Posted by Adam Kuban, September 24, 2009 at 11:00 AM
Friend of Slice and Serious Eats New York contributor Tam Ngo recently emailed some field notes from a recent visit to Nomad Pizza Co., a newish Neapolitan pizza operation in Hopewell, New Jersey, that's been getting some love from the pizzerati as of late. Here are her quick impressions of the place. —The Mgmt.
I haven't had heavyhitter Neapolitan-style Motorino yet, so I can't compare it. But Nomad's crust is crisper, more pliant, and has a more developed flavor than that of Keste's. (Even though I dug the texture, Keste's crust was surprisingly monoflavored to me.)
[Photograph: Al Wang]
Toppings
High-quality, good proportions. I think they may drizzle olive oil on some of the pies. On the second visit, the pies were more salty and less basil-y than the first.
Sausage: suffers from center-pie sag, but I'm not complaining because the meat's sensational.
With the extra meat oil, the pie takes to home-reheating marvelously.
Margherita di Bufala (pictured, top): where the extra olive oil is even more apparent.
Shitake Mushroom: lotsa lotsa mushroom! I liked this but did not love. The flavor was nice and earthy, but needed an acid or herbs to brighten the experience of eating it. (After just a slice of it, I kinda got bored.)
Pesto: makes sporadic appearances on the menu. I'm guessing it'll be stricken after the summer basil season ends. I really want to try!
Misc.
BYOB. They allow for take-out. Still seem to be ironing out the kinks. Service is wonderfully warm. Growing crowds increasingly restless.
Nomad Pizza Co.
10 East Broad Street, Hopewell NJ 08525 (map)
609-466-6623; nomadpizzaco.com
Love this place! And looking forward to meeting you all!
We've since tried Manhattan Motorino to compare. What's interesting is while Motorino's thinner crust has a more pronounced char flavor, it's actually spongier to chew through. Not objectionable, but just not at all crispy. Motorino is also more heavy-handed with its cheese, if that's your thang.
I have to say the pizza was okay, but the owner needs to get a clue when it comes to service and set up.
The service was horrendous. Not that I'm looking for nice service, but just not feeling like it is there. There wasn't anything horrendous, but a number of mistakes can just make the dining experience annoying.
1) 40 minutes went by and the waiter said that there was a back up of orders it should be out in 5 minutes.
2) +5 minutes went by and someone came to try to give us our check.
3) +10 minutes later someone came with one of the two pies.
4) +20 minutes someone came with the second pie.
5) We had to flag someone down to replace the fork and knife they took after we were done with the salad.
6) Then we had to ask twice for the check so we could leave.
the layout for outside seats are really poorly designed as patrons who are waiting are walking and bumping into people who are seated any trying to eat. Having someones ass in my face is not particularly my preferred dining experience.
I don't think i will go back to nomad. Good concept and I hope they will get better service. Also the menu is a bit too limited, which makes the poor service even more appalling.
Pizza was decent, but the service was so annoying that
Thanks for commenting! Your comment has been accepted and will appear in a moment.
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it pleasant. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
Print
6 Comments:
that charring pattern is totally appetizing.
egadman at 2:50PM on 09/24/09
Can't wait until the 17th!
famdoc at 7:03PM on 09/24/09
Love this place! And looking forward to meeting you all!
We've since tried Manhattan Motorino to compare. What's interesting is while Motorino's thinner crust has a more pronounced char flavor, it's actually spongier to chew through. Not objectionable, but just not at all crispy. Motorino is also more heavy-handed with its cheese, if that's your thang.
Tam Ngo at 10:43AM on 09/29/09
I have to say the pizza was okay, but the owner needs to get a clue when it comes to service and set up.
The service was horrendous. Not that I'm looking for nice service, but just not feeling like it is there. There wasn't anything horrendous, but a number of mistakes can just make the dining experience annoying.
1) 40 minutes went by and the waiter said that there was a back up of orders it should be out in 5 minutes.
2) +5 minutes went by and someone came to try to give us our check.
3) +10 minutes later someone came with one of the two pies.
4) +20 minutes someone came with the second pie.
5) We had to flag someone down to replace the fork and knife they took after we were done with the salad.
6) Then we had to ask twice for the check so we could leave.
the layout for outside seats are really poorly designed as patrons who are waiting are walking and bumping into people who are seated any trying to eat. Having someones ass in my face is not particularly my preferred dining experience.
I don't think i will go back to nomad. Good concept and I hope they will get better service. Also the menu is a bit too limited, which makes the poor service even more appalling.
Pizza was decent, but the service was so annoying that
ptownfoodie at 7:12PM on 10/03/09
"The service was horrendous. Not that I'm looking for nice service, but just not feeling like it is there. There wasn't anything horrendous, but "
And would you expect people to value your opinion?
seriouspizza at 12:42AM on 10/05/09
I was there tonight and I had the pleasure of running into Anthony Mangieri, who was three tables away.
Ciao,
Paulie Gee
pauliegee at 11:13PM on 10/14/09