Weekly Pizza Lunch: Marta

My #weeklypizzalunch/#Kubslunch this week was with my friend and former MSLO colleague Jennifer Jarett at Marta, Danny Meyer’s new Roman-style pizzeria in the “NoMad” neighborhood’s Martha Washington Hotel. The mushroom pizza here is OFF THE HOOK — if people still say that (I don’t think they do). I’d almost consider adding chanterelles to my own … Continue reading Weekly Pizza Lunch: Marta

Pizza Lunch: Pizzetteria Brunetti opens location in Greenwich Village NYC

From left: the San Gennaro (tomato sauce, onion, peppers, ricotta) and the pizzeria's signature Vongole pizza (a white clam pie).
From left: the San Gennaro (tomato sauce, onion, peppers, ricotta) and the pizzeria’s signature Vongole pizza (a white clam pie).

New Yorkers are known for leaving the city in summer to visit the Hamptons. Here is a case of a Hamptonite visiting, and settling in, New York City.

Pizzetteria Brunetti NYC is the Greenwich Village outpost of the original Westhampton Beach–based Neapolitan pizzeria that my wife and I visited in May 2011. Continue reading “Pizza Lunch: Pizzetteria Brunetti opens location in Greenwich Village NYC”

Pizza Lunch: Rossopomodoro at Eataly

I ate at Rossopomodoro at Eataly on Wednesday with Sharon and Alisha Aridiana. Sharon is the chef-owner of Gialina and Ragazza in SF, and Alisha is Sharon’s wife and the one who set up the lunch meet-up while they were on a pizza recon mission in NYC. I can’t even tell you what’s on these pies, because the thing I remember most about that lunch is just how genuinely nice those two were. Meeting them was a highlight of my summer. I hope to see them in SF next time I visit my in-laws with my wife and daughter. Continue reading Pizza Lunch: Rossopomodoro at Eataly

Weekly Pizza Lunch: American Flatbread TriBeCa Hearth

Lunch today was a small “Medicine Wheel” pie, which is just a hippied-out name for “plain pie” or “cheese pizza”—ie, sauce and cheese. It tasted like what I imagine a chain pizza cooked in a wood-fired oven and made with good ingredients would. That’s because there was ample, gooey cheese on this thing but mostly because the crust was a little doughy, softer than what a typical New York–style pizza would be, even though visually it’s somewhere in the neighborhood of a New York–style pizza—or maybe a New Haven pie. The minor squishiness was not a deal-killer, though—my pizza had good flavor, thanks in part to just a bit of charring and from the generous shake of marjoram sprinkled on—a slight though welcome flippathascript. Continue reading Weekly Pizza Lunch: American Flatbread TriBeCa Hearth

Weekly Pizza Lunch: The Pistacchio e Salsiccia pie at Don Antonio by Starita

Given how close my office is to Don Antonio by Starita (a five-minute walk), I don’t know why I don’t eat here more often. The pizza is great. Like Kesté, its sister pizzeria in Greenwich Village, this place is über Neapolitan. (Though I will say that the topping choices are a lot more expansive than … Continue reading Weekly Pizza Lunch: The Pistacchio e Salsiccia pie at Don Antonio by Starita

Weekly Pizza Lunch: Vezzo and Tappo

I’m combining two Weekly Pizza Lunch outings into one here. That’s because they’re practically the same place. —The Mgmt.

Vezzo Meatball Classic Pizza
Vezzo’s Meatball Classic pizza: tomato sauce, mozzarella, house-made meatballs, red onion, and basil. Pictured: small, $9.

There’s a pizzeria mini chain in the heart of Manhattan that I think doesn’t get enough attention or praise.* Part of the blame may lie in its unusual naming convention. I mean, did you know that the pizzerias Gruppo, Posto, Spunto, Vezzo, and Tappo are all related and are pretty much the same thing? I know! You’d think they would have settled on one name and stuck with it. (Think of the efficiencies gained by maintaining one single website!)

Then again, avoiding the appearance of a chain has a certain advantage as well. Continue reading “Weekly Pizza Lunch: Vezzo and Tappo”

Weekly Pizza Lunch: The Calabrese pie at Nicoletta

Nicoletta's Calabrese pizza
Nicoletta’s Calabrese pizza, here in the personal-size lunch special, is topped with tomato sauce, mozzarella, thick-cut pepperoni, fennel sausage, and red onions.

I’ve been thinking a lot about bar pies since last week’s pizza lunch. Bar pizza, and its close cousin, Chicago thin crust,* to me are primally satisfying pizzas. Despite the thin base, these styles are often LOADED with cheese and toppings. Now, that kind of imbalance would typically raise alarm bells for my elevated pizza snob persona, but go and tell me what’s wrong with a bunch of gooey cheese and salty, greasy pepperoni or sausage.

That’s why I wanted to try Nicoletta again. Chef-owner Michael White is originally from Wisconsin, where he first started working in a pizzeria serving quintessentially Midwestern-style pizza.

*Note: I often use the terms “Chicago thin-crust” and “Midwestern thin-crust” interchangeably. Chicago thin-crust is easily more recognizable as a style, but I feel that this type of pizza is served all over the Upper Midwest, not just the Windy City. Continue reading “Weekly Pizza Lunch: The Calabrese pie at Nicoletta”

Weekly Pizza Lunch: Coney Island’s Totonno’s rises from the floodwaters

Totonno's pizza plain pie
Totonno’s serves one of the better coal-oven pizzas in NYC. A plain pizza from just after the joint’s triumphant post-Sandy reopening.

You know, you’re not going to go wrong adding toppings to a Totonno’s pizza, but when the joint is firing on all cylinders, like it was when I visited yesterday, you only need a plain pie for a satisfying meal.

Of course that didn’t stop me and my dining companion from getting another pizza topped with sausage. Continue reading “Weekly Pizza Lunch: Coney Island’s Totonno’s rises from the floodwaters”

Detroit-style pizza, 75% hydration, all-purpose flour

Detroit-style "supreme" pizza
Detroit-style pizza with green pepper, onion, homemade Italian sausage.

After my previous attempt at 60% hydration Detroit-style pizza, I did some grousing about the result on Facebook. Dmcavanagh and Norma saw my complaining and gave me some advice. First, that this style really does have to be made at a higher hydration, and, second, that all-purpose flour works best. You want a lower protein count for a softer crust that she says, “almost melts in your mouth.” Anyway, tonight? SUCCESS! Continue reading “Detroit-style pizza, 75% hydration, all-purpose flour”

Thinner-crust pan pizza

pan pizza
Topped with Vermont Smoke & Cure smoked pepperoni.

I made pan pizza last weekend but wasn’t happy with the thickness. I thought it was too spongey, too doughy, too much. What would happen if I halved the dough amount?

Well, even at 1/2- to 3/4-inch thick (as opposed to more than an inch), I’m still not that into it. Don’t get me wrong, the recipe I used makes a great-tasting pizza and is successful in its mission of re-creating Pizza Hut pan pizza. It’s just that I’m still unsure it’s a style I’m wild about. Continue reading “Thinner-crust pan pizza”