As a writer for the people, I often try and suppress my inner pizza snob. I try and pretend that all pies are created equal, and that there is goodness to everything on a crust. Sometimes I even manage to convince myself. After all, if tens of thousands of people enjoy eating buffalo chicken pizza, there's got to be something good about it that I'm missing, right? Well today, I'm letting diplomacy take a little breather and laying out a few of my hard and fast ground rules about pizza toppings.
The Shiitake Pie at Co. (bread man Jim Lahey's Chelsea pizzeria) is an unusual little number, with a walnut and caramelized onion spread forming the base for shiitake mushrooms. But one bite and you'll find that the tastes and textures of this cheeseless pie are supremely harmonious. The sweet onions and rich, nutty walnuts come together to form something similar in texture to ricotta. Top that with rosemary, bold, smokey shiitake mushrooms (or try it with Hen of the Woods), and herbaceous branch lettuce and you've got yourself one make-at-home-worthy pizza. Just click through the slideshow to find out how!
Today on Slice, the debut of a new column ... Top This, in which we focus on a pizza topping you might not have thought of or have wondered how to work onto your pies. The first installment, shaved asparagus, as found on the Bird's Nest pizza at Jim Lahey's pizzeria, Co.
Josh "Mister Cutlets" Ozersky brings a Domino's new-recipe pizza to noted baker and pizza-maker Jim Lahey (of no-knead bread fame) for a review at Lahey's pizzeria, Company. "There is no improvement whatsoever," Lahey says. "Give me back the old Domino's any effing day."
[Photograph: Adam Kuban] Recently appointed New York Times restaurant critic Sam Sifton today unleashes the 11 best bites he has sampled so far in his new capacity at the paper. Co. Company makes the list: The Meatball Pizza at Co.: Jim Lahey's much debated Chelsea pizzeria is devoted almost to a fault to the excellence of its dough, as Frank Bruni sagely pointed out in his one-star review of the restaurant in the spring. But in recent months, Mr. Lahey's been dialing in his toppings and the use of his insanely hot oven; he's now putting out pies that...
[Photograph: Adam Kuban] Adam,I am a pizza fanatic from New Jersey and follow your blog religiously. I have one thing that I feel you should mention, however. On December 10, I went to Co. in New York for my pizza pilgrimage. I was set, stoked, and ready to get some awesome pizza. I had even called a few days earlier to make sure they would be serving during dinner hours and the site didn't indicate otherwise. However, after over two hours of traveling and getting to New York, they turned me away due to a "private party."WTF?! How can...
Time Out New York's got a nice year-end wrap of the 100 best things to eat in New York City. Pizza, of course, is on list. Three pizzas at three different pizzerias make the cut, according to TONY: the capocollo pizza at Bed-Stuy's Saraghina, the clam pie at Staten Island's Salvatore of Soho, and the Popeye pie at Co. Company....
[Photographs: log wagon, jurek d.; Jim Lahey, Adam Kuban] I just learned from Ed Levine here that Co. Company has made the move from gas-oven cooking (with some wood for accent) to all wood-fired cooking. Co. Company 230 Ninth Avenue, New York NY 10001 (at 24th; map) 212-243-1105; co-pane.com...
Clicking in to the Slice inbox today, another question regarding an upcoming NYC pizza itinerary. I love these questions! --The Mgmt. Adam and the Slice Crew,I will be making my first visit to New York City in a few weeks, and I don't think it would be a proper visit if I left without trying some New York pizza. With that said, I have looked over your reviews and suggestions in the past, and with my limited time and rather packed schedule I just don't think I will be able to make Di Fara work with its seemingly rather high...
[Photograph: Adam Kuban] Noted no-knead breadman and Co. Company founder Jim Lahey discourses on pizza as he sees it (even lapsing into the third person) on The Atlantic Food Channel: I sought to open Co., to create this organic place. What I mean is, I don't ask my kitchen staff to manipulate ingredients to fit some pre-exisiting ideal of how a pizza should look. We don't place each piece of cheese perfectly on a pie--where it lands, it lands. Our menu tells guests: "Our Pies are Not Always Round." It's a joke but it isn't. People expect pies to...
