally have a hard time passing up the excellent and authentic, well-priced Greek food and lovely servers at Meraki. But sometimes the rest of the Fambly just needs to get their pizza fix, so I'm sure we'll be back!