As impressed as we were by Rubirosa when it first opened, now that our office is just a few blocks away, I make it out there for a slice or two pretty regularly during the week. And I've gotta say, it just keeps getting better and better.
Walking into Bottega Falai with sandwiches on the brain, we couldn't resist trying the adorable, saucer-sized pizza tart at the counter. Turns out it makes a pleasant snack when you're not in the mood for a big, cheese-melty, sauce-heavy slice.
I'll just say it: Lombardi's is kind of a big tourist thing. After having been hyped in countless national newspaper and magazine stories, guidebooks, and travel shows, this "first pizzeria in America" is pretty much packed any night of the week with people more likely to hail from Manhattan, Kansas, than Manhattan Manhattan. (OK, that's probably an exaggeration, but poetic license, you know?)
Rubirosa, on Mulberry Street in Nolita, is helmed by Angelo "A. J." Pappalardo, son of Joe & Pat's Joe Pappalardo, and you'll find the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Anyone familiar with Joe & Pat's will instantly recognize the pizza at Rubirosa. It is a carbon copy of its Castleton Corners forbear, where A. J. began working at age 12. A patchwork of good-quality fresh mozzarella covers a bright-red swath of slightly sweet crushed tomatoes — all atop an ultrathin crust that is crunchy at the edges but gives way to a crisp and pliant middle.
I was eating a dainty Neapolitan pizza with Adam Kuban recently when I lamented the fact that there's no Chicago deep dish pizza available in NYC (putting aside the few remaining branches of awful chain Uno Chicago Grill, which is actually headquartered in Boston). Adam mentioned that there is a place in Astoria that reportedly sells deep dish pies, but a few days later Time Outannounced that L'Asso is now selling a deep dish pie much closer to my Manhattan home.
The EaterNY blog brings word of a deal Monday nights at Nolita's Emporio. Any pie on the menu, plus two beers, for $22.50. Choose a high-priced pie, and you'll have yourself a good deal. 231 Mott Street, New York NY 10012 (Spring/Prince; map); 212-966-1234; auroraristorante.com...
Hot off his GQ Top 25 Pizza List, Alan Richman (right) takes on a few recently opened NYC pizzerias—Tonda (East Village), Ignazio's (DUMBO), and Emporio (Nolita). Let's take them in order. On Tonda: The toppings here are overly ambitious yet flavorsome, but the crusts are flabby, tasteless, barely charred, and lacking the puffy outside ring that is reminiscent of a true Naples pie. My favorite menu item by far was the arancini, listed under “Neapolitan Street Food” but as far as I know found just about everywhere in Italy. These little rice balls were wonderfully crunchy, the only item we...
Photograph from "Boppadopoulos" on Flickr New York magazine gives a rundown on where to get clam pizza in New York City: Franny's: 295 Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11217 (b/n Prospect and St. Marks; map); 718-230-0221; frannysbrooklyn.comBussaco: 833 Union Street, Brooklyn NY 11217 (near Seventh Avenue; map); 718-857-8828Lombardi's: 32 Spring Street, New York NY 10012 (near Mott Street; map); 212-941-7994; firstpizza.comOtto: 1 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10003 (corner of 8th Street; map); 212-995-9559; ottopizzeria.comFornino: 187 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11211 (at North 7th Street; map); 718-384-6004South Brooklyn Pizza: 451 Court Street, Brooklyn NY 11231 (near 4th Place; map); 718-852-6018...
If you're not into the habit of picking up the Onion satirical newspaper, here's a reason next week. From an email we just got from the folks at L'Asso: The L'asso Pizza Guide—the definitive guide to pizza—will be carried as a NYC Onion insert (10/9/2008). The guide is a humorous and informational guide to pizza—from its humble beginnings in ancient times to its current incarnation as one of the world's favorite foods. It's been a year in the making!The one-of-a-kind guide chews on the anthropological aspects of pizza (Are you a dutiful dabber, a hi-fi folder, or a spicy sprinkler?),...
It's been awhile since Slice has waded into the plaintive muck of Craigslist's Missed Connections section. So come with me, my loves, to the swamp of love that spawns That's Amore. —The Mgmt. At New Park Pizza on CrossBay Blvd today with your friend - m4w: If this work's I'll not only be really happy but amazed! At New Park Pizza on Cross Bay Blvd in Howard Beach Queens this afternoon. You are light skinned and you were sitting with your girlfriend who was darker. You were wearing what I think I remember was a pink Tee shirt with something...
