Day 27, 2004: Gonzo (W. Village, NYC)

DAY 27: October 27th 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.: After we ate, we rushed outside to see the lunar eclipse (from ellipse to eclipse!). Shannon O'Neill had the perfect brand of gum for such an occasion. We then went up to the roof of Julie Brister and Phil Shane's apartment building to get a better view of the heavenly event. It was the best view of Manhattan I have ever seen. Sadly, cloud cover prevented us from seeing the moon. Shannon gave us the next best thing though creating a perfect lunar eclipse simulation with nothing more than a quarter.