Crispy cutlets, all-corner baked ziti, and other chef’s kisses at Cotoletta 

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While he was busy with plans to move his popular bistro Tony D’s to its new location on University Avenue, owner-chef Jay Speranza also opened a new Italian restaurant, Cotoletta, at Elm Ridge Center in Greece.

Cotoletta joins Refresh Smoothie Bar and Dazzling Desserts bakery in the small, newly renovated plaza. The restaurant is marked by green, white, and red racing stripes that beckon visitors to follow them through the doors, like a yellow brick road leading to an Emerald City of Italian comfort food.

Speranza called the new joint, which opened its doors in February, an “all-day Italian cafe or lunch counter,” and said that everything, from dressings to marinades and sauces, is made in-house with ingredients imported from Italy.

“We still use Bianco DiNapoli tomatoes in our recipes because that’s just how I operate,” he said.

Cotoletta is Italian for cutlet, and the crispy breaded chicken cutlet is the star of the menu. A variety of “sangwiches” display the cutlet’s versatility, such as the Eh! Paisano! ($15) that stacks a cutlet, rapini, provolone cheese, roasted red peppers, and cacio e pepe aioli between two healthy slabs of bread. The hearty stack is enough to share or take leftovers home. Other cutlet sandwiches on the menu are the Jackie Jr. ($17), which features capicola, fried eggplant, roasted red peppers, and mozzarella; and the Alphonse ($17), an indulgent cutlet pairing with meatballs, marinara, mozzarella, and parmesan.

The starters menu ($10-$17) features oversized mozzarella sticks and other classics like greens and beans and meatballs, all complementing the couple of pasta dishes that have true comfort food touches — like the chewy-cheese "all-corners" baked ziti ($19).

References to “The Sopranos” characters continue in the menu of shareable square pies ($18-$24). There is the Uncle Junior, a white-garlic sauce pizza with mortadella, fried onion, mozzarella, and pistachio pesto, and the Silvio, made with vodka sauce, meatballs, prosciutto, fresh basil, roasted red peppers, and fior di latte mozzarella. The expression “You eat with your eyes first” is taken seriously at Cotoletta.
Unlike the full menu of entrees offered at Tony D’s, at Cotoletta Speranza opted for a simpler rotation of daily specials ($18-$23), featuring one specific platter you can order each day that the shop is open, Tuesday through Sunday. Stand-outs include Wednesdays’ penne with sausage, rapini, and pine nuts, Friday’s meatless-minded eggplant parmesan, layered in classic lasagne form, and Sunday’s rigatoni with all-day pork ragu.

Speranza’s attention to detail is not exclusive to the food, and is on full display with the restaurant’s design.

“I wanted it to look like it was built in Brooklyn in 1956 and was operating in 1977,” Speranza said. “Like a combination of nonna’s basement and the Ravenite Social Club,” he added, referring to the infamous Little Italy headquarters of John Gotti and the Gambino crime family in 1970s New York.


Speranza and his designer, Eric Rozestraten, achieved just that. Memories of Sunday visits to Speranza’s grandparents' house for dinner are brought to life with Jerry Vale records displayed on the walls over antique wallpaper. Framed photos of iconic Rochester Italian restaurants, such as Roncone’s, sit on shelves as a clear homage to the past.

Speranza has worked in food most of his adult life. He said his first serious restaurant job, at the Water Street Grill in his early 20s, signaled to him that he could stop pretending he was going to attend law school.

“I fell in love with it, being in the kitchen,” Spreranza said. “The whole atmosphere, the clink of the plates, everything.”

If the popularity of Tony D’s and the warm reception that Cotoletta has received is any indication, he made the right call.

Cotoletta is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Tuesday-Thursday; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday-Saturday; and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday. (585) 563-6007, cotolettaroc.com.

Dario Joseph is a freelance food writer for CITY. He co-hosts the podcast “Refined Taste with Dario and Chris” with Chris Thompson, also a freelance food writer for CITY.

Feedback on this article can be directed to CITY's life editor, Rebecca Rafferty, at [email protected].