Day 17, 2006: PINCH (Midtown, NYC)

 

LOCATION: PINCH (Park Ave South and 28th St, NYC)

GUEST(S): Ashley Ward, Zohar Adner, Maddy Mako (self portrait below)

ORDER: 5" of smoked mozzarella, 4.5" of hot sausage 

PIZZA REPORT: PINCH is short for "Pizza by the Inch" but it also, according to cook books, the word means "a very small amount".  At PINCH Pizza, they use both definitions.  The pizza is served on a long, thin cardboard trays measured out by length.  This gives the illusion that a lot of pizza has arrived.  I have since pinpointed three reasons why despite the wingspan of the pizza presented, there just isn't much to eat.  First of all, there is no depth (the underside is extremely thin).  Secondly, the width of pizza is only about 3 inches.  And, finally, all of the table's pizza is served together.  Typically, when a pizza is placed in the middle of a table, a good portion of the available space is eclipsed, however, at PINCH, only a 3 inch by 30 inch portion of the table is obscured.  What does arrive is gone pretty quickly not merely due to the size but because of the taste.  To PINCH's credit, the pizza is delicious.  My favorite part of the pizza is the expertly applied tomato sauce made to order.  The hot sausage pieces added a nice kick to the smoked mozzarella base.  My other slices were "smoked mozzarella".  Ordering a topping of "smoked mozzarella" effectively gives you twice the cheese.  While the smoked fresh mozzarella is good, double smoked fresh mozzarella is a bit overpowering.  It was nice to have such high quality ingredients presented in such a unique way.  It really does look and taste great.  If you don't mind shelling out a few extra bucks and you're in the area, PINCH is the place.

ATMOSPHERE: Novelty goes a long way.  PINCH offers a hip take on the standard New York pizzeria going the extra mile to define itself.  In addition to cooking up quality pizza on demand, PINCH sells pizza by the inch for costumers to eat in or take out in a cute and sleek PINCH box.  The dining area tucked in the back is occasionally busy, but always clean and acoustically sound.  It is a bit more expensive, particularly for quantity of pizza you receive ($4 for the equivalent of a typical NY slice) but that's just the price you pay for being hip.  

VERDICT: 3 out of 5 

MISC.: Ashley Ward, Zohar Adner, Maddy Mako and I talked dirty and learned a new game.

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