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”
Franny’s was an immediate success when it first opened on Brooklyn’s Flatbush Avenue in April 2004. So much so that there were notoriously long waits for its then dinner-only service. The restaurant eventually started lunch service and at some point expanded seating by opening its garden. Not even all those moves did the trick, and the place moved to more spacious digs earlier this year. Continue reading “Pizza Lunch: Franny’s Brooklyn”
I haven’t been to Don Antonio by Starita in a few months and certainly not since I’ve been working at Paulie Gee’s. So when I had the chance to meet a longtime friend/former coworker there, I jumped at it like Evel Knievel jumps rope. I wanted to see if I had developed a keener palate or had more finely tuned my pizza sensors.
Pizza By Cer Té is about a block away from my doctor’s office. So while I don’t like having occasion to visit my GP, I do like the consolation prize of a pizza lunch here. On Friday I arrived late at Pizza By Cer Té and the selection was limited so I was forced to finally try the Margherita pizza. I generally avoid “Margherita” pizza at New York–style pizzerias, since a typical slice joint rarely does them justice. But PBCT’s Margherita slice this day was palatable. It was quite good, and the cheese was still a bit creamy rather than rubbery and tough as is usually the case. Continue reading Pizza Lunch: Pizza By Cer Té
The “upside-down” slice at NY Pizza Suprema is not to be missed. So called because the cheese goes on before the sauce, it is a slice whose crust is light and crisp. The sauce is thick, rich and savory-sweet, and the mozzarella practically melds with the dough, giving it a unique texture. Continue reading Pizza Lunch: The ‘upside-down’ slice at NY Pizza Suprema
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
From top, the Farmer’s slice (corn, potato, green onion, cheddar) and the Lafayette (caramelized onion, gruyere, grana Padano, mozzarella, thyme). The Lafayette was very good. The Farmer’s needed more of a flavor punch (especially where the potato was concerned), but points for use of corn. I am inspired. Continue reading Pizza Lunch: The Farmer’s and Lafayette slices at Pizza By Cer Té
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
This was sort of a bonus WPL pi. I’d already eaten my WPL but ended up trying Ditmars Station with my friend Justin on Saturday while I was doing laundry. The crust really is ultra thin. Most people think that New York–style pizza is “thin crust.” And, yes, it is thin, but I find that … Continue reading Weekly Pizza Lunch: Thin-crust mushroom pie at Ditmars Station
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
I’m combining two Weekly Pizza Lunch outings into one here. That’s because they’re practically the same place. —The Mgmt.
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”
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”
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”
Did you know you can get some of the best pizza in NYC (and therefore THE WORLD) for a mere twelve bucks? Oh, and it comes with a salad, too. Continue reading “NYC’s best lunchtime pizza special: Motorino’s prix fixe pizza-and-salad meal”