"VPN accreditation aside, the regular New York slice is more authentic, truer to type and just plain tastier than the Neapolitan pies."
Naples 45
200 Park Avenue, New York NY 10166; map); 212-972-7001; website Pizza Style:Neapolitan, VPN-certified Oven Type: Wood-fired The Skinny: This VPN-certified pizzeria fails to live up to the promise of the ingredients and oven, but there is an unexpected pleasure in the take-out section. Avoid the sit-down side of the restaurant and opt instead for the to-go slices Price:Dine-in, Individual 10-inch pie, $16.95; take-away Neapolitan slice, $2.75; take-away NYC-style slice, $1.90 Notes: Pick-up and delivery available: 212-972-7000
Naples 45 is a sprawling, glittery restaurant located within the MetLife building that happens to be VPN-certified. Having eaten at the two other VPN-certified restaurants in New York (La Pizza Fresca [March 5, 2010] and Kesté [March 8, 2010]) just last week, I thought I should venture up to Midtown and see how Naples 45 stacked up.
The restaurant is not strictly a pizzeria; the menu offers a range of pastas and other Italian fare, and the place is certainly more upscale than your average pizzeria. It is staffed by hosts in suits and offers an extensive wine list. While the restaurant seems to attempt to create a casual mood, the place feels a bit stiff and a bit corporate. A fact not helped by the building's overzealous security guards, who will pounce on you for merely taking a picture of the restaurant exterior. That's never happened to me at a pizzeria before. Come to think of it, that's never happened to me at any sort of restaurant before.
Three ovens are used to pump pies for the restaurant as well as take out and delivery.
The Margherita DOC, surely the litmus test of a true Neapolitan pie, is the first thing on the the pizza menu and the last thing I would order here again. It is a pie with such potential—San Marzano tomatoes, hand-made fior de latte, Caputo flour, all cooked in a wood-burning oven, several factors involved in meeting VPN standards. Yet the resulting pizza is only spectacular in its mediocrity.
The cheese, a fior de latte, is completely dried out to the point of being pockmarked with black blisters—something I only want to see on the crust of a DOC pie; sadly the crust here was completely missing them.
The dough is dense and far too crisp. It has no resilience, no puffiness, no life. Unlike the cornicione of the best Neapolitan pizzas, which rise up like an inner tube of a bicycle tire and with almost as much air, the crust at Naples 45 is flat, barely rising above the cheese, and is crackerlike in consistency. I almost always finish the crust on Neapolitan pizza but this one was so dense that it was a chore to eat, the crust equivalent of a Monday morning. The center of the pie, which should require a knife and fork to consume, can easily be eaten by hand. I have seen more tip sag on New York street slices. Frankly, the dough feels overworked.
A sausage pie turned out to be much more palatable, though not because the foundation was any better. The sausage (despite being rather anemic and lacking succulence) was redolent with fennel.
I wonder what happened along the way that led to the pizza at Naples 45 devolving to its current state. Assuming, of course, that when they initially earned VPN certification they served a pie in keeping with what is served in Naples—a soft, liquid center surrounded by a soft, puffy cornicione. Perhaps the kitchen got sick of people complaining about the pies being undercooked and just started sending them all out well-done.
If so, it does raise a question about VPN certification: Are there any follow-up visits? And shouldn't part of the certification ensure that the restaurant educate its customers rather than cater to their whims? The mission of the VPN—a mission I wholeheartedly support—is to preserve a particular way of doing things rather than merely sanctioning ingredients and equipment.
Or perhaps the problem is that two different sizes of pizzas are served and that the ovens seem to be rather crowded—even though there are three of them. The restaurant is large and bustling; I bet they sell more pizza in a day than most VPN pizzerias sell in a week. And they even have a take-out and delivery section in the restaurant that sells pies by the slice. Here you can see the "Mezzo metro" sized pies—elongated, almost rectangular pies. They are no better than the personal-sized pies, although the crust is dense and laden with more toppings.
What's Worth Eating at Naples 45
And yet, among all this dysfunction, all these missed marks, there is a glimmer of hope for the pizza aficionado at Naples 45. Tucked away off to the side sits the unassuming selection of "New York–style" pizza. Classically constructed with the sweet sauce that is used on the other pies and with low-moisture mozzarella (the sort of cheese that can happily spend a lot of time in the oven without losing vitality), a plain slice only cost $1.90, and it is marvelous.
My fist bite was instantly familiar. The sweetness of the sauce; the soft, pliant crust (tender and yielding, yet with some snap and crunch); the milky cheese—all reminded me of Patsy's in East Harlem. Admittedly there was a little too much cheese on the slice, and it didn't have the sooty dusting and corresponding acridity of Patsy's, but it was close. The wood-fired oven did a good job on the crust, which seems to work better here than in anything else I tried.
It is ironic that the most unassuming and the cheapest offering at Naples 45 is also the easiest to recommend. Especially because it seems like a mere afterthought. The VPN accreditation aside, the regular New York slice is more authentic, truer to type and just plain tastier than the Neapolitan pies. which are just disappointing.
My first thought on the photography issue was the heightened security in and around the GCT complex generally, of which the Naples 45 building is a part.
From looking at the pics of the crust and cheese, I would say they don't have the oven hot enough...pizza cooks too long and dries out crust and burns mozzarella. Also weird that they have that little guard around the wood in the oven....I don't know that there are actually "follow up" inspections from the VPN, but I do know that people will contact the VPN if they don't think a restaurant is following the guidelines. Pepe Miele from the VPN stresses that certification is more of an obligation than an accolade.
When I used to work on 46th and Lex, I'd go to naples after 1:30 PM and get slices of their neopolitan square pies for $1.75 each. All slices were 1.75, white slices, pepperoni, mushroom. While it's not fresh at that point anymore, and all the things mentioned in this article are still true, it's far from being a bad slice. It's just not built in the mold of what is considered VPN. Given that this is a pizza blog, I have no qualms with the topic of discussion in this article, I just want to make sure that the "value" of their neopolitan slices (after 1:30pm) was mentioned, and that while it may not be VPN, it's still darned good pizza (to me).
@puck1230: I was with Nick for this review, and we did grab a slice of the Neapolitan square pie at the to-go station (the pepperoni slice pictured above). I agree with you that it was much, much better than the pies in the dining room and still pretty solid but really did pale in comparison to the round-pie "New York style" pizza sitting a few pies to the right of it.
When I worked at 42nd and Fifth, I went to N45 on occasion and quickly learned to do the take-out thing rather than the dining room -- the price difference is just too much and the slices were better. It's been several years since I worked up there, so I haven't been to N45 in a while, and the New York–style slice pies are new to me. I don't remember them doing that before. It was a pleasant surprise and, in my estimation, may be the tastiest slice in the area. Nick's right. It truly is marvelous. And at $1.90, it's cheaper than most slice joints. And the 90¢ extra you pay above one of the nearby dollar slice joints is so worth it in terms of flavor.
Any Neapolitan slice (even 4-cheese, sausage, etc.) is $1.75 after a certain hour (2pm?) And a Neaplolitan slice with any soda (even a San Pelligrino Limonata) is $2.50. This must rank as one of NYC's least known and most absurdly good deals. And the pizza is darn good.
Adam, thanks for making the slice-by-slice comparison. I may have to venture to midtown from Long Island City for lunch one of these days to try that round slice.
Boccalupo, I've never been lucky enough to see available slices of sausage after 2pm. I also didn't know that I could add limonata for an additional .75c. Great to know, thanks.
The even browning of the crust gives tell tale signs of the use of sugar in the dough. This is against VPN rules, so I wonder how they are keeping it. I bake my pizza's at 900 F and would only get leopard spotting with no sugar in the dough. You add sugar and you can bake at 500 to 600 F with browning but takes a bit longer, causing the cheese to dry out. In other words, using sugar means less wood consumption and ultimately lowering food cost in this shakey economic environment.
@bubasia
no offense but that's just BS. even if they are using sugar (which I doubt) theres noway you can tell just from looking at a crust.
canerosso got it right.
@bubasia- flour is loaded with sugar, a sugar known as maltose. In a sourdough, the lactobacilli have an enzyme called maltose phosphorylase, which while assimilating maltose it releases glucose into the dough.
@dmcavanagh yes that's half right. flour has no simple sugars or even disaccharides like maltose in its raw form. all its sugar exists in long chains (ie starch) - either amylose or amylopectin. during fermentation, amylase from either the yeast, bactera or present in the flour (added diastatic malt for example) work on those long chains breaking them down into the sugars required for fermentation. During baking, unfermented sugars (or additional sugar released) on the exposed surface will either caramelize or react with amino acids (from protein breakdown) in a maillard effect.
But enough of the microbiology and chemistry, purely on a practical level Ive seen 00 flour dough brown at low temperatures pretty much exactly like the pictures above. no sugar required.
I should have said 'no additional sugar required' above.
Regarding the lactobacilli, they're a pretty versatile bunch and will metabolize in a multitude of ways depending on conditions and available substrate (maltose is just one of them). However as dmcavanagh described LAB Sf (Sanfranciscensis), for example, will metabolise maltose where some wild yeasts cannot, and excrete glucose which it cannot metabolise itself but wild yeast can. Its kind of a symbiotic relationship which works well and is the reason despite the name, that LAB Sf can be found in sourdough cultures all over the world.
The neapolitan looks unedible, dry, and the crust looks burnt. The slice at the bottom looks very generic and dull, almost like something you'd get at a ball game.
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14 Comments:
My first thought on the photography issue was the heightened security in and around the GCT complex generally, of which the Naples 45 building is a part.
shortstop at 9:13AM on 03/12/10
From looking at the pics of the crust and cheese, I would say they don't have the oven hot enough...pizza cooks too long and dries out crust and burns mozzarella. Also weird that they have that little guard around the wood in the oven....I don't know that there are actually "follow up" inspections from the VPN, but I do know that people will contact the VPN if they don't think a restaurant is following the guidelines. Pepe Miele from the VPN stresses that certification is more of an obligation than an accolade.
canerosso at 9:57AM on 03/12/10
When I used to work on 46th and Lex, I'd go to naples after 1:30 PM and get slices of their neopolitan square pies for $1.75 each. All slices were 1.75, white slices, pepperoni, mushroom. While it's not fresh at that point anymore, and all the things mentioned in this article are still true, it's far from being a bad slice. It's just not built in the mold of what is considered VPN. Given that this is a pizza blog, I have no qualms with the topic of discussion in this article, I just want to make sure that the "value" of their neopolitan slices (after 1:30pm) was mentioned, and that while it may not be VPN, it's still darned good pizza (to me).
puck1230 at 10:16AM on 03/12/10
@puck1230: I was with Nick for this review, and we did grab a slice of the Neapolitan square pie at the to-go station (the pepperoni slice pictured above). I agree with you that it was much, much better than the pies in the dining room and still pretty solid but really did pale in comparison to the round-pie "New York style" pizza sitting a few pies to the right of it.
When I worked at 42nd and Fifth, I went to N45 on occasion and quickly learned to do the take-out thing rather than the dining room -- the price difference is just too much and the slices were better. It's been several years since I worked up there, so I haven't been to N45 in a while, and the New York–style slice pies are new to me. I don't remember them doing that before. It was a pleasant surprise and, in my estimation, may be the tastiest slice in the area. Nick's right. It truly is marvelous. And at $1.90, it's cheaper than most slice joints. And the 90¢ extra you pay above one of the nearby dollar slice joints is so worth it in terms of flavor.
Adam Kuban at 11:22AM on 03/12/10
Any Neapolitan slice (even 4-cheese, sausage, etc.) is $1.75 after a certain hour (2pm?) And a Neaplolitan slice with any soda (even a San Pelligrino Limonata) is $2.50. This must rank as one of NYC's least known and most absurdly good deals. And the pizza is darn good.
boccalupo at 1:33PM on 03/12/10
Adam, thanks for making the slice-by-slice comparison. I may have to venture to midtown from Long Island City for lunch one of these days to try that round slice.
Boccalupo, I've never been lucky enough to see available slices of sausage after 2pm. I also didn't know that I could add limonata for an additional .75c. Great to know, thanks.
puck1230 at 2:42PM on 03/12/10
Yes. I was like. "Can I even get the limonata with my slice for the $2.50 deal?" Reply, "any soda you want". Awesome.
boccalupo at 3:06PM on 03/12/10
The even browning of the crust gives tell tale signs of the use of sugar in the dough. This is against VPN rules, so I wonder how they are keeping it. I bake my pizza's at 900 F and would only get leopard spotting with no sugar in the dough. You add sugar and you can bake at 500 to 600 F with browning but takes a bit longer, causing the cheese to dry out. In other words, using sugar means less wood consumption and ultimately lowering food cost in this shakey economic environment.
bubasla at 6:01PM on 03/13/10
@bubasia
no offense but that's just BS. even if they are using sugar (which I doubt) theres noway you can tell just from looking at a crust.
canerosso got it right.
godot at 11:12PM on 03/13/10
@bubasia- flour is loaded with sugar, a sugar known as maltose. In a sourdough, the lactobacilli have an enzyme called maltose phosphorylase, which while assimilating maltose it releases glucose into the dough.
dmcavanagh at 11:56PM on 03/13/10
@dmcavanagh yes that's half right. flour has no simple sugars or even disaccharides like maltose in its raw form. all its sugar exists in long chains (ie starch) - either amylose or amylopectin. during fermentation, amylase from either the yeast, bactera or present in the flour (added diastatic malt for example) work on those long chains breaking them down into the sugars required for fermentation. During baking, unfermented sugars (or additional sugar released) on the exposed surface will either caramelize or react with amino acids (from protein breakdown) in a maillard effect.
But enough of the microbiology and chemistry, purely on a practical level Ive seen 00 flour dough brown at low temperatures pretty much exactly like the pictures above. no sugar required.
godot at 4:19AM on 03/14/10
I should have said 'no additional sugar required' above.
Regarding the lactobacilli, they're a pretty versatile bunch and will metabolize in a multitude of ways depending on conditions and available substrate (maltose is just one of them). However as dmcavanagh described LAB Sf (Sanfranciscensis), for example, will metabolise maltose where some wild yeasts cannot, and excrete glucose which it cannot metabolise itself but wild yeast can. Its kind of a symbiotic relationship which works well and is the reason despite the name, that LAB Sf can be found in sourdough cultures all over the world.
godot at 7:53AM on 03/14/10
@godot-well said, that was my point although I don't have a chemistry degree, I am just a self taught pizza enthusiast.
dmcavanagh at 1:13PM on 03/14/10
The neapolitan looks unedible, dry, and the crust looks burnt. The slice at the bottom looks very generic and dull, almost like something you'd get at a ball game.
Chi advocate at 6:50PM on 04/01/10