Day 6, Pizza Month 2010 - Totale Pizza (St. Marks Place, NYC)

DAY 6: OCTOBER 6th, 2010

LOCATION: Totale Pizza (St. Mark's Place, East Village, NYC)

ORDER: three slices of a personal Margherita, three slices of a Totale

GUEST: Shawn Amaro

REVIEW:
Totale affordable!

Whoever said pizza cooked with imported Italian methods had to come at imported Italian prices hasn't yet been to Totale. Five dollars for a wood-fired brick oven charred hand-crafted crust topped with fresh mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce is a pizza dream come true. A Margherita for less than the price of a Margarita? Pinch me. The fact this is available in the hip East Village area of Manhattan even makes the deal seem even more fantastic. But it Totale exists. Whether they are skimping on some non-obvious area to reduce overhead or just banking on a high volume of St. Mark's Place regulars to love pizza as much as they love tattoos, Totale pulls it off. My theory is that they are operating at a loss but this deal is just too good to pass up.

There are other (more expensive) options on the menu. I tried the pie called the "Totale." This creative blend of pine nuts, onions, and pecorino romano cheese will trigger taste buds you didn't know you had. I admire Totale's experimental side but must re-recommend the $5 Margherita. Other pies such as the D.O.P. Margherita remind patrons that even they make a better version of the pie on the plate before them.
But, that $5 Margherita is pretty darn good and way more than enough to bring me back many times over.

VIDEO CLIP:

RATING:
4.31 out of 5

• VALUE:
  5/5


• AMBIENCE:
  3/3


• TASTE:
  7.5/10


• SERVICE: N/A 0/0
  

15.5/18 = .861 x 5 = 4.31

MISCELLANEOUS:
1. Shawn Amaro took some video by putting the Flip HD camera on the floor. I'm kinda curious to see how that will come out.
2. Shawn coincidentally had eaten a slice of pizza every day of October up until today. I hope he keeps it going...like me :)