Entries tagged with 'NYC'
Sad to see you go, Brick Oven Gallery. Wish we would have spent more time together. Hope you reopen, as planned. The deets, on Free Williamsburg.
Posted by Adam Kuban, July 23, 2008 at 5:56 PM
Newsday reports that Grimaldi's was shut down earlier today by state officials over unpaid taxes. $150,000 in tax warrants, the paper says.
But the joint was back in business later in the afternoon, after owners paid up.
"We seized them" said [New York State Department of Taxation and Finance representative Tom] Bergin, refering to the legal process where state officials close the business to get the liens satisfied.
Begin said that a total of seven outstanding tax warrants had been filed against Patabbe Inc., which was doing business as Grimaldi's, since January 2006. Those warrants total about $84,000 in sales and withholding taxes, he said.
Repeat: They're back up and running again. Like nothing ever happened, kids. Like nothing ever happened ...
Posted by Adam Kuban, July 22, 2008 at 10:36 PM
Clicking in to the Slice inbox tonight, we've got a field report from Nick "Beef Aficionado" Solares:
The curious tale of Artichoke continues. I walked by today around 12:30 p.m., shutter was up, there was a guy inside, but they were closed—no pizza anywhere in sight. Walked back at 5:30 p.m. and one of those cute little paper-plate signs was posted saying that they would open "for dinner." Walked by again at 9 p.m. and the shutter was down completely. Here's a photo (from my pocketpc/phone, hence the poor quality).
Cheers,
Nick
Continue reading »
Posted by Adam Kuban, July 21, 2008 at 12:30 PM
While I was in Red Hook on Saturday for the opening day of the Red Hook Vendors, I figured I'd head on over to the supposed site of New York City's next coal-oven pizzeria. Slice posted about this mid June, and at the time the projected opening date for Anselmo's Pizzeria was July 4, according to its website. Looks like it's still got some ways to go, and calls to the number have gone unreturned.
I'm guessing the chimney is for the coal-oven.
And it looks like Anselmo's website has been updated since I last looked at it. The place, which was originally going to be a pizzeria and bakery, is now going to be a pizzeria only:
Anselmo's Restaurant is located in Beautiful Red Hook Brooklyn, New York. We were hoping to open on the 4th of July but we are still in construction. We are trying a fast as we can to open. Anselmo's was originally going to be a full line bakery cafe' until we found a coal oven in the building. We couldn't pass up the opportunity to make coal brick oven pizza. After all there is only two in Brooklyn and ours will be number three.We have another bakery in the works on Pier 41 in Red Hook. We will be putting out flyers on the Grand Openning. Everyone is welcome. Read more on the Chef and Co owner on the About Us Page. Keep checking back to keep up to date on the opening.
They're a little misinformed. There's Totonno's, Grimaldi's, and South Brooklyn Pizza. So they'll be the fourth.
Anselmo's Bakery Restaurant
354 Van Brunt Street, Brooklyn NY 11231 (at Sullivan Street, Red Hook; map)
718-775-5386
anselmosbakery.com
Craig Nelson of Not for Tourists emails with some intel that's new to Slice: "Patsy’s [East Harlem] slices went up to a $1.75—finally." And I say, well, they still haven't broken the $2 price point—at a time when $2.25 seems to be the average in the city. Still a great deal—if the slice is good that day! Thanks, Craig.
Posted by Adam Kuban, July 17, 2008 at 4:45 PM
When I did my Park Slope pizza walk three weeks ago, I noticed a place on Fourth Avenue just past 11th Street that had a new sign and some of those car dealership–type flags. The number listed on the sign was disconnected. Hmm. Was this a just-failed or just-about-to-open pizzeria?
Well, I went by the other day, and I'm happy to report that it's an opening. Pizza Grill replaces whatever pizzeria was there before. I can't remember its name. The space is large and clean. Slices cost $2.25. And judging by the slice I had on Thursday, the place has potential. Granted, it was one slice. So caveat emptor. And I had it only warm from a slice pie with no reheat. But it was thin and chewy, had a good not-too-mucked-with sauce, and best of all, had just enough Parmigiano on it to give a tangy and salty bite.
The proprietor is the former owner of Verrazano Pizza in Bay Ridge.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed. More word when I get more intel.
Pizza Grill
471 Fourth Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11215 (at 11th Street; map)
718-499-0600
Posted by Adam Kuban, July 16, 2008 at 8:00 AM
I took some art history courses in college. Did they prepare me for this?
Pizza Corpse is an exquisite framing of the artist's nostalgia, social and cultural associations; interest in the grotesque, hygiene and self-image, corporal perturbations, and any other greasy subject related to these concerns in and out of the box. All of the featured artists are Yale School of Art graduate students or recent graduates, who grinningly pulled the book's topic out of a hat. This strategy not only introduced a re-examination of Fluxus terms for the compilation, but it also served as a method to display contemporary alterations of Internet-accessible imagery. You will find this book to be a humorous browse or an earnest sit down; the responses in the book are as varied as the toppings on a pizza.
I'm not sure they did.
Pizza Corpse Book Launch
Where: Printed Matter, 195 Tenth Avenue, New York NY 10011 (b/n 21st and 22nd streets; map)
When: 5 to 7 p.m.; Thursday, July 17, 2008
More Info: http://printedmatter.org/news/news.cfm?article_id=329
I've got word from the folks at Patsy's in East Harlem that the joint is rolling back prices for its 75th anniversary. You can grab a pizza there for 60¢ on Tuesday, August 19. The retro pricing event runs from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. 2287 First Avenue, New York NY 10035 (b/n 117th and 118th streets; map)
Posted by Adam Kuban, July 14, 2008 at 10:00 AM
Clicking in to the Slice inbox today, we've got ... an email from a guy in some band or other.
Photographs by Brian Chase
Hi, Adam,
I posted a review of Di Fara's on my band's website, http://site.yeahyeahyeahs.com/, that I thought you would be interested in checking out.
Dom for president!
Best regards,
Brian
Continue reading »
Posted by Adam Kuban, July 7, 2008 at 10:00 AM
When we visited Toby's Public House last week, not only did we pick up on some great pizza, we also picked up a tip to pass on to you.
Nicola Bertolotti, who was brought in to school the other pie-makers at Toby's, will be opening his own place in Williamsburg in mid August.
The new pizzeria will be called Fornaccio, which Bertolotti told us means "old oven." The name derives from the fact that Bertolotti happened up an old house with a hundred-year-old oven that he's been restoring, along with the rest of the place.
Continue reading »
Posted by Adam Kuban, June 30, 2008 at 8:30 PM
Photograph by Raphael
In my Toby's dispatch earlier today, I didn't really go too in-depth with this thing, A.) because it's not pizza pizza, and B.) because it's dessert, but Toby's Public House has an interesting dessert calzone whose innards include ricotta and nutella. You'd think it'd be a bit weird, but it really does work. More on this at Serious Eats New York »
Posted by Adam Kuban, June 30, 2008 at 3:30 PM
Toby's Public House
686 Sixth Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11215 (at 21st Street; map); 718-788-1186; kitchenbarny.com
Oven Type: Wood-burning
Pie Style: Neapolitan
The Skinny: A relaxing, laid-back pub whose name belies the fact that there are some great little Neapolitan-style pizzas coming out of the rustic wood-burning oven here. Small, 12-inch, well-balanced pies are crisp at the edges but do exhibit some tip sag
You could be excused for overlooking the great little pies being served at Toby's Public House. The exterior looks more like something I'd imagine you'd see in small-town England, and the name doesn't exactly scream pizza. But step inside, glance to the back, and you'll find a rustic-looking wood-burning oven with a couple no-nonsense-looking pizzaioli going at it with the dough.
What's more, on our initial visit there last week, we spotted a familiar face—Nicola Bertolotti, who once worked as the lead pizzaiolo at Fornino in Williamsburg. I've always liked the pizza at Fornino, so I Bertolotti's presence seemed to go a long way in backing up the praise-laden emails and IMs I'd been getting about the place since it opened in March.
Continue reading »
Posted by Adam Kuban, June 30, 2008 at 10:15 AM
Photograph by Eating in Translation
Looks like Di Fara was closed for a "big order" Saturday. The occasion? Somebody's wedding. The blog Eating in Translation has the rest of the story, as Paul Harvey would say.
Posted by Adam Kuban, June 27, 2008 at 12:00 PM
Upper left claw quadrant: The crabby crab slice. Photograph by Alaina Browne
Remember we mentioned the new crab slice at Artichoke Basille's yesterday? Well, my coworker Alaina Browne went and grabbed one last night on her way home. (Thanks, Alaina!) Here's what she said: "I am not a fan of Artichoke pizza. The crust—it's really thick, and it's hard. The wait was 30 minutes. I just don't like it. And the crab pizza? It was gross." 328 East 14th Street, New York NY 10003 (East Village; map); 212-228-2004
Posted by Adam Kuban, June 27, 2008 at 11:02 AM
Gawker just published a list of New York City's Top 50 Eccentrics. Check this one out, and then scratch yer head, kids:
46. Pizza Polisher: On weekdays and only in the summer, a homeless man rubs discarded pizza slices on the arms of Segal's lesbian statues in Sheridan Square. Via commenter Hamud Ibn Hamud.
Maybe he's getting the slices from nearby Bleecker Street Pizza? But it gets better ... after the jump.
Continue reading »
Posted by Adam Kuban, June 26, 2008 at 4:13 PM
Eater reports that Artichoke Basille is serving a new pie. This would be no big deal at a place like Ray's, but at a joint that only has three types of pizza (regular pie, Sicilian, and special artichoke-spinach pie), it represents a 33 percent increase in menu density and now accounts for 25 percent of all items on offer. Says Eater, "... they were smearing a delicious looking pink sauce on a pie. Upon further investigation, it appears they have unveiled some sort of a crab dip pizza."
A call to Artichoke confirms that it is indeed a crab-topped pie, that they tried it out for the first time Tuesday night, and that they're bringing it back tonight. It'll be there for you later tonight, kids, should you want to get your dirty little claws on it. 328 East 14th Street, New York NY 10003 (East Village; map); 212-228-2004
Gothamist has a good bit about limited-edition punk-rock pizza boxes at Pizza Shop on Avenue A. The first 1,500 punk-rock pizza boxes will feature an image of the Clash on them. The next edition will be the Ramones, Gothamist says. And Grub Street reports that Pizza Shop has commissioned Arturo Vega, the dude who did the Ramones' logo, to design its pizza box. Very cool. 110 Avenue A, New York NY 10009 (at 7th Street; map); 212-614-9798
Posted by Adam Kuban, June 23, 2008 at 5:00 PM
Or, 'Every Damn Slice Pizzeria in Park Slope'
You know, for all the pizza-eating I do in the service of this beast that is Slice, I typically focus on one place per blog post. I visit a few times, get a feel for the joint, and then file a dispatch for your approval. But a while back, I was forced to try a new approach—a systematic neighborhood slice survey. I had been asked by Time Out New York to survey the city's various Little Italys in search of the best pizzas in each one. Taking my journalistic duty seriously, I ate at each pizzeria in the various neighborhoods I was sent to—Bensonhurst, Howard Beach, Arthur Avenue, and Staten Island. (OK, with Shaolin, I had to ask some experts and narrow it down, so I didn't eat at every pizzeria there.)
Anyway, I quickly learned some slice-survey survival skills—like only sampling slices, not entirely consuming them. Like wine-tasting, except you swallow. I won't bore you with the other stuff I puzzled out, but I will say that I learned it was possible to tear through a neighborhood and get a feel for the slices on offer there. Recently, I decided I'd try to do a survey—or a slice walk—more regularly. So here's the first.
I focused on my own 'hood, Park Slope, for this one. My boundaries were Flatbush Avenue and the Prospect Expressway to the north and south, and Fourth Avenue and Prospect Park West to the west and east. I ate only where slices were available—no pies-only places. (Those, I'll deal with another time.) The results, after the jump.
Continue reading »
Posted by Adam Kuban, June 20, 2008 at 2:00 PM
Another one regarding the Sam's post from Monday.
Good morning!
I read your post about Sam's Restaurant. Agree about the pizzas—amazing! You mentioned in your post, six TVs with reeling footage. These are part of Windows Brooklyn, the first-ever show curated like this in Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens. Sam's Restaurant is involved, as well as Margaret Palca Bakes, among many many other stores. There is an installation at Margaret Palca called Eat Your Words. But there are cookies involved.
Just wanted to alert you to this so you could perhaps make readers privy to this information. The artist at Sam's who has the TVs is Stephanie DiGregorio. The work is called Tarantella.
You can find more info and the map of all participating locations at: windowsbrooklyn.com
Thanks for reading and enjoy!
Best,
Andrea Wenglowskyj
Posted by Adam Kuban, June 20, 2008 at 11:00 AM
Clicking into the Slice mailbag, we've got this nice note, with a great link, from M. W. —The Mgmt.
I’ve been enjoying (and commenting upon) the recent Sam’s post, and thought you might in turn like to see this video. It profiles a few Carroll Gardens establishments, talking with the proprietors, etc. There’s a lot of time devoted to Sam’s, mostly an interview with Louie Migliaccio [the waiter/server/busser/bartender there], but a bit with his father, Mario, who talks about making pizza. There’s also the owner of D'Amico's Coffee. It’s not all pizza- or food-related, but I think the majority is.
--------------------
Dear M. W.,
Thanks for the link! This is a great video. Beautifully produced, with great stories. Really gives you a sense of what the neighborhood used to be like. Again, I'll say it: I'm so glad that Sam's is still kickin' as a reminder of times gone by.
Hasta la pizza,
Adam
Posted by Adam Kuban, June 18, 2008 at 7:20 AM
South Brooklyn Pizza, as told by the New York Times:
Although sometimes inconsistent, South Brooklyn’s $12 pizzas usually come from the coal-fired oven with the right amount of char on a crunchy crust, which is slightly thicker than what one might find at the end of a long wait at Di Fara.
The pie is oval, slicked with olive oil and bright with San Marzano tomatoes and a nudge of basil. The cheese is predominantly fresh mozzarella, although bits of fontina and Parmesan play supporting roles.
Although Kim Severson deems it "delicious," I'd advise you to go with low expectations. I've only been once but would not wholeheartedly recommend on that one visit, as the crust was very tough and rather bland. Still gathering tasting intel before forming a more gelled opinion on the place, though. Many people on Chowhounds have reported liking it.
South Brooklyn Pizza
451 Court Street, Brooklyn NY 11231 (at 4th Place; map)
718-852-6018
Posted by Adam Kuban, June 17, 2008 at 12:30 PM
For all you schnorrers out there, the somewhat recently resurrected P'inch (now partnered and shacking up with S'mac mac and cheese emporium), will be giving out free pizza on the Fourth of July.
The deets: Free four-inch pizza with any food purchase. Red, White, and Blue Cheese Pizza will be featured.
P'inch
474 Columbus Avenue, New York NY 10024 (b/n 82nd and 83rd streets; map)
212-686-5222
Posted by Adam Kuban, June 16, 2008 at 1:30 PM
Click me bigger for a beautiful view of Sam's dining room »
Sam's Restaurant
238 Court Street, Brooklyn NY 11201 (at Baltic Street; map); 718-596-3458
The Skinny: A pizzeria that looks like it was transported lock, stock, and barrel from the early '60s has the most amazing old-school dining room. Thankfully, its pizza matches the awesomeness of the blessedly preserved interior
Oven Type: An old coal-burning brick oven that's now fueled by natural gas
Sometimes you just want to love a place for its old-school charm. Sam's Restaurant, on Court Street in Cobble Hill, is one of those places.
With neon blazing outside; old-school, hand-lettered painted signage; and six small TVs inexplicably unreeling footage in the windows, you're already attracted to the place before walking down a couple steps and in through the door that sports a none-too-subtle "NO SLICES" sign.
And that's before you even get a load of the interior. Once you do, Sams' time-warp quality hooks you. The joint is vintage early '60s red-sauce Italian mixed with a little bit of your grandparents' rec room. It is, quite frankly, one of the most beautiful dining rooms I've been in in ages.
Fortunately, there's much to love here beyond the space.
Continue reading »
Posted by Adam Kuban, June 12, 2008 at 5:30 PM
OMG! I just got an awesome tip from Amy of NewYorkology.com. A new coal-oven pizzeria is coming to Red Hook. From the website of Anselmo's Bakery Restaurant:
Anselmo is building two bakeries in Red Hook Brooklyn,New York. Anselmo will be a full-line bakery Restaurant in Pizza, pasta ,pastries and breads. The first bakery will be located on 354 Van Brunt Street in Red Hook Brooklyn, New York . The second will be on 204 Van Dyke Street Brooklyn,New York. @ pier 41. The first bakery will be done by July 4th and the second will be done by December 2008. Anselmo has baked for over 25 years and has worked at very well known places like Water Edge Restaurant in Long Island,NY, Encore Bakery in Manhattan,NY, Stuars Restaurant in Manhattan,NY ,Cousin Johns Bakery in Brooklyn,NY ,Cousin Johns Bakery in Brooklyn,NY ,Tennis Club in Long Island City,NY, Trattoria Sole in Miami,Florida,Don Goavani's in Manhattan,NY and SoNo Baking Company & Cafe' in Norwalk,Connecticut. Anselmo has worked for John Barricelli,co-host of "Everyday Foods," a lifestyle program produced by Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.
COAL BRICK OVEN PIZZA AND BREAD!
That last all-caps shouting match was Anselmo, on his website, not me. Though I must say again, just for good measure: ANOTHER NEW COAL-OVEN PLACE! Sweet! [via NewYorkology.com]
Anselmo's Bakery Restaurant
354 Van Brunt Street, Brooklyn NY 11231 (at Sullivan Street, Red Hook; map)
718-775-5386
anselmosbakery.com
Posted by Adam Kuban, June 11, 2008 at 12:30 PM
The blog Blondie and Brownie reports on 2 Bros. Pizza, which offers dollar slices on St. Marks Place: "The pizza wasn't the greatest, but it was a dollar. I'd rate it as not quite as good as 99 Cent Fresh Pizza, but better than Prince Deli 99 cent pizza. If you're a starving NYU student or a hungry person wandering around the village I give it two thumbs up." [via Serious Eats New York]
2 Bros. Pizza
32 St. Marks Place, New York NY 10003 (Second/Third; map)
212-777-0600
2brospizza.com
The New York Times's food critic Frank Bruni reviews Ago in today's paper and makes a passing mention of the pizza in an otherwise dismal review of the joint. "Some of the other food passed muster. The best of the pizzas from Ago’s wood-fired brick oven had blistered, smoky crusts and thin sheets of decent Parmesan." In the Greenwich Hotel, 377 Greenwich Street, New York NY 10013 (at North Moore Street; map); 212-925-3797
Posted by Adam Kuban, June 3, 2008 at 10:45 AM
Link: Sal Carbone, Rocco's Pizza-Eating Winner [YouTube]
Posted by Adam Kuban, June 2, 2008 at 10:00 AM
After reading about the calzone-pizza hybrid at Peppino's in Bay Ridge, I had to get my greasy little hands on one. So I found myself on the R train this weekend, heading for the 77th Street Station.
Walking in, I sheepishly asked for the thing. "I read about it in the Daily News; do I really need a password for it."
"No, that's just a joke," the waitress said. "Is it just for you?"
Continue reading »
Posted by Adam Kuban, May 28, 2008 at 4:00 PM
A crazy item in the New York Daily News yesterday that I meant to link to, so you get it today. Apparently Peppino's in Bay Ridge is making a crazy hybrid calzone-pizza that you need a password to order:
The Third Avenue pizzeria has been serving a pizza-calzone hybrid for the last few months, a flat three-slice pie that rises on one half like a stuffed calzone, with sausage and ricotta.
"People [were] confused," said owner Joe Mancino. "They didn't know what they wanted. They want pizza? They want calzone? They don't know. This is the best of both worlds."
To get the password, you have to email the Daily News's Brooklyn Diary columnist at BrooklynNews@nydailynews.com.
Peppino's
7708 Third Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11209 (at 77th Street, Bay Ridge; map)
718-833-3364
Posted by Adam Kuban, May 28, 2008 at 8:45 AM
Photograph courtesy of The Beef Aficionado
When it rains, it pours, huh? The New York Sun writes about Artichoke this morning, as well. I knew this story was coming out, since I was quoted in it, I just didn't think we'd get hit with two Artichoke Basille items today. The thrust of the Sun piece is that Artichoke is one of the few pizzerias holding down the fort when it comes to good slices in Manhattan and that people are nuts for it.
Mr. Connolly, a New Jersey native, said the best pizza is typically from the Garden State and Staten Island. "Pizza stinks in Manhattan for the most part. Most places use bad ingredients," he said. "But New Yorkers will wait on line for an hour for a slice of pizza. They won't do that anywhere else in the world."
And this bit of news should excite the boozehounds among us:
Starting in July, Artichoke will offer a 32-ounce Styrofoam cup of draft Budweiser for $5. Now, there is only a half-size refrigerator with bottles of root beer and seltzer water. "If you serve Bud at 33 degrees, if you keep it cold, you can turn it over fast," Mr. Garcia said. "I anticipate the beer being a big hit."
As if they need anything else to make that line longer.
After the jump, the ramblings of a madman. (That would be me.)
Continue reading »
Posted by Adam Kuban, May 28, 2008 at 1:00 AM
Photograph courtesy of The Beef Aficionado
The New York Times's outgoing "$25 and Under" columnist Peter Meehan "comes to the party late" but arrives nonetheless at Artichoke Basille's. Like most folks, he digs the place but quibbles about the queue:
Waiting in line for it spoils the fun, the spontaneity, the charm; needing to strategize to go there is a bummer.
But it’s the blessing of the New York restaurant world, too: supply and demand. The guys at Artichoke brought an underrepresented style of pizza — big pies on a bready, almost tough, crust, generously and greasily topped — and the city has gone nuts for it. Who am I to protest?
Artichoke Basille's Pizza & Brewery
328 East 14th Street, New York NY 10003 (East Village; map)
212-228-2004
Posted by Adam Kuban, May 27, 2008 at 3:00 PM
$5 alone; $10 as part of a combo with soda.
Do I even need to tell you to stick with the popcorn, homeslices?
Posted by Adam Kuban, May 19, 2008 at 10:30 AM
Editor's note: The place I wanted to visit for this week's review wasn't open, so I'm going to give you a run-down on my weekend in pizza instead, along with a makeshift review on an unexpected place. —The Mgmt.
The Most Insane Pizza I Have Ever Seen
Bacon pizza. That's right: B-A-C-O-N. At the Famous Original Ray's on 62nd and Lex.
On Saturday I was supposed to meet Girl Slice at an undisclosed location on the Upper East Side at 3 p.m. She must have called while I was on the subway in from Brooklyn because when I popped up in Manhattan, I had a message: "Meet me at 3:30 instead."
The less said, the better.
Lucky for me I can always kill time by sampling a slice here and there or by taking photos of pizzeria exteriors to add to my growing collection. Anyway, I hadn't eaten lunch yet and I was starving, and so it was that rare occasion when quality mattered less to me than convenience. And so, after about ten minutes of walking around, I found myself at Little Slice of Italy on Second Avenue and 61st Street. I have to say, for 3:05 p.m. on a Saturday, this block was downright deserted. And with its door propped open to the elements and only one almost-listless patron inside, Little Slice of Italy felt like an Old West saloon whose drinkers have fled in advance of the showdown that's about to take place there.
I ordered a plain slice, to stay, and the less said, the better. I didn't even bother taking a photo. It was a plain ol' generic greasy grilled-cheese-tasting slice. I finished not even half of it before tossing it.
Continue reading »
Posted by Adam Kuban, May 18, 2008 at 9:45 PM
Hi Adam,
Here are some suggestions for Staten Island. In regard to the three you have visited, Denino's is legendary here but not as good as they once were, Nunzio's is very ordinary, and I'm baffled as to why you so highly rate Joe & Pat's.
Anyway, some suggestions, with the name of the shop and the neighborhood:
- Brother's in Port Richmond: Not only the best on Staten Island, but the best New York–style pie I've ever had
- Gentile's in Tottenville: Excellent pizza, but only available by the pie
- Kingdom Pizza in Eltingville: Pretty good, especially the vodka supreme; our everyday place because it's close to where we live
- Lee's Tavern in Dongan Hills: Very thin, crisp crust
Justin K.,
Staten Island
Continue reading »
Posted by Adam Kuban, May 14, 2008 at 3:45 PM
Robert Sietsema of the Village Voice revisits Una Pizza Napoletana and, as per his first word on the place, doesn't quite like it:
The pies arrive literally smoking, with charred dough on one side or the other. I ate the standard Margherita, which shocked me with its $21 price tag, Sicilian sea salt or not. It was good, but a little too substantially charred for my taste, and the “bone” (the thickest part of the crust) was a little too doughy. Still, as an example of the Naples style, it was about 95% there.
The other pizza I tried, the bianca, was a white pie (well, duh!) with a heavy dose of buffalo mozzarella on top. To begin with, Naples pizzerias almost never use buffalo mozzarella, preferring the fiore di latte that is the equivalent of our Italian-American mozzarella. While I don’t usually argue with dairy generosity, this pie had too much cheese, lending a rubbery quality to the pie. In Naples, when they apply cheese, it is in small chunks....
Related
All UPN posts on Slice
Photo Gallery: Robert Sietsema Visits Naples, Sends Slice Pictures
Forget UPN, Sietsema lurves Il Brigante for Naples-style pies [VV]
Posted by Adam Kuban, May 13, 2008 at 10:45 AM
I love Alan Richman's write-up on Artichoke Basille's, the East Village newcomer that has been more than well-documented on this site. Richman, known for just a bit of cantankerousness, gets in almost 500 curmudgeonly words (long, mismanaged line; shabby digs; annoying patrons) before coming out with it: He likes it. He really likes it. "This is ordinary pizza," he says. "It’s also fabulous pizza."
He digs the fact that the place is free of pretense, "No flour from an ancient fattoria in Tuscany. No basil smuggled in from a dissident farmer’s market in Croatia. No fanatical obsessiveness."
Of the three slices on offer there, he liked the regular plain slice the most ("beautifully balanced"). It's not clear whether he was able to try the signature spinach-and-artichoke-dip slice, as a fresh pie of that variety was about two hours out when he visited.
The pizza here, he says, is what ordinary food used to be like in New York: "... superficially no different from food anywhere else, but in reality considerably better. It had little to do with superior ingredients and everything to do with New York know-how."
Artichoke
328 East 14th Street, New York NY 10003 (East Village; map)
212-228-2004
Famous for its Sicilian slices, the Bensonhurst mainstay has jacked its rates. From amNY: "L&B gave in on Monday, upping the price for both [its regular and square slices] to $2.25 — just in time for the spring when things start heating up at the popular pizzeria, which is also a hangout for the young and old when it becomes warm thanks to its ample outdoor seating." Related: L&B Spumoni coverage on Slice »
Posted by Adam Kuban, April 16, 2008 at 12:20 AM
And it wasn't for the pie, folks. From reader "RC Pizza":
Adam,
Just wanted to let you know that New York's Bravest were called to Artichoke tonight due to the copious amounts of smoke bellowing out of the storefront at about 8:45 last night. I was standing in line for about 20 minutes when the store suddenly filled up with smoke. It was no doubt due to the liberal throwing of flour directly into the oven to ensure the pizzas didn't stick to the stone. Apparently these guys need to be taught a thing or two, because after you douse an oven with flour, it tends to smoke up. Luckily I got my slices right as the fire trucks pulled up, so I was happy. Anyway, I attached a photo of the firemen [above] scurrying about outside the 'Choke during the melee. Just thought that fire hazards might be of interest to the blog's readership.
Posted by Adam Kuban, April 14, 2008 at 10:30 AM
Photograph from JordanaZ, from the Serious Eats Photo Pool on Flickr
I've only ever been in the late evening. This is pizza insanity.
Posted by Adam Kuban, April 14, 2008 at 9:30 AM
If you're a Flickr user, you probably already know the site, previously known for photo-sharing, has added video-sharing now. I decided to test-drive the feature with this video from yesterday afternoon:
It's really nothing you haven't seen in other Di Fara videos or in person if you've been there, but there you go.
Related: All Di Fara entries on Slice »
Continue reading »
The Republican presidential candidate buys a $3 slice, pays with a double sawback, and tells the clerk to keep the change. OK. Maybe it really wasn't a tax refund, but whatevs.
He dropped in on Verrazano Pizza in Bay Ridge: 9102 Fourth Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11209. [Tip o' the hat to Mark H.!]
Posted by Adam Kuban, April 8, 2008 at 4:00 PM
More Artichoke for you: New York magazine interviews Francis Garcia, one of the cousins behind the new joint in the East Village. This bit of owner-operated goodness sounds right up our alley:
Do you live in Manhattan now or do you commute?
We’re commuting now. When we make a couple bucks back, we’re definitely going to get a place over here so we can start getting open earlier. You know the BQE — the traffic is horrible — and I’m someone’s who’s crazy: If I can’t get there to make the pizza, I don’t want somebody else doing it. It’s either got to be me or my cousin.
As you know, it's our belief at Slice that the best pizzerias have a singleminded, pizza-obsessed owner-operator behind them. Think Una Pizza Napoletana, Pizzeria Bianco, and, yes, Di Fara.
Posted by Adam Kuban, April 8, 2008 at 1:45 PM
Photographs courtesy of Chewhound
So last night's Gothamist-Slice Pizza Party at Fornino was pretty damn awesome if I do say so myself. It was nice to see some familiar friends, great to finally put some faces to email addresses and screen names, and a pleasure to meet altogether-new pizza freaks. (If you attended and didn't figure it out, I was the guy checking names against the list as you came in. If I didn't get to chat with you, sorry; next time!)
We had about 120 total people this year, and Michael Ayoub and his Fornino crew made and served several different kinds of pizza, from a basic Margherita to pizzas as wild as pesto-and-shrimp pies to the over-the-top blockbuster Tartufo pie, a pizza topped with shaved black truffles. I'm afraid that by the time it came out, I was only able to consume two small slices of this pièce de résistance.
Continue reading »
Posted by DJ Bubbles, April 7, 2008 at 12:30 PM
Artichoke, man. What can be said about this place that hasn't already been argued about on Slice and a slew of other websites in recent weeks? I have been to the joint three different times—twice last weekend after word first broke on Slice and Chowhound and once this past Friday night—and I'm here to say that their pizza has already improved.
I had a chat with Francis Basille, one of the owners who grew up making pies at Basille's in Staten Island and asked him about Eric Miller (doesn't know him from Adam—not Kuban, the proverbial Adam!), the ingredients he uses, and the opening of his restaurant in the pizza-saturated East Village.
Now I'm gonna have a chat with you guys about why Artichoke's reception has been so incendiary—there have certainly been differences in opinion and we'll see if we can get to the bottom of this once and for all. I want to hear from those of you who've tried the joint when it first opened and went back in recent days to see if anyone agrees with my contention that Artichoke's plain slice is better now than it was when they opened.
Continue reading »
Posted by Adam Kuban, April 7, 2008 at 11:00 AM
Robin Raisfeld and Rob Patronite visit Artichoke, give it 3 of 5 stars:
This is not dainty stuff. Portions are huge, even sloppy. Grated cheese is strewn with abandon, and tomato sauce liberally applied. The pizza is lumpy, a little heavy-handed with the muzz, occasionally burnt, and undeniably delicious. Of the three varieties usually on hand, the square Sicilian (made with a combination of fresh mozzarella, Polly-O, and a sprinkling of pecorino and Parmigiano-Reggiano) is our favorite, a hungry-man study in contrasting sharp, salty, sweet, and creamy flavors. The round “Neapolitan” is nearly as good, though you might fault its somewhat stiff, unyielding crust. The best thing the U.G. can say, however, about the artichoke-spinach pie is that Keith Richards apparently loves it. Thick, bready, and anointed with a super-creamy sauce enriched with butter and wine, it’s Garcia’s pride and joy, but kind of an acquired taste.
Previously: Artichoke coverage on Slice
Posted by Adam Kuban, April 2, 2008 at 4:15 PM
On Friday I posted an entry with the emailed text of two tipsters eager to hip Slice to Artichoke, a new pizzeria in the East Village. Later, in the comments of that post and on Eater, people raised concerns that we had guerrilla marketers in our midst. I'd like to address that.
Are They Shills?
Are they? I don't think so. In email exchanges I've had with both guys since publication of that post, they've seemed aboveboard.
If I'm being fooled, however, then I will admit that in my rush to "break news" about a potentially hot new pizzeria, I didn't read those emails with the amount of skepticism that I'd like to think has kept Slice free of shills over the years I've been publishing.
Continue reading »
Posted by Adam Kuban, April 1, 2008 at 12:45 PM
With all the different Patsy's in town, it's enough to drive you crazy. And just when you think you've got it all sorted out, someone comes along to throw another wrench in the works. This time, it's Patsy's Italian Restaurant in the Theater District. The joint is suing a Patsy's pizzeria on Long Island over the name and—get this—the right to claim Frank Sinatra as its most famous customer. The New York Post has the story here.
The Patsy's bringing suit is not related to the Patsy's pizza chain. It simply has the same name. For some background, the New York Daily News has a who's who guide to the various Patsy's.
Patsy's Italian Restaurant is claiming that the Patsy's opening in Syosset, New York, is causing confusion through the use of that name. And it's going to try to drag in the widows of Sammy Davis Jr. and Jackie Gleason to attest to its iconic status. As the Daily News story, points, out the seven Patsy's pizzerias aren't being sued because they existed before Patsy's Italian Restaurant registered the name.
Posted by Adam Kuban, April 1, 2008 at 11:45 AM
Because the name David Chang causes some foodies in this town to wet their pants, I wanted to highlight this comment that just came in on last Friday's Artichoke entry:
When I stopped in yesterday afternoon, the fellow ahead of me was telling the pizza makers, "My sous chef says the cauliflower fritters are amazing." This fellow recently opened his third restaurant, and he wanted to extend good wishes to a new business in his neighborhood. The guys at Artichoke -- Francis, Sal, and Carl -- hadn't heard the name "Momofuku," but they were glad that this fellow, David, stopped in to introduce himself, and to pick up a few pies. No joke.
It's from über-Chowhound Dave Cook, whose blog Eating in Translation, is a must-read.
Just a thought: Isn't this strangely reminiscent of the early days of Momofuku, when none other than Mario Batali trumpeted the then-unheralded upstart as one of his—and his staff's—favorite lunch spots?
Related: Momfuku Master David Chang [Serious Eats]
Posted by Adam Kuban, March 31, 2008 at 1:15 PM
"This is like the Ben & Jerry's of toppings—it's like, it's not just a little bit of garlic; it's a LOT of garlic" —Sunny Anderson, Food Network host
As part of his FN Dish online show for the Food Network, Adam "Amateur Gourmet" Roberts goes to Di Fara with Sunny Anderson, a new Food Network show host. If you want to skip the bunkum about Roberts getting his hair cut and the Food Network promo junk, go to 1:30 into the video for the Di Fara stuff, where Anderson calls garlic and pepperoni the "Ben & Jerry's of toppings" (which Slice thinks is an insult to Dom DeMarco; his quality is definitely more than a few notches above that feel-good hippie ice cream).
Link: The FN Dish at Di Fara [The FN Dish]
Posted by Ed Levine, March 31, 2008 at 12:00 PM
I walked into Artichoke, the latest pizzeria to be deemed the "new Di Fara" around 12:30 p.m. Saturday. Of course it seems to me that being deemed the new Di Fara is the food equivalent of being deemed "the new Dylan" in singer-songwriter circles. But I digress. The place was abuzz with activity, but there was nary a slice in sight.
I was told to come back in 30 minutes. After an unscheduled appetizer of fried chicken at Momofuku, I circled back to Artichoke. There were four people in the place. I sidled up to the counter and watched the three men behind the counter scurrying around cooking broccoli rabe and artichokes. There was a pile of irregularly shaped house-baked loaves of bread on the customer side of the counter. I eyed them longingly but no one encouraged me to take one.
Continue reading »
