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.
funnily enough, I've been to Luzzo's about 5 times now and I've never tried their pizza. The place has a great smell to it and I always intend on getting pizza but they have some wonderful pasta dishes as well that always seem to get to me first. Very good place and I hope they stick around.
Only bad parts are the uncomfortable wooden booths and they serve wine in a water glass, not a wine glass. Eh, tacky. My ass is killing me after sitting in one of those for awhile.
I was just there last night...good...I went like at 10:30 and It was really mellow inside....sauce was a little lacking for me...crust a little to doughy...a little too much cheese...but otherwise just a notch below the top tier in quality...a good pie, but not enough ash for me...
fat dude, wine in a small water glass is not tacky, it's traditional. If you ever go to europe, you'll see that it's extremely common to serve red wine in a small water glass.
I went there for the first time last night. There seems to be a clear consensus on the pizza: good, solid quality but not a well-done enough crust. It's quite strange really. Their oven clearly has the power to turn that crust into something exquisite. I wonder why they're holding back?
I was more impressed with the sauce and cheese (which surprised me, since I'm usually such a crust person).
i go to luzzo's often,i love it and so does my family.it is relaxing and the food and pizza are excellent.i was there the other night wed dec 7 and was sitting next to martha stewart.she was a pleasure as she enjoyed a night out with her 3 friends and had a napolitana pizza......
Luzzo's pizza is just number 1 and you really cannot compare any other pizza to this one. Pizza's history starts in Naples of course, and if you really want to know what real pizza is, you will educate yourself by eating one at Tutino's or at Ciro a Santa Brigida (just near the Castel) In the heart of Naples. Once you eat there you will understand that Luzzo is the closest point you can reach in USA to the original , in terms of taste, effect and how easy it is to digest . Maybe you don't know but there is a pizza hang over,,,,typical consequance of very low quality pizzas and horrible mozzarella, very hard to digest that brings with them a cloudy mood and a sense of heavyness :)) The quality of a Pizza is measured with a Margherita or a Marinara and a glass of peroni or moretti, in case you don't like beer a glass of coke is just fine. Once you tasted one of the two you can decide to taste the rest of the list , caprese, the 4 stagioni, the prosciutto. You need a drink wih bubbles because after each sip you mouth is renovated for hosting a new wave of taste. You can recognize a good pizzas because each very byte seems the first one. The secret for this aethernal first bite youth is the tomato and the invisible sprinkle of parmisan cheese !! Grated Cheese must be felt not seen.......just like a background music Buon appettito amici !!
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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: 
6 Comments:
funnily enough, I've been to Luzzo's about 5 times now and I've never tried their pizza. The place has a great smell to it and I always intend on getting pizza but they have some wonderful pasta dishes as well that always seem to get to me first. Very good place and I hope they stick around.
Only bad parts are the uncomfortable wooden booths and they serve wine in a water glass, not a wine glass. Eh, tacky. My ass is killing me after sitting in one of those for awhile.
Slice fat dude at 8:35PM on 04/05/05
I was just there last night...good...I went like at 10:30 and It was really mellow inside....sauce was a little lacking for me...crust a little to doughy...a little too much cheese...but otherwise just a notch below the top tier in quality...a good pie, but not enough ash for me...
Slice pizzapaisan at 2:06AM on 04/06/05
fat dude, wine in a small water glass is not tacky, it's traditional. If you ever go to europe, you'll see that it's extremely common to serve red wine in a small water glass.
Slice cm at 12:34PM on 04/06/05
I went there for the first time last night. There seems to be a clear consensus on the pizza: good, solid quality but not a well-done enough crust. It's quite strange really. Their oven clearly has the power to turn that crust into something exquisite. I wonder why they're holding back?
I was more impressed with the sauce and cheese (which surprised me, since I'm usually such a crust person).
Slice Greg at 5:31PM on 04/08/05
i go to luzzo's often,i love it and so does my family.it is relaxing and the food and pizza are excellent.i was there the other night wed dec 7 and was sitting next to martha stewart.she was a pleasure as she enjoyed a night out with her 3 friends and had a napolitana pizza......
Slice maria at 10:10AM on 12/10/05
Luzzo's pizza is just number 1 and you really cannot compare any other pizza to this one. Pizza's history starts in Naples of course, and if you really want to know what real pizza is, you will educate yourself by eating one at Tutino's or at Ciro a Santa Brigida (just near the Castel) In the heart of Naples. Once you eat there you will understand that Luzzo is the closest point you can reach in USA to the original , in terms of taste, effect and how easy it is to digest . Maybe you don't know but there is a pizza hang over,,,,typical consequance of very low quality pizzas and horrible mozzarella, very hard to digest that brings with them a cloudy mood and a sense of heavyness :)) The quality of a Pizza is measured with a Margherita or a Marinara and a glass of peroni or moretti, in case you don't like beer a glass of coke is just fine. Once you tasted one of the two you can decide to taste the rest of the list , caprese, the 4 stagioni, the prosciutto. You need a drink wih bubbles because after each sip you mouth is renovated for hosting a new wave of taste. You can recognize a good pizzas because each very byte seems the first one. The secret for this aethernal first bite youth is the tomato and the invisible sprinkle of parmisan cheese !! Grated Cheese must be felt not seen.......just like a background music Buon appettito amici !!
Slice Antonio Schiano at 7:17PM on 08/07/06