Luzzo's in the 'New York Post'

Posted by Adam Kuban, April 4, 2005 at 1:40 PM

The Post gives props to East Village coal-burner Luzzo's in a story cleverly headlined Old King Coal. (Heh, those merry old souls that are the copy editors there.) What they say:

Lombardi's, Patsy's, Grimaldi's, Totonno's, John's. Aside from rabid fans, there's one thing these legendary New York pizzerias have in common: coal-burning ovens.

The super-hot kilns, aficionados agree, can elevate a pie to greatness by perfectly charring the crust and imparting a smoky flavor. But there are only a handful of them left, since city codes prohibit new coal ovens from being built.

"Nobody can get them. They're like taxi medallions," says restaurateur Charles LoPresto, who recently opened Luzzo's Ristorante in a First Avenue space with an existing, but decrepit, coal oven. By New York City law, they cannot be used unless they're grandfathered in.

"But they make the best pizza, and if they weren't prohibited, people would be constructing them." ...

One bite of Iuliano's Neopolitan-style pie proves it's crisp on the outside, tender within. A few dollops of buffalo mozzarella lend a creamy fresh counterpoint to a skim of tomato sauce that's uncooked, save for a three- to four-minute stint in the oven.

Slice was last at Luzzo's late last year, as part of an East Village pizza crawl that never made its way onto the site because my iBook fried and I lost my tasting notes and photos. We'll have to go back to Luzzo's again. The times we've been there, we found the crust to be crisp and chewy, exquisitely light, but a little bland and devoid of the nice char we like on Totonno's or Patsy's or Grimaldi's pies.

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Tags: Coal-Oven, East Village, Luzzo's, Manhattan, NYC, reviews, wood-oven