291 3rd Avenue, Brooklyn, NY (map); 718-722-7200 Pizza style: New York, Grandma, Sfincione Oven type: Gas-fired Deck The skinny: They've got great versions of pretty much every major NY-style of pizza. Price: Slices start at $2.50
Now call me out on this if you think I'm wrong, but has anyone noticed that it's getting harder and harder to get a good New York slice in New York? It seems like most new pizzerias of note in New York these days are of the Neapolitan and/or hipster variety. Rarely do you find a new place that's content just doing well-executed, old-school favorites. We're talking deck-oven, by-the-slice, nothing fancy, real New York slices, crisp Sicilians, and chewy grandma slices.
Sure, dollar slice joints are springing up left and right, but you'd be hard pressed to describe the pizza in them as either "good" or even "old school New York." Places like Best Pizza in Williamsburg are old-school-ish and no doubt delicious, but wood-fired ovens and hipster prices push it out of the classic slice-joint category.
On the other hand, good old-school New York style slice places continue to close in every borough. What this means is that New York pizza in New York is in its twilight phase. Perhaps I'm looking at the past through pepperoni-tinted glasses, but I remember the days when a decent slice could be found on nearly every street corner, whatever borough you were in. Is it only a matter of time before being able to find a decent slice in every neighborhood will be nothing but a fond cheese-lined memory?
Posted by David Kover, December 15, 2011 at 2:15 PM
[Photographs: David Kover]
Oliveto Cafe
5655 College Avenue, Oakland, CA 94618 (map); 510-547-5356; oliveto.com Pizza style: Café style pizza with California toppings Oven type: Wood-fired The skinny: Fancy-ish, good enough pies with creative, seasonal toppings plus a valiant attempt at a whole wheat crust Price: Pies, $14.50 to $16
Given all the wood-fired ovens that have been installed in Bay Area restaurants over the past two years (yep, we just got another one), it can be easy to forget that a few local places have been cooking this way for years. At the newer places, someone on the floor can always rattle off the specs of the kitchen's shiny new toy, but when I started asking questions about the oven at Oakland's Oliveto, no one really had much to say because it's always just... been there. Only when Owner Bob Klein made his way onto the floor did I find out that Oliveto cooks its pizzas in a Mugnaini oven, one of the first to move into the area.
With apologies to Adam's grand pizza taxonomy, Oliveto offers what I like to call "café" pizzas. You know, those fancy-ish pies that don't steal the show, but do well enough alongside a menu of other light fare. (Fittingly, Oliveto only serves its pizza in its downstairs café space.) However, Oliveto does turn out these pies with some panache, tricking out their pizzas with seasonal, California-style toppings and even making a worthy attempt at creating a serviceable whole wheat crust.
Basil Brick Oven Pizza makes what some folks might call Neapolitan pizza, but pizzaiolo and co-owner Daniel Barbois, a native of Piedmont, Italy, would dispute that. The pizzas here look like their Naples-based counterparts, Mr. Barbois, says, but the crust is more crisp, the edges a little more flat, the cheese a bit more generous.
1235 West Lake Street Chicago, IL 60607 (map); 312-850-9870; macellochicago.com Pizza Style: A non-descript version of thin crust Oven Type: Wood-burning The Skinny: Some delicious and unique toppings aren't enough to overcome significant flaws Price: Nearly all pizzas are $13
In the food world, Puglia, the region of Italy located in the heel of the boot, is known for many things. Puglia produces most of the country's olive oil and most of Europe's pasta; it's also the primary supplier of fish to the rest of the country and is one of the largest sources of wine in the world. Puglia is not known for its pizza, but at Macello, a Pugliese restaurant in the West Loop, the pies have gotten some favorable reviews.
Physically, Macello is one of the more interesting pizzerias I've been to. The building used to be home to a slaughterhouse, hence the name of the restaurant (macello translates to slaughterhouse). The interior features a lot of heavy dark wood furniture, exposed wooden trusses and a skylight, as well as brightly painted walls and multi-colored ornaments hanging from the ceiling. And in the center of the place is a large wood-burning oven out of which come some very attractive pizzas.
Posted by Adam Kuban, December 2, 2011 at 10:00 AM
Fun fact: Sac's Place is one of only two coal-oven pizzerias in the city that sells slices — the other is Patsy's in East Harlem. [Photographs: Adam Kuban]
Pickled Italian peppers and home-grown basil, oregano, and rosemary. A state-fair award-winning apple pie recipe from Ohio made from (somewhat) locally harvested fruit. Heat in the dining room supplied by a wood-burning stove. Nope, not a trendy "Ball jar joint" helmed by young Midwestern transplants in Brooklyn. This is all going on at Sac's Place in Astoria, Queens, one of the handful of coal-oven pizza joints in NYC.
Posted by David Kover, December 1, 2011 at 12:15 PM
[Photographs: David Kover]
Piccino
1001 Minnesota Street, San Francisco, CA 94107 (map); 415-824-4224; piccinocafe.com Pizza style: California-style Oven type: Montague gas oven The skinny: This lovable pizzeria has the potential to turn out pleasant pies, but went astray with its toppings on this visit Price: Pies, $10 to $18
In May, Piccino moved from its miniscule blue storefront to a much larger yellow building up the block. If the size of this pizzeria no longer matches its name—piccino means "tiny" in Italian—the restaurant remains as lovable as ever. With the bright hue of the facade, and the airy, high-ceilinged interior, I can't imagine a more inviting place to eat. No wonder it breaks my heart just a little bit that the pies they serve, thanks to some clunky toppings, don't quite live up to the vibe.
The very thin crust on Piccino's pizzas lacks some heft, but this is not the source of my disappointment. These pleasantly-flavored, pleasantly crisp rounds of bread provide a base that could support all sorts of pleasant pies.
742 E. 79th Street Chicago, IL 60619 (map); 773-873-7428 Pizza Style: Thin Crust and Pan The Skinny: Edible, loaded with garlic, but ultimately not that good Price: Break-down was unclear, but the large thin and medium pan totaled just over $23
In this age of the interwebs, hidden gems in the restaurant world are increasingly rare. So I was particularly excited to read the long and passionate comment that Foffee left on the United States of Pizza: Illinois (Chicago Edition). Foffee convincingly wrote that a place I'd never heard of, Old Chicago, has the best deep dish pizza in town. Was it really possible that this unheralded pizzeria in Chatham on the South Side of Chicago actually dished out one of the best pizzas in town?
As much as I'd like to tell you I've been chomping at the bit to introduce most of you to a new found delight, the sad news is that I don't think the pizza at Old Chicago is that good. On the bright side, Old Chicago is some of the cheapest non-chain pizza you can find.
Posted by Lauren Sloss, November 16, 2011 at 3:00 PM
[Photographs: Lauren Sloss]
Quintal do Bráz Pizzeria
Rua Gandavo 447, São Paulo, 04023-001 Brazil (map);
+55 1150823800 quintaldobraz.com.br Pizza Style: Wood-fired pizzas with two Neapolitan varieties The Skinny: Neapolitan pizzas aren't quite as airy or charred as I look for, but the toppings are excellent when they're well salted and seasoned. Price: R$39,00 for La Vera Margherita; R$55,00 for the Barra Speciale; R$52,00 for the Primo
On a recent trip to Sao Paulo, Brazil, I had plenty of reasons to conclude that it is a city that takes food seriously. But finding out that Paulistas take pizza seriously was an even greater recommendation for Sao Paulo's charms. Pizza is a regular part of the eating routine, with wood-fired pizza being the style of choice among local connoisseurs.
Quintal do Bráz Pizzeria is one of the city's most popular pizza destinations, as evidenced by a packed room, front patio, and back garden when I visited on a balmy Wednesday evening. One of a small chain of pizzerias (with locations in Sao Paulo and Rio), Quintal do Bráz is located in a large, beautiful building that used to be a private family home. The interior has been transformed into a cavernous but warm room with high, sloping ceilings, blonde and cherry wood slats, and large picture windows that look out onto the lush back garden.
447 US Route 1, Kittery, ME 03904 (map); sendbread.com; 207-439-7036 Pizza style: Sort of Neapolitan Oven type: Wood Fired The skinny: Great pizza that starts as excellent bread. Flavorful crust, smoky char, mostly good toppings. Price: 13-inch Pizzas around $18 each
When really great bakers like brother Ron and Andrew Siegel decide to make the leap from bread to pizza, good things can happen.
Ron's been running the venerable When Pigs Fly bakery in Wells, Maine since 1993 (his brother joined him a year later). They've since moved locations to their current expansive digs in York and have increased their output 150 times from 80 loaves a day to over 12,000, but they still use pretty much the same process. Natural leaveners, freshly milled flour, fresh vegetables and other flavorings make for excellent crusty, bread with a moderately open-textured crumb and a good amount of chew.
Posted by Adam Kuban, November 11, 2011 at 10:00 AM
Last week I posted a roundup of pizzerias near NYC tourist spots and completely skipped the Upper East Side. I'm not saying that the Plaza Food Hall is UES, but you're likely going to take a subway that runs near it if you're traveling to or from Museum Mile, or wherever you're going up there. And you'll probably end up somewhere near Central Park South if you take your guests ice skating or to gawk at Steve Jobs's giant glass Apple cube at the Fifth Avenue Apple Store.
Posted by David Kover, November 10, 2011 at 9:00 AM
[Photographs: David Kover]
Chez Panisse Café
1517 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94709 (map); 510-548-5525; chezpanisse.com Pizza style: Neapolitan-inspired meets California-style Oven type: Wood-fired The skinny: The restaurant founded by the queen of California cooking creates stand-out toppings, but the crust is slightly uninspired Notes: Two pizzas with rotating seasonal toppings appear on the menu daily at the upstairs cafe Price: Pies typically cost $13 to $19
This past August, Chez Panisse celebrated its fortieth anniversary, prompting much reflection on Alice Waters' seminal role in the creation of California Cuisine and its ethos of cooking with local, fresh ingredients. But as we celebrate Chez Panisse's broader food legacy, let's not forget its pizza legacy.
Though credit for California-style pizza mostly goes to Ed LaDou, Waters and her Chez Panisse staff also deserve a little recognition. Pizza with non-traditional toppings that highlighted California produce started coming out of the wood-fired oven at Chez Panisse Café in 1980, two years before LaDou started firing pies at Spago. Though I'm guessing dear Alice likely cringes at the idea of a pizza covered in sickly-sweet barbecue sauce, pizzas topped with leeks, potato, or even duck confit have all appeared on Chez Panisse's menu.
33 Havemeyer Street, Brooklyn NY 11211 (North 7th/North 8th streets; map); 718-599-2210; best.piz.za.com Getting there: Closest train station is Bedford Avenue L train Pizza style: New York–style in form, though with an added layer of smokiness from a wood-fired oven Oven type: Wood-fired oven cooks the pizza, with reheats done in a small gas-fired oven The skinny: Excellent New York–style with a wood-fired twist, great garlic knots, and three of the best sandwiches in town Price: Regular slice, $3; white slice, $3.50; grandma slice, $4
Opened just over a year ago, Best Pizza has fast become one of our favorite pizzerias in New York, and yeah, it's mostly because they serve some of the tastiest by-the-slice stuff around. Baked in a wood-fired brick oven, you wouldn't exactly call this classic New York in execution, but it certainly is in spirit. Though Adam categorized it as a cross between a New York and a Neapolitan-American pie in his initial review of the space last year, I think it sways pretty strongly towards the New York end of the spectrum.
It certainly eats like one, with a thin, crisp crust with a hint of chew and plenty of pliancy, a light sprinkle of grated aged mozzarella and pecorino Romano, and a bright, fresh tomato sauce binding it all together. But then you're hit by that subtle but characteristic veil of smokiness that a wood-fired oven imparts on a Neapolitan slice.
Posted by David Kover, October 27, 2011 at 10:00 AM
[Photographs: David Kover]
Proto's Pizzeria Napoletana
Multiple locations Location reviewed: 4670 N Broadway, Boulder, CO 80304 (map); 720-565-1050; ProtosPizza.com Pizza style: They term it Neapolitan-style Oven type: Gas Price: Proto, large $16
Greetings from the Department of Snap Judgments, where I pass through a town in which I'm totally unfamiliar with the pizza landscape and form opinions after only one pie.
Here's the thing: I found my way to Proto's Pizzeria Napoletana on a recent trip through Colorado based on a few friendly recommendations, but when I entered the restaurant and got a look at the pizzas on other customers' tables, I wasn't inspired to order more than a single pie. I figured I could always get more if the pizza tasted better than it looked and, well, one pie proved to be enough. It wasn't bad, but rather vehemently pedestrian.
Another week, another wood-fired-oven joint! Sottocasa is a Neapolitan-pizza slinging newcomer to Cobble Hill. Behind the helm here is Luca Arrigoni, an alumnus of Greenwich Village's Kesté Pizza & Vino.
Finding myself near Orange, NJ last weekend with nothing to do (we'd come out to pick apples only to discover that Irene had already done picked all of 'em before we got there), I decided to take the only logical course of action: go to Star Tavern for pizza.
Ok, I'm not going to kid around: the thing to get at Star Tavern if you've never been is anything with pepperoni on it. Their pepperoni is fantastic. Small, thick-sliced disks that as they cook curl up into little crispy chalices of grease*. Now put that on top of thin, ultra-crisp crust with nicely charred edges, great sauce, and a good amount of cheese, and you've got a bar pie at its very best (read Adam's take on it here).
Having saturated most of Manhattan and close-in Brooklyn, wood-fired Neapolitan-style pizza continues to find a welcome home farther out in the boroughs, in neighborhoods heretofore deprived of great pizza. Case in point: Barboncino in Crown Heights.
In the past, I've lamented that some of these pizza trailblazers are merely good for the neighborhood, getting praise and business simply because they're the only game around. Judging by the one initial visit I made to Barboncino earlier this week, though, I'd say the place could hold its own against some of the top-tier joints in the city.
Posted by Nick Solares, October 13, 2011 at 1:30 PM
"The pies here have the synergy that all great pizza attains."
[Photographs: Nick Solares]
Da Baffeto II
Piazza del Teatro di Pompeo, 18 00186 - Rome; (map); 0668210807; pizzeriabaffetto.it Pizza Style: Roman Oven Type: Wood The Skinny? Skinny is right! The pizza here is vanishingly thin—a perfect example of the Roman style pie. Price: Individual pizza €5 - €8.
There are two particularly unrealistic expectations, amongst the multitude of unrealistic expectations, that tourists have when traveling. First, that they can somehow get a more "authentic" experience by dining "where the locals dine" which is, of course, impossible. As soon as a tourist sets foot in place it ceases to be where the locals dine and becomes something else. The better the place the quicker this happens. The second one being that the believe they will receive the same level of service and deference that they get back at home. While one would think these two notions—the possibility of assimilation and the desire to be treated deferentially—are diametrically opposed, they nevertheless seem to exist in tandem. As I said, they are unrealistic expectations. I mention all this because it is something I witness quite often when traveling, no more so than at Da Baffeto in Rome.
Posted by Will Gordon, October 11, 2011 at 12:30 PM
[Photographs: Will Gordon]
Lynwood Café
320 Center Street, Randolph Mass 02368 (map); 781-963-3100 Pizza style:bar-style Oven type: Gas Price: $7.90 for 10-inch cheese. Toppings start at an extra 30 cents for pepper or onion and go up gently from there.
I think we can all agree that the word "desperado" is one of the finest collections of letters ever assembled in the English language. And I trust anyone tasteful enough to read this nice site knows that the Eagles song "Desperado" is even more atrocious than all the other Eagles songs. Language is tricky! This is why it took me far too long to warm up to the pizza genre known as the bar pie.
I like bars and everybody likes pies, but I wasn't drawn to the words as a compound food noun for a couple of reasons. First and less rationally, I was turned off because "bar pie" clangs off my ears in a manner that suggests derogatory slang for an ex-girlfriend. Here in Massachusetts, bar pie is most prominent in the heavily accented working class suburbs of the North and South Shores, and I can too easily imagine some Sully or another bellowing, "Traci? Who KNOWS what she does with the child support? Sure as shit ain't goin' to the kids. Can't trust that bar pie any farther than you can throw her."
71 Clinton Street, New York NY 10002 (b/n Stanton and Rivington; map) sanmarzanonyc.com Pizza style: Wood-fired Neapolitan Oven type: Wood-fired brick The skinny: Not the greatest Neapolitan pies in the city, but one of the few available by the slice. Cornmeal makes for an interesting Neapolitan hybrid. The only place we know of to get a wood-fired Buffalo Chicken pie. Price: $11 to $15
You could be excused for thinking that San Marzano Brick Oven Pizzeria is just another Lower East Side pizza joint—another in the long list of good-not-great Neapolitan pizzerias in the city—except for one thing: they're a Neapolitan pizzeria serving... buffalo chicken pizza? Huh?
First, let's talk a bit about their regular pies.
The standard Margherita pies at San Marzano ($11) are pretty darn good. Certainly not in the upper echelon of pizza in the city, but flavorful, well charred, nicely blistered, and tender-crisp in the way the best wood-fired pies are.
Their cheese and sauce could use a bit of work—some more tanginess and creaminess in the mozzarella would've been nice.
Posted by David Kover, September 29, 2011 at 10:30 AM
[Photographs: David Kover]
Bar Bocce
1250 Bridgeway, Sausalito, CA 94965 (map); 415-331-0555; barbocce.com Pizza style:California-style Oven type: Wood-fired Price: Pies, $12.50 to $16.95
Here in San Francisco, we might only get three or four days each year with temperatures that approximate summer. When they come—usually in September—we throw on our shorts and look for someplace, anyplace, to show off our pasty legs. Taking advantage of one of these rare days, and wanting to pair my sun exposure with a few slices of wood-fired pizza (and maybe a drink), I found my way to Sausalito's Bar Bocce, which advertises its operation as follows: Pizza, Vino, Patio. That sounded like the makings of a nice afternoon!
Valoriani seems to have cornered a big chunk of the Northern California wood-fired oven market, and this is what Bar Bocce uses to cook their pies. Though, just because you get to watch the pizzaiolo stoke this handsome tool, don't automatically expect classic Neapolitan-inspired pizzas. The offerings at Bar Bocce run more towards California-style, with feta cheese, tapenade, calamari, and fennel pollen all finding their way onto a sourdough crust.
