LOCATION: Grimaldi's Pizzeria (19 Old Fulton St., BROOKLYN) GUEST(S): Angela Demanti, Alex Marino, Shannon Manning, Mitch Yashiro, Tiffany Morningstar, Terry Jinn, Rachael Mason, Mark Lee, Tony Carnevale, Petra Boden, Michael Jeffrey Cohen, Maddy Mako, Ptolemy Slocum ORDER: 1 slice of pepperoni, 1 slice of cheese, 1 slice of sausage, 1 slice of mushroom MISC.:
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Sunday, October 31, 2004
Day 31, 2004: Grimaldi's Pizzeria (Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn)
Saturday, October 30, 2004
Day 30, 2004: Posto (E. Village, NYC)
DAY 30: October 30th
LOCATION: Posto (310 2nd Ave, NYC) GUEST(S): Justin Purnell, Mark Lee, Jarret Berenstein ORDER: 2 slices of Margherita, 2 slices of pepperoni with fresh mozzarella MISC.:
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Friday, October 29, 2004
Day 29, 2004: Otto Enoteca (Greenwich Village, NYC)
LOCATION: Otto Enoteca (1 Fifth Avenue, NYC) GUEST(S): Tara Quinn ORDER: five slices of an individual margherita with pepperoni, one slice of mushroom MISC.:
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Thursday, October 28, 2004
Day 28, 2004: Lombardi's Pizzeria (NoLIta, NYC)
DAY 28: October 28th LOCATION: Lombardi's Pizzeria (32 Spring St., NYC) GUEST(S): Matt Evans, Dave Thunder, Carl Arnheiter, Tony Carnevale ORDER: 2 slices of cheese, 2 slices of pepperoni PIZZA REPORT: Viva Lombardi's! The oldest pizzeria in America got bigger since pizza month '03, but the pizza they could is from the same sweet coal-fired oven. The pepperoni at Lombardi's is about a half an inch in diameter but packs a taste equal to any other twice its size. After enduring the extensive heat of the coal-fired oven mentioned above, the pepperonis begin to warp upward. I think it has something to do with the moisture around the edges of the pepperoni drying out faster than the center. Whatever the reason the net result is a crispy yet chewy pepperonis. I really like it. The plain cheese slices I had were especially good. I think this was due to the parmesan cheese sprinkled in just the right amount atop the pizza. The crispy crust, fresh tomato sauce, and perfect distribution of toppings established the a utopian society right in my mouth. MISC.:
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Wednesday, October 27, 2004
Day 27, 2004: Gonzo (W. Village, NYC)
LOCATION: Gonzo (140 W. 13th St, NYC) GUEST(S): Phil Shane, Julie Brister, Shannon O'Neill ORDER: Half of individual Margherita, one-fourth of a pumpkin, one-fourth of a Sopressata PIZZA REPORT: Crispy ellipse-y! Gonzo creates pizzas like no other. These flattened elliptical pizzas are delicious. The thinness of the dough enables the pizza to be cooked very quickly. Our pizza was cooked in no time flat (pun intended). My pizza was initially half margherita and half sopressata but I was able to barter for a slice of pumpkin. I had never heard of pumpkin pizza but what better time to give it a try than pumpkin season? It was good. Not your typical 'pumpkin pie' but maybe it should be. The sopressata pizza had a unique blend of ricotta, romano & bel paese cheese that quickly won my favor. I am still unsure what exactly "sopressata" meat is but I am sure I like it. I also had a portion of the margherita pizza, Gonzo's signature, which was outstanding. The sauce pockets and spices created the perfect consistency with the blended cheeses on the thin grilled crust. MISC.:
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Tuesday, October 26, 2004
Day 26, 2004: Park Pizza (Flatiron, NYC)
DAY 26: October 26th LOCATION: Park Pizza (Park Ave South at 24th St., NYC) GUEST(S): Andrew Butterworth ORDER: 2 slices of cheese MISC.:
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Monday, October 25, 2004
Day 25, 2004: East Village Pizza & Kababs (E. Village, NYC)
DAY 25: October 25th LOCATION: East Village Pizza & Kebabs (145 First Ave, NYC) GUEST(S): Zohar Adner, Todd Simmons ORDER: 1 slice of Lasgna Pizza, 1 slice of Cheese PIZZA REPORT: Good-on-ya, Lasagna! Who knew that lasagna on pizza would be so good? The answer is East Village Pizza & Kebabs. Despite lasgna and pizza being two distinct Italian entrees, the combination of the two is very near the sum of the parts. I will say that the slice was more pizza than lasagna though - afterall, the slice had no 'lasagna' noodles on it. But, the ricotta cheese, tomato sauce patches, basil, pepper, and perhaps some other spices really enhanced the typical conventional oven slice. The cheese slice was a quality specimen as well. All the cheese and sauce was well distributed out to the edges of the crispy crust. It was shiny but well worth the oil intake. MISC.:
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Sunday, October 24, 2004
Day 24, 2004: Sal's Pizzeria (Cobble Hill, Brooklyn)
LOCATION: Sal's Pizzeria (305 Court St, BROOKLYN) GUEST(S): Michael Jeffrey Cohen, Rachael Mason, Erika Kern, Tony Carnevale, Maddy Mako ORDER: 1 slice of white, 1 slice of cheese PIZZA REPORT: White on! The white slice I ate was outstanding. The little bits of spinach mixed masterfully in the cheese with a hint of garlic...all on a brick oven baked crust. The cheese slice was orange, so next to the white slice (with green spinach), I had all the colors of the Irish flag. Obviously, in order to be that orange, the cheese slice must have been made with a different type of cheese than the white but I still liked it. I like the cheese slice and loved the white slice. At first I was wondering why they would cook the slices in a brick oven then reheat them as needed in a conventional oven. Then I think I figured it out. Brick oven pizza makes each slice more flavorful and more sturdy. However, since a brick oven cooks the crust at such a high temperature, a slice cannot endure another brick oven cook cycle. MISC.:
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Saturday, October 23, 2004
Day 23, 2004: Sac's Pizza Place (Astoria, Queens)
DAY 23: October 23rd LOCATION: Sac's Pizza Place (25-41 Broadway, QUEENS) GUEST(S): Sylvija Ozols, Linda Fessenden, Mica Scalin, Eliza Skinner, Alan Fessenden ORDER: 4* slices of Pepperoni, 1 Sicilian slice of mushroom PIZZA REPORT: Queens Coal-fired up! As far as I know, this is the only place to get coal-fired pizza in Queens. It's worth the trip. The coal-fired brick oven crust with just the right amount of sauce on my pepperoni slices was so good. And the Sicilian pizza was huge! It was almost the size of Siciliy (or at least a big map of Sicily). It was cut up into 16 slices and each one of those was gigantic. Can something be gigantic and taste good? Yes. The abundant cheese and the doughy crust were very filling so, in the interest of overall slice quantity desired (OSQD), I just had one Sicilian slice. MISC.:
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Friday, October 22, 2004
Day 22, 2004: Pie (E. Village, NYC)
DAY 22: October 22nd LOCATION: Pie (124 Fourth Ave, NYC) GUEST(S): Dyna Moe, Kirk Damato, Violet Krumbein, Bill Buckendorf ORDER: 3"x 8" fresh mozzarella, 4"x8" diced tomatoes, basil, and fresh mozzarella PIZZA REPORT: Pizza by the pound. You walk in and have several choices of pizzas the size and shape of snowboards. You tell them how much of the snowboard you want, they cut it, then weigh it, and you pay for it, and you eat it. Everyone of the pizzas looks fresh and inviting. Because of a recent cheese crush, the slices I had all contained fresh mozzarella. The 3"x8" (don't know how much it weighed) had the fresh mozzarella spread out evenly over the entire section whereas the 4"x8" tomato, basil, and fresh mozzarella had chunks of the cheese scattered throughout. The diced tomatoes took the place of sauce on the latter slice and although I love tomato sauce, they were a welcome change in consistency. The diced tomatoes were also more filling but both were so good I bet on an empty stomach, I could have eaten an entire snowboard of either one. MISC.:
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Thursday, October 21, 2004
Day 21, 2004: Three of Cups (E. Village, NYC)
DAY 21: October 21st LOCATION: Three of Cups (83 1st Ave at 5th St, NYC) GUEST(S): Gavin Speiller, Suzi Pierce, Bob Acevedo, Matt Pack, Will Hines, Tony Carnevale, Kevin Hines ORDER: 4 slices of Margharita PIZZA REPORT: Basiltown! There was a lot of basil on the entire pizza but not too much to overpower the overall taste. This is due to the combined forces of the crispy wood burning brick oven crust, the flavorful tomato sauce, and the fresh mozzarella cheese. I especially enjoyed the tomato sauce. It had a thicker-than-usual consistency and several spices within the sauce were visible...until I ate it. MISC.:
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Wednesday, October 20, 2004
Day 20, 2004: Bravo Pizza (Flatiron, NYC)
LOCATION: Bravo Pizza (257 Park Ave South, NYC) GUEST(S): Andrew Butterworth ORDER: 1 slice of fresh mozzarella Neopolitan style, 1 slice of fresh mozzarella Sicilian style PIZZA REPORT: Naples beats Sicily, but the mozzarella cheese tops them both (in more ways than one). I think the temperature of the slices gave the Neopolitan (triangular) slice the edge over the Sicilian (rectangular) slice. I understand that the doughy consistency is implied with a Sicilian slice but so should an increased cook (or re-cook) time. Since it wasn't fully reheated, I sort of had the feeling I was eating a warm sponge. Sure it was a warm sponge topped with delicious fresh mozzarella cheese, but a warm sponge nonetheless. The sauce was well applied on both slices and the crust was pretty consistent throughout so really the only drawback of these conventional oven slices was the temperature - and that may have been because I chose two different styles. I'll test that theory when I go back. MISC.:
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Tuesday, October 19, 2004
Day 19, 2004: Cavaleri Pizza Market (Flushing, Queens)
DAY 19: October 19th LOCATION: Cavaleri Pizza Market (41-27 162nd St., QUEENS) GUEST(S): Erik Marcisak ORDER: half of a 12" buffalo chicken pizza PIZZA REPORT: 2 worlds merge when pizza and spicy chicken unite. This pizza was made with mozzarella, spicy tomato sauce, chunks of marinated chicken breast, and blue cheese. The thick crust provided the perfect foundation for such a creation. I have had chicken on a pizza before but in my experience, the oven tends to cook the taste out of it. Not so for Cavaleri Pizza Market. Here the spicy sauce and the marinade were expertly cut by the addition of blue cheese to bring out the taste of the chicken without overpowering the pizza taste. A good marriage of two of my favorite foods. MISC.:
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Monday, October 18, 2004
Day 18, 2004: Famous Original Ray's Pizza (Kips Bay, NYC)
DAY 18: October 18th LOCATION: Famous Original Ray's Pizza (26th st and Lexington, NYC) GUEST(S): Matt Pack ORDER: 1 slice of cheese PIZZA REPORT: Famous Original Ray's Pizza was created in 1964. The slice of pizza I ate may also have been from 1964. It was old and cold before it went back in the oven. The oven was able to bring out the orange color, a bunch of grease, and some crust brittleness. The tomato sauce was this slice's only redeeming quality and, perhaps, the single factor that enabled me to finish the entire slice. I have decided that if you work late and arrive right before closing, the chances of getting a slice from a new pizza are very slim. MISC.:
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Sunday, October 17, 2004
Day 17, 2004: Li"l Frankie's (E. Village, NYC)
LOCATION: Lil' Frankies (19 1st Ave, NYC) GUEST(S): Nate Shelkey, Eliza Skinner, Kitzi Taylor ORDER: 5 slices of an individual Salemi Piccante pizza (out of 6) PIZZA REPORT: Important Import. The fresh mozzarella buffalo cheese (Mozzarella Di Buffala) is imported from Italy everyday at Lil' Frankies. Mozzarella Di Buffala truly makes this pizza. I noticed that the Margharita pizza my mom ordered did not appear to have the same cheese as my Salemi Piccante. Too bad for her, too good for me. The cheese is so 'import'ant to the pizza that I recommend asking if the pizza you want to order contains the Mozzarella Di Buffala. You won't be sorry. The combination of the spicy meat, imported cheese, and Italian tomato sauce on the thin wood-burning oven crust was superb. It was like a delicious festival (Festivale Di Delicious?) for my mouth. MISC.:
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Friday, October 15, 2004
Day 16, 2004: La Pizza Fresca (Flatiron, NYC)
DAY 16: October 16th LOCATION: La Pizza Fresca (31 East 20th Street, NYC) GUEST(S): Terry Jinn, Maddy Mako, Jen MacNeil, Tiffany Morningstar, Louie Pearlman, Matt Pack, Millie Cho, Kitzi Taylor, Tony Carnevale ORDER: Half of an individual Salemi Piccante, half of an individual "La Pizza Fresca" PIZZA REPORT: Pizza with style...and moisture. Both of my pizzas were delicious and both of my pizzas were wet. "Wet" is not a typical adjective used to describe things I like but my limited vocabulary has made it necessary. I am not sure this is due to wet ingredients, condensation, or someone spilling water on the pizzas but I am confident it was not grease. This much grease would not have been good. This pizza was awesome! The moisture made the crust more flexible and kept the toppings "fresca" (Italian for "fresh"). I also really enjoyed the spicy meat toppings on the Salemi Piccante pizza. It went really well with the cheese and the wood charred oven crust. MISC.:
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