Entries tagged with 'UES'
Posted by Adam Kuban, May 19, 2008 at 10:30 AM
Editor's note: The place I wanted to visit for this week's review wasn't open, so I'm going to give you a run-down on my weekend in pizza instead, along with a makeshift review on an unexpected place. —The Mgmt.
The Most Insane Pizza I Have Ever Seen
Bacon pizza. That's right: B-A-C-O-N. At the Famous Original Ray's on 62nd and Lex.
On Saturday I was supposed to meet Girl Slice at an undisclosed location on the Upper East Side at 3 p.m. She must have called while I was on the subway in from Brooklyn because when I popped up in Manhattan, I had a message: "Meet me at 3:30 instead."
The less said, the better.
Lucky for me I can always kill time by sampling a slice here and there or by taking photos of pizzeria exteriors to add to my growing collection. Anyway, I hadn't eaten lunch yet and I was starving, and so it was that rare occasion when quality mattered less to me than convenience. And so, after about ten minutes of walking around, I found myself at Little Slice of Italy on Second Avenue and 61st Street. I have to say, for 3:05 p.m. on a Saturday, this block was downright deserted. And with its door propped open to the elements and only one almost-listless patron inside, Little Slice of Italy felt like an Old West saloon whose drinkers have fled in advance of the showdown that's about to take place there.
I ordered a plain slice, to stay, and the less said, the better. I didn't even bother taking a photo. It was a plain ol' generic greasy grilled-cheese-tasting slice. I finished not even half of it before tossing it.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, August 14, 2007 at 4:00 PM
Over lunch, a Serious Eats colleague told me about the opening of Accademia di Vino.
"What's that? Some kinda wine bar? Not interested," I said.
"But it's got grilled pizza," she said.
"Well, why diddincha say so?"
One of the dudes behind this place—executive chef Kevin Garcia—came up through Al Forno, my colleague said, where he worked as something called a tournant, or a roundsman. Al Forno is, of course, the grilled-pizza mothership—the joint in Providence, Rhode Island, where George Germon came up the idea of slapping pizza dough on a grate over coals. Mr. Garcia also did a turn under the late Vinny Scotto at New York City's Gonzo, the place credited with bringing grilled pizza to the Big Apple. (Mr. Scotto himself learned the art of the grilled pie at Al Forno.)
Accademia di Vino, will open to the public tomorrow night (August 15) in the old Mainland space at 1081 Third Avenue, on the Upper East Side, at 64th Street.
So, lo and behold, we get back from throwing down some slices (what else did you think I'd be eating?), and there's a flack attack in my inbox. I'll let it do all the non-intriguing non-pizza talking, after the jump.
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Posted by DJ Bubbles, July 30, 2007 at 6:00 PM
Ladies and gents, Slice's favorite drive-by pizza reviewer is back after a long absence. That's right, DJ Bubbles, whose credentials are best explained by the man himself in his message below, has resurfaced with the following email, to which he attached two photos—one presumably of himself and the other, I'm guessing, his dog, who I'm going to christen DJ Doggles. Buon appetito! —The Mgmt.
Attenzione, New Yorkers: Slice is in Bubble Trouble again as New York City's number one player hater is back on attack. The primogenitor of the Definitive NYC Top Ten Pizza List (the most commented-on article in Slice's history) has undertaken many exploratory slice walks throughout New York County in search of the borough's best grandma, or nonna, slice. Rest assured, I found it, and it certainly was not the Levine-endorsed Maffei on 22nd Street and Sixth Avenue nor the bootleg hybrid that is Lazzara's pan pie. No, my new No. 1 nonna hosed both of those knockoffs.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, November 9, 2006 at 10:45 AM
Reader comment and response is still pouring in thanks to yesterday's New York Times story. So many great comments and recommendations. And questions. Reaching into the proverbial mailbag, we have ...
Dear Slice,
Do you know of any good late night or 24 hour pizza places in NYC?
—Bilal
Dear Bilal,
Slice is a homebody, more prone to lying prone on the couch at night, remote in hand, watching Battlestar Galactica. But our favorite late-night (if not 24-hour) place is Vinny Vincenz. Great squares here. Sunday through Thursday till 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday till 4:30 a.m.
Late enough for you?
And, as always, readers, if you know of any good 24-hour or late-night pizzerias, chime in with your comments!
Hasta la pizza,
Adam
VINNY VINCENZ
Address: 231 First Ave., New York NY 10003 [East Village, b/n 13th/14th sts.; map]
Getting There: L train to First Ave. Vincenz is practically on the corner
Phone: 212-674-0707
URL: vinnyvincenz.com
Posted by Adam Kuban, November 8, 2006 at 2:42 PM
Dear Slice: I'm one who isn't supposed to eat wheat products and am looking around for places that offer alternative dough in their pizzas. The only ones I've been able to find are Cafe Viva on Second Avenue, which offers a spelt pizza crust, and Risotto on Bleecker Street, which offers a rice pizza crust.
Do you have any other recommendations of places that offer other crusts or pasta restaurants that offer pasta that isn't the standard wheat flour? Thank you, S.A.S.
Dear S.A.S.: There's an Upper East Side joint whose name we really dig. Try Slice, at 1413 Second Ave. I think they may have some options for you. —Ed.
Posted by DJ Bubbles, October 19, 2006 at 10:05 AM
An interesting item hit the Slice inbox yesterday.
OK guys, put this in your pie and smoke it!
A couple of caveats: The list isn't quite as definitive as it claims to be, as it is missing any critical analysis of Staten Island, Queens, and Bronx joints. When you guys post this on the site (front page, please), perhaps you may want to refer to it as "The Definitive Manhattan and Brooklyn Top 10 List." We've all been to these places enough times to know what's going on and who's coming with their A game and who isn't.
Seltzerboy, as a fellow SU alum, I tried to get in touch with you when I first moved to New York, and I also furnished you with a copy of the Syracuse Pizza Manifesto, another masterwork I coauthored. But to no avail, I never really heard back from you other than a weak Orangeman shout out. We'll take you choads in a pie-off any day of the week! Now, without further ado....
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Posted by Adam Kuban, July 31, 2006 at 2:18 PM
In yesterday's New York Times F.Y.I. column, the question was raised: Where was the first Ray's Pizza, and what's the story behind it?
A. Why don’t you ask something simple, like what happened to Judge Crater? Some New York culinary questions (just who invented the black-and-white cookie is another) are destined to remain shrouded in mystery. The evolution of Ray’s Pizza resists an easy explanation....
The Ray’s question is also bristling with lawyers. Rosolino Mangano, of Famous Original Ray’s Pizza on Columbus Avenue near 83rd Street, went to court in the early 1990’s, registered that name and branched out with many identically named Ray’s, run mostly by relatives, with others under license. Then there was Ralph Cuomo, who in 1959 opened a Ray’s Pizza at 27 Prince Street and then another one on First Avenue and 59th Street; the second location ended up in Mr. Mangano’ s hands. Other would-be Rays said they had a right to their versions. Some joined forces; some sued. You get the idea.
Slice suspected as much, from the research we've done on the topic, that's why you've never seen an in-depth investigative piece on the place on this website. I mean, if the might and muscle of the Gray Lady couldn't uncover the truth, we're afraid the Ray's question will forever remain a greasy mystery.
FURTHER READING
From A Full Belly, March 18, 2004:
Food Wars claims that there are at least 3,000 pizzerias in New York, and at least 30 of them use some form of “Ray’s” in their name including but not limited to Ray’s, Ray’s Pizza, Famous Original Ray’s Pizza, Ray’s Famous Original Pizza, World Famous Ray’s Pizza, Not Ray’s Pizza, and RayBari Pizza. A quick poll of Citysearch finds 2788 results on “pizza” and 45 results on “Ray’s pizza”. The thing is, there is no Ray.
Using his mom’s pizza recipt, Ralph Cuomo opened Ray’s in 1959 in Little Italy, which quickly became known as the place to buy the slice (and later, the place to buy a slice AND some heroin, but curiously enough Food Wars fails to mention this bit of trivia). In the early 60’s, Cuomo opened a second Ray’s (54th and 7th Ave), which was eventually bought by Rosolino Mangano. Mangano changed the name to Famous Original Ray’s, even though it wasn’t the original. Mangano now goes by the name “Ray” even though legal name is still Rosolino, and has opened Famous Original’s all over New York City. Mangano also claims that he is the “Ray” that has made the name "Ray’s" famous.
In 1981, Mangano sold a store to someone else, who continued using the name “Ray’s” and soon more “Ray’s” pizzeria variations began popping up. Ralph Cuomo then attempted to trademark the name "Ray’s." The three "Ray’s" pizza players eventually incorporated together, trademarked the name Ray’s, and then went after everyone else using the name.
But wait, there’s more! Joe Bari bought a “Ray’s Restaurant” in 1973 and turned it into a pizzeria and added his own name, Ray Bari Pizza. Bari believes he, not Mangano of Famous Original Ray’s, made the name famous by using cab drivers to spread to word about the pizzeria. Joe Bari refused to change the name, and was sued by the corporate Ray’s, and eventually changed his restaurant name to RayBari Pizza.
And there you have a small slice of the contentious history behind New York pizza.
You Can Call Them Ray [New York Times]
New York Pizza, Part 1 [A Full Belly]
Posted by Ed Levine, April 24, 2006 at 2:12 PM
Brio Forno is one of those generically sleek restaurants on New York's tony Upper East Side that I would have never walked into without a nudge from Simon Dean, one of the managing partners of the terrific Italian fish restaurant Esca. (Full disclosure: I am writing a book with Esca partner/chef Dave Pasternack.) He said, "Ed, I just wandered into Brio Forno with a friend, and we had a terrific pizza and an even better calzone." He didn't tell me about the stunning photos of gorgeous women that greet you from the wall as you walk in the door. Stunning photos of gorgeous women enhance the pizza-eating experience every time.
The other thing you notice at Brio Forno is the colorful, geometrically shaped pizza oven tucked into the corner. The pile of hardwood stored right beneath the oven indicates that Brio's oven is the real, wood-burning deal. I sat down at the counter right in front of the oven because I wanted to observe the pizzaiolo in action. I ordered a Margherita and a calzone and watched Andreas Rinaldi, who learned to make pizza in his native Buenos Aires, do his thing. He stretched the dough for the Margherita first, and carefully put some fior di latte imported from Naples on top of the finest-quality imported La Valle tomatoes. He used the same dough for the calzone, which he filled with the fior di latte, ricotta, prosciutto cotto (roast ham), and champignon mushrooms. A few minutes later Rinaldi slid them out of the oven and onto plates. The pizza was very fine, with a crisp, chewy slightly blackened crust. The sauce was clean tasting; the mozzarella just creamy enough. It would have been a perfect pizza if the outer rim had just puffed up a little more. The Calzone was almost too hefty to eat, but was tasty and substantial.
I asked Brio chef Massimo Carbone about his pizza: "There are no secrets to making good Neapolitan pizza. We use Caputo double-zero flour from Italy. It costs twice as much as American flour, but you really need it to make this style of pizza. The La Valle tomatoes are the best tomatoes to use for pizza. Even Mario Batali uses them. The fior di latte comes from Italy in two-kilo bricks. It's right for the pizza, but we use mozzarella di bufala for the Caprese salad. The oven comes from Italy. We use hickory and oak. The pizzas cook for only three minutes because they are backing at seven hundred degrees. Our customers are half neighborhood people, and half Italians visiting or staying in the city for a while. They appreciate what we do. We make them happy. There is one thing I won't do for anyone, however. We don't put pineapple on our pizza."
BRIO FORNO
Location: 135 East 61st Street, New York NY 10021
Phone: 212-980-2300
Ed's Rating: 2.5 pies (out of a possible 4)
Ed Levine is a regular contributor to the New York Times Dining section and is author of New York Eats and New York Eats More. He also maintains a blog: Ed Levine Eats. This entry is an excerpt from his book Pizza: A Slice of Heaven
, published on Slice through special arrangement.
Posted by Adam Kuban, January 4, 2006 at 2:43 AM
Moby's everywhere I turn the last couple of days. First as the answer to a Trivial Pursuit question on New Year's Day. Then on a couple NYC blogs yesterday as word of his tea shop's renovation spread. And now on the Food Network eating pizza.
But wait. Ain't that dude vegan? You betcha. But the slice he's holding (right) is from Upper East Side healthy-pizza pizzeria Slice.
Last night's Recipe for Success on the Food Network featured the place, and the story was fairly interesting, showing all the hard work and research the majority owner, Miki Agrawal, put into her recently opened pizzeria. It's particularly amazing to see the space as it was several months ago, all gutted before being built out. She took a lot of risks to open the place, and if the Food Network's numbers are correct, they're starting to pay off for her. Good deal.
Maybe she should talk to Moby about turning the recently closed-for-renovation Teany into a second Slice location.
FURTHER READING
Slice the weblog on Slice the pizzeria
Twenty Bucks a Day on Slice
Posted by Adam Kuban, December 6, 2005 at 11:00 AM
It should come as no surprise to you that I've often fantasized about owning my own pizzeria. I've thought about the layout, design, atmosphere, type of oven I'd use, and what I'd name the place. Like my favorite pizzaioli, I'd craft pies that first pleased myself, confident that customers would in turn find them pleasing and come in droves.
But to paraphrase Honest Abe, you can't please all of the people all of the time. I've taken that into consideration when I find myself, in a daydream, behind the counter of my imaginary pizzeria. For instance, my pizzeria does not serve a vegan-friendly pie. In fact, I take great pleasure in turning away imaginary customers:
Vegan: Um, I don't see a vegan slice on your menu?
Me: Keen eyes. You must be eatin' your carrots. Next!
Health Nut: Yeah, lemme get a whole-wheat slice with …
Me: Next!
Wheat-Allergy Sufferer: Do you offer a wheat-free crust?
Me: No pizza for you! Next!
It's not that I don't like vegans, health nuts, or food-allergy sufferers—some of my best friends fall into one or more of those categories—it's just that my pizzeria serves my ideal pizza. And it's a chimera of a pie that somehow combines Di Fara's three-cheese zinginess with the crisp-chewy coal-fired crusts of New York pizza's founding fathers.
Anyone who knows me, however, knows I'm more softie than Soup Nazi, so, in reality, I'd politely refer those customers to another pizzeria. And that pizzeria would be Slice the Perfect Food (henceforth "STPF" to avoid confusion with this weblog).
ANOTHER TAKE
Though Slice the Pefect Weblog gives Slice the Perfect Food a tip of the hat, blogger Twenty Bucks a Day had a recent experience with the place that left him giving it a wag of the finger:
... Like its spiritual (if not gastronomical) predecessor, the California Pizza Kitchen, STPF throws the whole lot of tradition out the window in favor of the idea of pizza – a baked crust with sauce and the occasional cheese sighting, where seemingly any topping is fair game. As an additional affront to pizza traditionalists, STPF (located at 1413 2nd Av.) claims to concentrate on the organic and restricted-diet-enabling side of the ingredient spectrum – the cheeses available, for example, start out at a relatively straightforward organic mozzarella, but move along to the lactose-intolerant-friendly goat cheese, soy mozzarella, and rice mozzarella. There is a gluten-free crust available, too, which makes the availability of whole-wheat crust seem downright normal. ...
Thirty-five minutes or so later, the [delivery] pie arrived, and the disappointment began. The crust was tough as nails, a fact not aided by the pizza having cooled substantially from its removal from the oven. While the cheese-and-sauced portions were fine, if bland, we frequently discarded bits of the outer rim of crust. Yes, the pie was good enough to finish, but if it had been any colder, we would have had to reheat it (it would have been tough in a standard-sized oven, too – the pies are rectangular).
Twenty's story continues, detailing the long strange trip that a mysterious (and unordered) second pie made to his apartment. Click over to his site to read the rest: This "Slice" Is Far from Perfect STPF offers what might be called pizza for people who can't or won't eat pizza. After all, it was born when one of its founders self-diagnosed her own lactose intolerance (she "couldn't find pizza that could be eaten anywhere," the website says) and "decided to create more mainstream pizza that could be eaten by people like her." To that end, STPF makes pies and slices from a number of components, allowing you to tailor your meal to your specific likes or special dietary needs. If you're lactose intolerant, like the owner above or like my friend BeeBee, who I dragged along as a test subject, you can choose rice or soy mozzarella rather than the organic cow's milk mozzarella or goat cheese that are also available.
Slices and pies range from "Dunce" to "Genius," becoming more expensive as you get more learnin'.—$3.50 a slice/$18 a pie for a bruschetta-like "Dunce" to $24 for a "Master." (A build-your-own "Genius" pie starts at $20, and toppings bump the price quickly.)
I'm kicking myself now for not going whole hog and trying a spelt-pesto-rice mozz option. That would have been the true test of tastiness and edibility from a traditional pizza-lover's standpoint and would have been more helpful for you, the reader. I was ready to take the leap but, when faced with the mildly bewildering menu, ended up getting flustered and ordered an "Expert" slice (herbed crust, marinara sauce, grilled organic rosemary chicken and basil) and a build-your-own that came as close as I could get to a traditional plain slice (herbed crust, marinara, and organic mozzarella). On a previous visit, I tried a similar "plain slice," but with a sundried tomato marinara sauce.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, June 27, 2005 at 3:15 PM
Pizza can bring great joy, as evidenced by the poems in our Pizza Haiku Contest. But there is also a dark side to pizza—muggings and murders of delivery drivers, pizzerias as fronts for drug operations, etc.
And now, in New York City, it seems like cops are looking at a pizza deliveryman as a suspect in the "Spider Man Rapist" case. The heinous perp in these assaults has been climbing down fire escapes into open windows, assualting women, and then using some sort of wire system to lower himself down to the ground. The deliveryman cops are investigating, Eugenio Aguilar, is out on bail and delivering pizzas for Figaro Pizza (1469 Second Ave., b/n 76th and 77th Streets). Though police have yet to arrest him for the rapes, he was caught in June sneaking into a woman's apartment; he has been indicted for that incident. But there's more:
Aguilar was also busted in February for allegedly snapping photos up women's skirts on his pizza round.
Shortly after taking his fingerprints, police linked Aguilar to the June 25, 2004, incident on East 77th Street.
When cops quizzed him in that case, he said he had gone to the building to deliver a pizza, and saw the woman enter her apartment.
"She was very pretty," Aguilar said, court records show. "I delivered the pizza . . . then I went through the stairwell window, onto a ledge, and I climbed into her window. Her window was slightly open and I was watching her. I just wanted to watch her.
"She came out of the bathroom not fully dressed, and she started screaming and grabbed my leg. I got free, climbed back into the stairwell window and went back to work."
Aguilar was originally charged with criminal trespass, but was indicted in May on burglary charges.
When approached by The Post while delivering pizza on 75th Street last night, he denied he was the Spider-Man rapist.
Posted by Adam Kuban, November 14, 2003 at 10:44 AM
Nick's Pizza garners a review in today's New York Daily News. Irene Sax visits the UES location for the News's Eats Beat section and reports:
The crust was thin, well-salted and blistered along one edge from the oven's high heat. As it cooled, it stayed crisp, a sign of first-rate pizza. The fresh, light tomato sauce was barely flavored with oregano, the cheese was high-quality, and there were slivers of basil and a kiss of grated Parmesan on the top. Altogether a superior product.
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