Day 14, Pizza Month 2010 - Dean's (Midtown East, NYC) - CLOSED

DAY 14: OCTOBER 14th, 2010

LOCATION: Dean's (Midtown East, NYC)

ORDER: three slices of an Old Fashioned square style pizza with pepperoni

GUEST: Tony Carnevale, Shawn Amaro

REVIEW:
A welcome visit to the Dean's office!

From that family that brought you Patsy's, Angelo's, Nick's, and Adrienne's Pizza Bar, here is another pizzeria serving up the same delicious recipes under a different monicker. Does a pizzeria by any other name smell as sweet? Dean's proves it does.

Each pie exits the gas-powered brick oven loaded with fresh mozzarella cheese and tasty crushed tomato sauce atop a golden brown rim.

We ordered the "Old fashioned" square pie with pepperoni. If our pie is any indicator, I recommend eating Dean's pizza the old fashioned way, devouring it. I particularly liked the use of signature Patsy's "grease bucket" pepperoni. You know, the spicy pepperoni cooks the moisure out of the edges before the center causing them to contract and crisp up. A serendipidous byproduct of this is the resulting concavity acts as a storage "bucket" for the pepperoni's "grease." Despite the dexription, it is one of my favorite tasting things in this universe. The spiciness mixed with a chewy crunch complements the bread and cheese perfectly.

Although we ate during the lull between lunch and dinner rush, the two floors of seating can easily accommodate hundreds of people. Dean's likely caters to the midtown business people first and foremost but with efficient service and excellent pizza, I would recommend Dean's to anyone.

The price is slightly more expensive than a slice place but way better tasting than the typical slice place.

VIDEO CLIP:




RATING:
4.64 out of 5

• VALUE:
  4.5/5


• AMBIENCE:
  3/3


• TASTE:
  9/10


• SERVICE:
  3/3

19.5/21 = .929 x 5 = 4.64

MISCELLANEOUS:
1. Tony Carnevale is thinking of going to grad school.
2. Shawn Amaro, Tony Carnevale, and I are the past and present hosts of Variety Underground - a free monthly comedy variety show in the Lower East Side.