31 Days of Pizza: Day 12, 2021: Kesté Pizza & Vino (FiDi, NYC)

DAY 12: OCTOBER 12th, 2021

LOCATION: Kesté Pizza & Vino (66 Gold St, New York, NY 10038)

GUEST(S): Robin Rothman, Paul Skye Lehrman, Gigi Olson, Tommy Tam

ORDER: 2 slices of Margherita (tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, grana, basil, extra virgin olive oil), 2 slices of Diavola (tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, hot sopressata, basil, extra virgin olive oil), 2 slices of Montanara (lightly fried pizza dough topped with signature Ciao tomato sauce, imported smoked buffalo mozzarella and basil, finished in wood-fired oven), 1 slice of Macellaio "The Butcher" (tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, sausage, porchetta, Crespone salami, prosciutto di Parma, basil, extra virgin olive oil), 1 slice of Truffle Burrata Pizza (home-made burrata filled with black and white truffle cream, grape tomatoes, basil, prosciutto di Parma, extra virgin olive oil)

REVIEW:

Napoletana perfection. If you don’t care for the pizza at Kesté Pizza & Vino then you probably don’t care for the Napoletana style. The owner, Roberto Caporuscio not only teaches a class in authentic Italian pizza-making, he literally runs an entire school on it. It's called the Academy of Pizza and as the President of the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (AVPN) in the U.S., Caporuscio knows the art of making pizza better than anyone. He's trained dozens of pizza chefs that have gone on to open their own pizzerias and countless home bakers. Classes are held IN the pizzeria. But don't just come to Kesté Pizza & Vino just to learn, come to eat! Let the brilliant pizzaioli craft the dough with Caputo '00' flour, layer on the San Marzano tomatoes and buffala mozzarella and then brilliantly bake it in a wood-fired oven. I recommend going with friends and each getting a personal pie so you can swap slices. Get one Margherita as a baseline and then go nuts. Get a Pizze Rosse with tomato sauce, a Pizze Bianche without, and try a fried signature Montanara pizza just to see how amazing premium ingredients taste when wrapped in a savory doughnut. The place is huge offering several dining areas including a climate controlled outside patio. Go by yourself, bring a date, or bring the whole Napoletana pizza loving family! When it comes to authentic Italian style pizza, Kesté Pizza & Vino is as good as it gets.

PHOTOS:

Wood-fired oven

2nd wood-fired oven

Truffle Burrata Pizza

slice of Margherita

Macellaio "The Butcher" pie

Montanara pie

Diavola pie

Margherita pie

Day 12

MISCELLANEOUS:

Gigi, Sean, Robin, Tommy, Paul

1. Gigi Olson, Paul Lehrman and I met on the same softball team in the Williamsburg Softball League. Our team name is called The Turkeys. Tommy Tam is also in that league but on a different team. Gigi plays so much softball, that she had to leave dinner to go play in a game.

2. Tommy Tam runs a charity organization called the Pawsome Squad and they are running a Halloween Pet Costume Contest at East River Park on Saturday, October 30th. Follow them on instagram at @nycpawsomesquad

Selfie spot on Pier 17

3. There is a selfie stand set up with pumpkins on Pier 17. Minutes before the photo we took our photo, Robin Rothman had to remind the selfie Queens that there was a line forming behind them. In her defense, they were taking like forever.

View from Pier 17

4. After pizza, Paul Lehrman took us on an impromptu of his neighborhood - the South Street Seaport. On Pier 17, we saw a breathtakingly gorgeous view of the bridges over the East River. I love NY.