November 29, 2009
One Last Chance to Get a Mangieri Pizza in the NYC-ish Area
This comes to us by way of someone who was shilling in the comments, but it's some hot info so I'm going to take the bait and highlight it ...
[Photograph: Undici Restaurant]
Tonight in Rumson, New Jersey, for one night only, famed and former UPN pizzamaker Anthony Mangieri will be making pizza one last time on the East Coast before heading to San Francisco.
Mangieri has been consulting for Undici Taverna Rustica in this tony Jersey Shore borough (The Boss lives there), supposedly going as far as "tearing apart their kitchen and building an authentic, Naples-style, wood-fired oven."
Mangieri will be on the sticks tonight (Wednesday, 11/25/2009) at 6:30 p.m.
(New Yorkers, you can take a ferry to nearby Atlantic Highlands and then probably catch a cab from there.)
Undici Taverna Rustica
11 West River Road, Rumson NJ 07760 (at Washington Street; map)
732-842-3880; undicirestaurant.com
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Labriola Bakery Cafe: Bridging the Short Gap from Master Breadsmith to Pizzaiolo
Serious Eats Chicago contributor Daniel Zemans checks in with another piece of intel on the Windy City pizza scene. —The Mgmt.
[Photographs: Daniel Zemans]
Labriola Bakery Café
3021 Butterfield Road, Oak Brook IL 60523 (map); (630) 574-2008; labriolabakerycafe.com
Pizza Style: Neapolitan-American and bakery/Sicilian
Oven Type: Wood and gas
The Skinny: One of Chicago's best bakers has successfully made the jump to pizza
Price: Neapolitan pies start at $10.95; bakery slices start at $3.99
Once upon a time, after man mastered the art of making flatbread, an anonymous baking genius came up with the idea of putting toppings on the bread. Fast forward a couple thousand years and for reasons that don't make a whole lot of sense, the art of bread-making is largely separate from pizza-making. Sure there are plenty of pizzaiolos who make outstanding crusts, but for some reason, few of the great bakeries sell pizza. Given that making great bread is, depending on one's perspective, up to 90% of the way towards a great pizza, we would all be a lot better off if more breadsmiths would start putting sauce, cheese and toppings on their product.
When Rich Labriola opened his eponymous artisanal bakery in 1993 and signed on Spago as his first customer, the son of a Calumet City pizzeria owner was on his way to building one of the biggest and best bakeries in Chicago. Not content with simply selling great bread to more than 700 restaurants in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin, Labriola made the decision to add a restaurant and bakery store to his growing empire. And last November, he opened Labriola Bakery Café in Oak Brook. The restaurant actually came onto my radar after hearing of the burgers (review forthcoming on AHT), but I was happy to discover that the pizza was good enough to make the long trek to Oak Brook worthwhile.
Gialina: San Francisco Food Critic Michael Bauer's Favorite Pizzeria
This is from last week, but if you're not plugged in to the SF pizza scene, you may have missed it. San Francisco Chronicle food critic Michael Bauer officially anoints Pizzeria Gialina his favorite pizza place in the City by the Bay:
What sets Gialina pizza apart is the handmade crust, with puffy edges that are darkened but not blistered and a delicately chewy texture - it's nearly cracker-crisp on the outside, giving way to that elusive tender breadiness. The secret, according to Ardiana, is a low yeast-to-flour ratio and a dough that is wetter than most. She also makes the dough the night before so it has time to proof.
Toppings are restrained; Ardiana creates 13 and I've never had a bad one, whether she's taking the night off or toiling in the back with stacks of pizza boxes balanced above her head. The most popular is the Atomica ($15), where the crust is slathered with a thin wash of sweet tomato sauce topped with mozzarella, mushrooms, red onions and rings of chiles. It's an explosion of sweet, salty, mild, spicy, crisp and tender - just about every yin-yang description that makes food great.
Gialina Pizzeria
2842 Diamond Street, San Francisco CA 94131 (map)
415-239-8500; gialina.com
Related
Gialina Pizzeria and a Summer of Super Slices in San Francisco
Gialina, Glen Park, San Francisco: A Quickie
A Mini San Francisco Pizza Jaunt: Does Alan Richman Know His Bay Area Pizza?
That's Amore: You and Every Guy in the Place
My Roberta's Lady. - m4w - 24 (Roberta's Pizza, Brooklyn): "You live in Colorado. You were in town visiting friends (who seemed warm and nice--they both live here, and you guys were 'addicted' to photos with a disposable camera). I was the guy trying too hard to look impressive by the fire, wearing a hat and a plaid-y shirt and with a beard and thick glasses and REALLY REALLY REALLY WANTING TO TALK TO YOU . I made a brief start of conversation, about something, and was then dragged out by my friends. But! BUT BUT BUT! I wished that we had stuck around, because I was set on you all night AND then when waking up sober. Ohkay. This won't work,. and I am writing into the ether. BUT! HERE GOES NOTHING!!!!!!!!!!"
'$5 Is Too Much for Burnt Pizza at Di Fara!'
Always Hungry's Arthur Bovino has a bone to pick with Di Fara and its burnt slices:
Two 'slice' pies were made, and overcooked. The oil separated (before Dom's signature drizzle), the cheese turned orange, and two-thirds of the crust's rim was charred. The final scattering of grated cheese resembled a masking, not the pleasant accent it can be. Worse, when three patrons lifted slices plate to mouth, the upskirt was black as the coal used in Frank Pepe's ovens. But you can't just go on sight. Right? This was once. Right? What about when pies are made? Is the end of service a valid excuse?
That's too bad. The last few times I've been, Mr. DeMarco seemed to had gotten the burning problem under control. Sad to see it happening again.
See also: All You Need to Know About Di Fara, 2009
'New York Post' Profiles Sal Bartolomeo of Rosario's Pizza on Manhattan's Lower East Side
Sal Bartolomeo. [Photograph: nypost.com]
From a nice profile in the New York Post of Sal Bartolomeo of Rosario's Pizza on the Lower East Side:
"This pizza parlor is my home, and I share it with everybody," he says. "People come from all over the world just to see me, because they know I'm going to put a show on for them.
"Customers I've been serving since 1963 will bring their grandkids here, even if they've moved to another city. They want the kids to meet Sal."
Rosario's Pizza
173 Orchard Street, New York NY 10002 (LES, at Stanton; map)
212-777-9813
From Serious Eats Talk: 'Where Can I Find Good Local Pizza in Minnesota?'
On Slice parent site Serious Eats, smile asks:
We've just recently moved to Minnesota and can't seem to fulfill our pizza craving. There are tons of pizza places but we don't know which ones to try anymore because every pie we've ordered here has a set of characteristics that don't seem right to us:
1. A round pizza cut into 30-40 tiny, unequal pieces
2. Paper thin crust that feels like wet cardboard
3. Toppings under the cheese
4. Cheese in a seemingly disproportional amount (maybe because of the crust) that slides down your throat while you're still chewing on it like taffyWe've asked our waiters if this is a Minnesota thing and no one can seem to give us an answer. From what we've experienced, it seems like the norm here, but we don't really like it.
My question is, are there any pizzerias that serve traditional crust round pizzas similar to Domino's or Pizza Hut style?( In the Twin Cities)
We want to find a good pie somewhere without resorting to the chains.
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