Friday, October 18, 2013

Day 11, 2013: Nicoletta (E. Village, NYC)





DAY 11: OCTOBER 11th, 2013

LOCATION: Nicoletta (160 2nd Ave, New York, NY)

ORDER: 3/4 of a personal Classica, 1 slice of a Calabrese

GUEST(S): Tony Carnevale

REVIEW:
The Best of the Midwest finds a home in New York City's East Village.  Owner and chef Michael White sought to create a pizzeria that serves the pizza he loved growing up in Wisconsin.  He provided the gas oven, top-of-the-line ingredients, and a recipe for durable crisp Midwest style dough and left the creativity to his trusted staff. Since its opening in June 2012, Nicoletta pizziolis have been perfecting their product from the toppings to the bottom-ings.  For instance, the seemingly simple cheese pie, called the "Classica," includes generous amounts of Wisconsin's finest Grande Mozzarella cheese, a savory tomato sauce, and clumps of crushed plum tomatoes on an olive oil drizzled golden brown crust.  While I do crave Napoli style soft crust like many pizza purists and sometimes side with my fellow New Yorkers who feel the slice should fold or fugetaboutit, Nicoletta should not be fugotten about!  The thicker crust not only provides a nice crisp consistency but also enables it to stay fresh longer.  So, if you live in the area and don't feel like taking a seat in the trendy exposed brick dining area, order it for delivery.  Rest assured, the pie won't be soggy when it arrives.  Theoretically, the leftovers will also reheat nicely but, when pizza tastes this good, there's not likely going to be any leftovers.  For the best deal, visit Nicoletta for lunch.  The daily special gets you a 12" personal pie and a salad for less than most pizzerias charge for the pie alone.  I look forward to coming back.

PHOTOS:






MISCELLANEOUS:
1. I heard about Nicoletta through an event called Slice Out Hunger.  Nicoletta was one of the pizzerias to donate pizzas to the event, founded by Scott Wiener (of Scott's Pizza Tours) that raises money to feed those less fortunate.
2. Tony is in town to perform the song "Get Lucky" for Terry Jinn's ETV concert.  


He's soon heading back to Los Angeles where he'll host Chris and Tony's Secret Show alongside Chris Schneider and house musician Nate Shelkey.  The show starts at 10:30pm on October 25th at the Neon Venus.
3. The pizzioli on hand when we arrived at Nicoletta is named Michael Cariglio.  I had the honor of meeting him. He loves to talk pizza and always looking to learn more.  He was even trying convince me to take a class with him offered at Eataly. I might just do it.

RATING:
 4.41/5
  • VALUE:
     4/5

  • AMBIENCE:
     3/3

  • TASTE:
     8.5/10

  • SERVICE:
     3/3

18.5/21 = .881 x 5 = 4.41

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