As far as I'm concerned, every neighborhood in the U.S. should have at least one serious pizzeria. How do I define serious? The oven (be it gas, wood, coal, or electric) has to get hot enough (800°F, at least) to slightly char the pie and cook the crust all the way through in a few minutes. The cheese has to be fresh mozzarella, and high-quality canned tomatoes must be used for sauce.
Covo has brought serious pizza to West Harlem, just off the West Side Highway at 135th Street. My Margherita was more than respectable, as you can see from the pictures. The crust was chewy and pliable, the mozzarella was creamy and tangy, and the tomatoes and fresh basil were up to snuff. The other food we ordered (fried calamari, beet-and-walnut salad) was less successful, so I would stick with the pizza for now.
Covo
701 West 135th Street, New York, NY 10031 (at West Side Highway; map)
212-234-9573 covony.com
Nice job on the dental extraction Adam. Thanks for completing the Covo picture. Now I know it's worth the trip and will make it (but first Roberta's this weekend). Speaking of pictures, is that bufala on that pie? It looks that way and the "tangy" comment seems to support that. Do they offer a choice of bufala and fior di latte if so?
"How do I define serious? The oven (be it gas, wood, coal, or electric) has to get hot enough (800°F, at least)"
From a family that has been making what we consider "serious pizza" by three generations of Pizzaiola for the last forty three years, this statement is an insult good sir! lol. As you noted in a previous Slice post Apizza a Scholls only cooks at 700F. You can even make bad ass pizza at 650F.
Tonecapo, you're absolutely right. My bad. I stand corrected. As Apizza Scholls proves you can make great pizza in a 650F oven. Thanks for pointing this out.
Excuse the term, but I can sometimes be anal retentive about things. You guy you run a great family of sites. I also understand what its like to deal with jerks like myself. ;)
"How do I define serious? The oven ...has to get hot enough (800°F, at least) to slightly char the pie and cook the crust all the way through in a few minutes. The cheese has to be fresh mozzarella, and high-quality canned tomatoes must be used for sauce."
Oy vai..."serious" pizza? Seriously?
Isn't whether its "delicious" or not the heart of the matter? I've had many "serious" pizzas around the country that have been rather medicore-- or worse. Conversely, I've had many pizzas that don't fit your description at all that have been "delicious" destination type pizzas.
.
Examples? Last visit to "De Lorenzo's" on Hudson St. tomatoe pie cook time around 10 minutes at 550F with no fresh mozz. "Sally's" sliced tomatoe and garlic took around 6 to 7 minutes which implies around 600F if memory serves w/ no fresh mozz. Francis at Pepe's told me they cook pies at 600F and I don't remember any fresh mozz on my sausage pie.
In fact for my top six or so pizza experiences only Franny's sausage pie and Di Fara's sicilian slice would qualify as "serious" under your definition.
BTW, Sally's sliced tomatoe and garlic and De Lorenzon's sausage pie would be on my list. As would a certain cracker sausage pie and--gasp!!--a Chicago type pan pizza... but that is another story.
Cheers, Reg Jones..
P.S. Hope that didn't sound too snarky, Ed. I did enjoy your book and it helped greatly when I traveled around this great country.
I'm not sure if it matters, but it looks from the crust that the pizza is cooked on a screen. Could 800 degrees be too hot for the bottom? Sacco's on 54th and 9th does the same thing.
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7 Comments:
great photos. might be the best food photography to appear on slice yet.
egadman at 2:31PM on 08/29/08
Nice job on the dental extraction Adam. Thanks for completing the Covo picture. Now I know it's worth the trip and will make it (but first Roberta's this weekend). Speaking of pictures, is that bufala on that pie? It looks that way and the "tangy" comment seems to support that. Do they offer a choice of bufala and fior di latte if so?
Thanks again,
Paulie Gee
pauliegee at 11:48PM on 08/29/08
"How do I define serious? The oven (be it gas, wood, coal, or electric) has to get hot enough (800°F, at least)"
From a family that has been making what we consider "serious pizza" by three generations of Pizzaiola for the last forty three years, this statement is an insult good sir! lol. As you noted in a previous Slice post Apizza a Scholls only cooks at 700F. You can even make bad ass pizza at 650F.
tonecapo at 12:20AM on 08/31/08
Tonecapo, you're absolutely right. My bad. I stand corrected. As Apizza Scholls proves you can make great pizza in a 650F oven. Thanks for pointing this out.
Ed Levine at 7:28AM on 08/31/08
Excuse the term, but I can sometimes be anal retentive about things. You guy you run a great family of sites. I also understand what its like to deal with jerks like myself. ;)
tonecapo at 12:39AM on 09/01/08
"How do I define serious? The oven ...has to get hot enough (800°F, at least) to slightly char the pie and cook the crust all the way through in a few minutes. The cheese has to be fresh mozzarella, and high-quality canned tomatoes must be used for sauce."
Oy vai..."serious" pizza? Seriously?
Isn't whether its "delicious" or not the heart of the matter? I've had many "serious" pizzas around the country that have been rather medicore-- or worse. Conversely, I've had many pizzas that don't fit your description at all that have been "delicious" destination type pizzas.
.
Examples? Last visit to "De Lorenzo's" on Hudson St. tomatoe pie cook time around 10 minutes at 550F with no fresh mozz. "Sally's" sliced tomatoe and garlic took around 6 to 7 minutes which implies around 600F if memory serves w/ no fresh mozz. Francis at Pepe's told me they cook pies at 600F and I don't remember any fresh mozz on my sausage pie.
In fact for my top six or so pizza experiences only Franny's sausage pie and Di Fara's sicilian slice would qualify as "serious" under your definition.
BTW, Sally's sliced tomatoe and garlic and De Lorenzon's sausage pie would be on my list. As would a certain cracker sausage pie and--gasp!!--a Chicago type pan pizza... but that is another story.
Cheers, Reg Jones..
P.S. Hope that didn't sound too snarky, Ed. I did enjoy your book and it helped greatly when I traveled around this great country.
Reg Jones at 6:14PM on 09/01/08
I'm not sure if it matters, but it looks from the crust that the pizza is cooked on a screen. Could 800 degrees be too hot for the bottom? Sacco's on 54th and 9th does the same thing.
Charlie Fogg at 8:34AM on 09/09/08