Entries tagged with 'luzzos'
Posted by Adam Kuban, September 29, 2008 at 12:30 PM
Clicking in to the Slice inbox today, we've got some intel from Scott Wiener of Scott's New York Pizza Tours...
Adam,
I was helping a friend move this weekend and nearly drove onto the sidewalk when I saw a familiar carved-wood sign on the facade of a 96th Street building on the Upper East Side. Little Luzzo's opened about two weeks ago, serving quality slices, salads, and panini in a small storefront.
Unlike Luzzo's in the East Village, which uses an old coal-fired brick oven (211 First Avenue was once the home of the Palermo Bakery, followed by Zito's East), this location uses a brick-lined gas-fueled deck oven (Bakers Pride).
The result is a completely different slice, much thicker and sturdier with a sourdough flavor. The char on the underside is lovely, and they use beautiful fresh mozzarella on the Margherita. I'll get the exact address for you as soon as I get back home, where I filed the menu.
Not the same pizza you'll get at Luzzo's, but there are several variables, including the eatery's goal, which prevent such a duplication.
Have a slice day,
Scott
Continue reading »
Posted by Adam Kuban, October 28, 2007 at 10:00 PM
After starting a six-pizzeria pizza crawl at Franny's, travelers board the" Pizza Express."
This afternoon I had the pleasure of riding aboard what I'll call the Scott Wiener Pizza Express.
Scott Wiener is a true pizza lover, one who keeps a pizza journal that's legendary among those who know him, and his love and enthusiasm for the pie is truly infectious. So much so that a little more than 20 people showed up for a tour that would take us from Prospect Heights to deep Brooklyn, up to East Harlem, and back again to Brooklyn (see map, after the jump).
Continue reading »
Posted by Adam Kuban, October 4, 2007 at 7:00 PM
I forgot to blog this earlier today. A bunch of celebs and food world big machers named their favorite New York pizzerias. It's in the Daily News:
Martha Stewart: Luzzo's
Rocco DiSpirito: "The white pizza in the bar area at The Modern."
Mario Cantone: Apizz and Otto
Help NYDailyNews.com choose New York's best pizza! [New York Daily News]
Continue reading »
Posted by DJ Bubbles, September 27, 2007 at 5:45 PM
Or, 'A Plain Slice Review of Pizza 33, Mike's Pizza, Andiamo Pizzeria, Pizzanini, Ben's Pizzeria, and DeMarco's'
View Larger Map
This past Sunday, like so many of mine, was all about the pie. I started with a noon jaunt down to Luzzo's to reconfirm my love for the Naples-born Margherita DOC. However, as I was coming from uptown, I stumbled first upon good ol' Vinny Vincenz, as it's only one block north of Luzzo's on First Avenue. I had to at least stop in and grab one of Vin's excellent Sicilian slices, just to use it as a base case! Besides, Vinny has always been a friend of Slice's, and they even have E-Rock's classic review of the joint taped to their window—if other pie joints could only be so savvy! Of course, if I were Vezzo or L'Asso, I don't know if that would be such a good idea.
Anyway, Luzzo's was terrific (although you have to order their Margheritas with extra mozz, since they're awfully stingy with that), and Vincenzo was on point, Sicilian-style, and I went home satisfied. As a quick aside, I will say that Luzzo's crust is on par with Isabella's (on a good night, of course). The best indication that Luzzo's is on point has to be that it sits a half block from Una Pizza Napoletana and still draws comparable crowds on Friday nights.
At dinner time, I realized I hadn't been on a slice walk in some time. A slice walk is a pilgrimage to pie that I make every so often, typically on Sunday nights, where I have dinner by means of trying 3 or 4 slices from different Manhattan pizzerias. A slice walk is how I've tried, by my own modest estimate, approximately 200-plus pizzerias in Manhattan alone. These walks will never be all inclusive—I'm not eating pizza from a "deli" where I can also buy Rolos, and I'll never buy a slice from a joint after walking in and looking down at a monstrosity of a slice pie (trust me, you can tell when a slice is gonna be downright bad after going on enough of these, or so I thought).
Continue reading »
Posted by Adam Kuban, March 2, 2007 at 5:30 PM
Adam,
Any idea just how many pizza ovens in NYC are heated with coal?
Mahalo,
E.J.F.
Dear E.J.F.,
I know you've emailed a couple times about this, and my apologies for the delayed response—things have been busy at the Slice–Serious Eats office. Anyway, off the top of my head, here are all the ones I can think of. Readers, if I've forgotten any, do let me know in the comments.
Hasta la pizza,
Adam
Continue reading »
Posted by Adam Kuban, November 13, 2006 at 2:37 PM
"I don’t particularly care to walk in to a place and watch a guy past his prime “whip” up pizza and (what seemed like the case the last time I was there) who looks bored and careless as to what he was doing. As I mentioned earlier, consistency is something I look for, and the only thing I find consistent about his pizza is that he doesn’t make them all the same. ;) " —Nicky M., on Di Fara
How’s it going, Slice?
I will give you a little history on myself, and offer up my recommendation. My grandfather had two Italian restaurant/coal-oven pizza places in the city and appeared on the radio making pizza to music, or Musical Pizza. I myself, have been making pizza for seven years, most notably working at Villa Bay, which Arthur Schwartz praised for having great food and pizza. Due to having a poor location and terrible parking, my friend Jack had to close the place down.
One thing I found interesting, and really is the way that I came across your website, was your article of Famous Famiglia at Yankee Stadium. I actually worked for Famiglia for two years, and want to note two things.
Continue reading »
Posted by Adam Kuban, February 10, 2006 at 1:38 AM
A tipster tipped us to the fact that Lower East Side coal-burner Luzzo's will be featured on Martha this morning. New Yorkers can tune in to the show on WNBC-4 at 11 a.m. Anyone else, check your local listings.
LUZZO'S
Location: 211-13 First Ave. (b/n 12th and 13th streets) [map]
Phone: 212-473-7447
FURTHER READING
Martha Visits East Village's Luzzo's [Slice Archives]
Jeffrey Steingarten on Coal-Oven Pizza [Slice Archives]
Luzzo's: New Coal-Oven Place in the City! [Slice Archives]
Luzzo's in the Post [Slice Archives]
Posted by Adam Kuban, December 9, 2005 at 12:49 PM
From the New York Post's Page Six "Sightings" item today: "... Martha Stewart drawing applause as she entered Luzzo's on First Avenue for a three-hour feast of pasta and Neapolitan pizza ... "
FURTHER READING
New Coal-Oven Place in the City!
Luzzo's in the New York Post
Jeffrey Steingarten on Coal-Oven PIzza
Posted by Adam Kuban, August 10, 2005 at 6:00 PM
This is another week-old one that we neglected to post about during our renovation. The Daily News did a roundup of New York City's best pizzerias last week. As we told Eater, the new foodblog from the folks who brought you Curbed:
A nice roundup, I think. A lot of it is old hat to me, but there were some nice surprises in there, particularly a couple Brooklyn places (Graziella's, Laura's) that have been lurking one or two neighborhoods over from Slice HQ.
Irene Sax knows her stuff, and I agree with most of her assessments, although I don't know why she rated a chain Patsy's on the Upper West Side instead of the original in East Harlem. What's nice here is that they've really done a comprehensive roundup of the best places in each borough instead of picking, say, a top-five or top-ten list. It's a nice piece that's actually useful to anyone in any of the five boroughs.
You really should click through to the article and have a look at Ms. Sax's quick rundowns. For as long as we've been publishing Slice (and probably long before), Sax has been the News's pizza expert.
Here, we'll list Sax's picks and link to our reviews, when possible. When not possible, I, uh, well, I just offer up comments and such willy-nilly. Read on after the jump....
Upper Crust [New York Daily News]
The Boroughs' Best Pizza [Eater]
Continue reading »
Posted by Adam Kuban, April 4, 2005 at 1:40 PM
The Post gives props to East Village coal-burner Luzzo's in a story cleverly headlined Old King Coal. (Heh, those merry old souls that are the copy editors there.) What they say:
Lombardi's, Patsy's, Grimaldi's, Totonno's, John's. Aside from rabid fans, there's one thing these legendary New York pizzerias have in common: coal-burning ovens.
The super-hot kilns, aficionados agree, can elevate a pie to greatness by perfectly charring the crust and imparting a smoky flavor. But there are only a handful of them left, since city codes prohibit new coal ovens from being built.
"Nobody can get them. They're like taxi medallions," says restaurateur Charles LoPresto, who recently opened Luzzo's Ristorante in a First Avenue space with an existing, but decrepit, coal oven. By New York City law, they cannot be used unless they're grandfathered in.
"But they make the best pizza, and if they weren't prohibited, people would be constructing them." ...
One bite of Iuliano's Neopolitan-style pie proves it's crisp on the outside, tender within. A few dollops of buffalo mozzarella lend a creamy fresh counterpoint to a skim of tomato sauce that's uncooked, save for a three- to four-minute stint in the oven.
Slice was last at Luzzo's late last year, as part of an East Village pizza crawl that never made its way onto the site because my iBook fried and I lost my tasting notes and photos. We'll have to go back to Luzzo's again. The times we've been there, we found the crust to be crisp and chewy, exquisitely light, but a little bland and devoid of the nice char we like on Totonno's or Patsy's or Grimaldi's pies.
Posted by Adam Kuban, June 4, 2004 at 12:25 PM
HOLY SMOKE! A new coal-oven place has opened recently. Named Luzzo's. It's at 211-13 First Avenue, between 12th and 13th. Here's what NYMetro has to say about it:
Coal-burning ovens are hot commodities for pizza makers. Thanks to city codes, the only way to get one is to inherit it—which is what Charles LoPresto has done at Luzzo's, his new East Village restaurant. At one time, the spare, bare-bones space housed a bakery read more ...
LUZZO'S
Location: 211-13 First Avenue, New York NY 10003
Phone: 212-473-7447
Payment accepted: Cash only
Slice on coal ovens.
[Thanks to Alaina for spotting this!]
