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First Taste: A Pizza Preview of Jim Lahey's Upcoming Pizzeria, Co.

Posted by Adam Kuban, November 22, 2008 at 12:30 AM

Wednesday, about 5 p.m., Ed Levine here in the Slice–Serious Eats office was like, "So, who's going to Co. with me to shoot the tasting?"

"Um, what tasting," I asked.

"I told everybody about it. In the group chat on IM."

"Uh, no you didn't."

Long story short, I volunteered myself to trail Ed to some sort of preopening oven test and tasting at Jim Lahey's upcoming pizzeria on Ninth Avenue and 24th Street. (Lahey and company have a target opening date of December 2, but, Lahey says, "Realistically, it's more like December 5 or 9.")

We arrived, and it turned out Ed had scored some sort of super invite, because it appeared to be a tasting primarily for Lahey's investor, Phil Suarez. I felt like I had crashed an intimate gathering, but the company was welcoming, and pretty soon everyone was concentrating on the food coming from the kitchen, anyway.

Below are some photos, along with some thoughts. But before I get into it, I have to say that as I was writing this post, I called Lahey to get some follow-up details, and he told me to just come over and fire away as he was experimenting with some new pies. So the set below mixes Wednesday and Friday evening. Just go with my flow, peeps. Mega pizza porn, after the jump.

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46 Comments | Tags: artisanal pizza, Chelsea, Co., Company, Jim Lahey, Manhattan, NYC, Reviews, Slice Reviews

Update on Jim Lahey's Pizzeria, Company

Posted by Ed Levine, August 12, 2008 at 2:00 PM

Lahey abandoned the idea of using this pass-through window. It's going to be more of a sit-down restaurant instead, he said.

After reading Gael Greene's post about Jean-Georges Vongerichten's involvement in Sullivan Street Bakery founder Jim Lahey's pizzeria, I called Lahey for a clarification. He said that Vongerichten and his partner, Phil Suarez, were investors in his pizzeria but they will have no involvement in either the management or the food being made there. The pizzeria will be called Company, spelled "Co." in the logo.

Lahey also told me that the equipment for the pizzeria hadn't arrived yet, and he doesn't expect it to be installed until the end of August or the beginning of September. Lahey is, of course, one of the city's and the country's great bread-bakers, so all serious eaters are eagerly awaiting the opening of his pizzeria.

He will probably not be making his trademark room-temperature Roman-style pizza at the new place (Lahey never says never). He will be making round, Neapolitan-style pies and perhaps other types of flatbreads. Lahey made some of these pizzas for a holiday party he invited me to the year before last, and I can tell you they were so good Lahey's place will likely make its way into my top-ten pizzeria list for the country shortly after opening.

Lahey is experimenting with all kinds of toppings, including a raw-corn-and-olive-oil purée. And, like the obsessive he is, he went around the country tasting pizza in preparation for his opening.

His top three pizzerias, after the jump.

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1 Comment | Tags: Chelsea, Co., Company, Jim Lahey, Manhattan, NYC, Openings, Sullivan Street Bakery