At Donatetlla, the dough is really flavorful, the underbelly nicely charred, and crumb stretchy and soft. I'd argue that it's the best part of their pizzas, which is probably why I enjoyed their calzone ($19) so much.
[Photo: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt] "Trust me, Kenji, you're going to like this pizza," my friend said. Words of doom, if I've ever heard them, particularly when coming from a Cypriot (they may know how to grill meat with the best of them, but they don't know pizza from posole). That was right after I'd declared our immediate neighborhood of the upper-teens in Chelsea to be devoid of great pizza (the closest I was aware of was at Suprema, a good dozen blocks away). I still stand by that claim. The pizza at Gotham Pizza is by no means great—a...
Rocco's Pizza Joint is located in the heart of Chelsea, a neighborhood that has changed considerably over the last two decades. Rocco's does not appear to have felt the need to change with the times, which is not altogether a bad thing. While the signage is retro-chic and the chairs are in quirky candy colors, these appear to be the only concessions to the fancier neighborhood that has grown up around it.
I like that Stella's uses nice big hunks of juicy, porky, fennel-spiked sausage that are baked into the cheese layer rather than the sliced discs that other places often use that are simply thrown on top and reheated along with the rest of the slice. The sausage here doesn't fall off like those other places — and you don't have to contend with the sausage casing that a lot of those sliced-round bits have on them.
Maffei Pizza's grandma slice has long been celebrated as one of the best of its form in Manhattan. I had one recently, and I have to say, I wasn't feelin' it. It's always easy to say, "Maybe they were off that day," but Maffei cranks through these slices day in, day out—it was flying out of the pan when I visited just before 1 p.m. Which is to say that they should have things down there. I would not revisit nor could I recommend.
[Photographs: Nick Solares] Donatella's 184 Eighth Avenue, New York NY 10011 ; map); 212-493-5150 Pizza Style: Neapolitan The skinny: Straight-up fine pizza. A hearty "Recommend!" Oven Type: Wood-fired Price: Individual pies, $12 to $20 By Nick Solares and Adam Kuban | In opening a Neapolitan pizzeria in the U.S. these days, it's become de rigueur to import an oven from Naples, make a lot of noise about said oven, and enumerate your bona fides to the press. Perhaps no one in recent memory has gone as far as restaurateur Donatella Arpaia. If you've been following Slice, you know that she...
Please welcome Maggie Hoffman to the Slice fold. She's going to be helping out and hanging out here more and more. —The Mgmt. [Photographs: Maggie Hoffman] Artichoke Basille's 114 Tenth Avenue, New York NY 10011 (at 17th Street; map); 212-792-9200; artichokepizza.com Pizza Style: New York–style Oven Type: Gas The Skinny: New sit-down pie joint in the Meatpacking District Price: Pies around $17 "The media doesn't know we're open yet," our waitress told us conspiratorially. Still, most of the tables at the new Tenth Avenue branch of Artichoke Basille's were full of customers late last week. Media or no, word has...
[Photographs: Adam Kuban] This has got to be the shiniest pizza oven in NYC — maybe the world. Slice got a sneak peek at the oven and some of the pizza to come out of it last night at Donatella's, Donatella Arpaia's soon-to-open pizzeria on 19th and Eighth in Chelsea. We'll bring you pizza pics later today, but here are a few shots of the fire-breathing beauty for those of you obsessed with such things. Earlier ... Donatella's PIzza Oven: The Build-Out » Donatella's: The Oven Is Being Cured » Video: Neapolitans Talk Pizza (While Ed Levine Antagonizes Them!) »...
[Photograph: Adam Kuban] I spent the first part of my morning fumbling around in the dark with Donatella Arpaia in the presence of a glorious pizza oven. How's that to set a pizza-loving guy's heart a flutterin'?...
[Photographs: Aaron Mattis] Brick Oven Pizza 33 Multiple locations throughout New York City (map); pizza33midtowneast.com Pizza style: Classic New York slice joint Oven type: Brick oven The skinny: Flawed slices don't live up to the restaurant's pleasant atmosphere. Price: $2.75 for a plain slice We headed to Brick Oven Pizza 33 on 23rd St. near 8th Ave. with high hopes. The modest but attractive brick oven advertised on the awning was clearly visible in the afternoon sunlight, and the slices it produced looked like refined, tasty versions of New York classics. Seeing them arranged on our open air table...
