Posted by Adam Kuban, September 23, 2008 at 1:30 PM
Michael Angelo's II
29-11 23rd Avenue, Astoria NY 11105 (b/n 29th and 31st streets; map); 718-932-2096 Pizza Style: Ultra-thin crust New York–style Oven Type: Conventional steel-deck gas oven The Skinny: Make sure to order the "thin-crust pizza." There's a regular crust, but the thin is seriously the way to go
I spent a large part of the weekend in Astoria and had a nice couple a slices while there. I had some squares from Rose & Joe's Italian Bakery, which were good (and which Slice has covered here), but what I really want to focus on are the slices at Michael Angelo's II, just around the corner from the more widely heralded Rose & Joe's.
I've slept long and hard on Michael Angelo's II. My friends Dan and Katie, who just moved out of the neighborhood, told me about MAII so long ago, and it hasn't been until this year that I've really given it much of a chance.
I think that may be because it's on the other side of the LIRR overpass, and when I get off the train at Ditmars to visit friends, I have no need to go south toward 23rd Avenue—and because like I said, I typically go to Rose & Joe's.
Anyway, I've had Michael Angelo's II about four times now. Twice as cooked-to-order whole pies and a couple times slice-only.
Clicking in to the Slice inbox today, we've got ...
I am really disappointed that you haven’t done a review of Amore Pizza in Flushing, Queens. It is in the Pathmark shopping center on Linden Place and the Whitestone Expressway. I have been going there for years and can't believe that you haven’t been there yet. Give it a shot. It is worth the trip.
On Sunday I found myself in Forest Hills, Queens, on a typography tour led by Paul Shaw, a calligrapher, typographer, and lettering instructor at Parsons. Forest Hills? I had no idea it was such a hotbed of typographic wonders—so I had no idea what typefaces or lettering we'd be in for there. I did, however, have a pretty strong idea what I'd be doing for lunch after the tour: Nick's Pizza.
For me, "Forest Hills" and "Nick's" have been pretty near synonymous for years, since it's usually talked about when New York's pizza biggies are named. "Blah blah blah, Nick's is awesome. He does a coal-oven-like pie in a gas-fired oven. Blah blah blah."
Frankie and Mary Lou Cappezza, the former owners of the now-closed Corona Heights Pork Store, are my culinary E. F. Huttons. When they talk, I listen. So when they told me I had to check out Rose & Joe Italian Bakery in their old Astoria stomping grounds, I wasted no time getting there.
As usual, they were right. Rose & Joe's wondrous braided semolina bread has plenty of character and flavor. But as good as the bread is here, Rose & Joe's ultimate triumph is their Sicilian pizza.
In the back of the bakery a young woman sells slices: plain, broccoli, and sausage. The crust is crisp, slightly doughy, and surprisingly light. So don't thank me when you bite into your first slice of Rose & Joe's pizza. Thank Frankie and Mary Lou.
Posted by Adam Kuban, November 11, 2007 at 12:00 PM
Slice's Queens Pizza Map lists all pizzerias we have reviewed and/or mentioned in Queens. Clicking the pizza icons will bring up address, phone number, URL (if any), and a link back to all entries Slice has on the particular pizzeria. It's a handy way to visually navigate what Slice has to offer. The map legend is at right.
Most Sicilian pizza is just too thick for me, but Rizzo's in Astoria is the home of the wondrous thin-crust Sicilian slice. For 40 years, Joe Rizzo has been making thin-crust Sicilian pizza the way his father learned in Sicily. That means he uses homemade sauce (slightly sweet), full-cream mozzarella that lies ever so gently on top of the light—almost demure—crust, and just enough Romano cheese to give his pizza a little zing.
When you walk into Rizzo's, all you'll see on the counter are rectangular trays of fresh-out-of-the-oven Sicilian pizza. After years of maintaining Sicilian-only pizza purity, Rizzo's is now making conventional Neapolitan pizza. I can't tell you how it is, though, because I refuse to order it on general principle—I come here for the Sicilian slice only.
Rizzo's
Address: 30-13 Steinway Street, Astoria NY 11103 (Queens, between City Avenue and Dunway Street; map) Phone: 718-721-9862
Salvatore Pollito is a pie man, no two ways about it. Ten years ago he opened a solid slice joint in Queens. Then, when he felt he had mastered the art of the slice, he decided to tackle coal-fired, brick-oven pizza, inspired by his many ttips to Totonno's and Patsy's. He has done that successfully at Bella Via, which, with its brick walls and big windows, is one of the more cheerful pizzerias I have come across.
Pollito had a local guy build the oven at Bella Via, and tucked it into the back of the place in full view of the salivating patrons, who watch as he turns out beautiful pies. Pollito uses low-moisture, slightly aged mozzarella, Italian tomatoes, and fine locally sourced sausage on his pies. His crust is fairly thin, bready, and soft and doesn't have much chew to it.
Bella Via
Address: 47-46 Vernon Boulevard, Long Island City NY (at 48th Avenue; map) Phone: 718-361-7510 Related: All Bella Via entries on Slice
Posted by Ed Levine, September 15, 2007 at 12:00 PM
The first time I tried to have a pizza at Forno Italia, the place had been reduced to rubble by a complete renovation. I worried that the wood-burning pizza oven I had heard so much about would not be part of the new restaurant. I needn't have worried. What makes Forno ltalia's pizza so good is the gorgeous oven, a skilled pizzaiolo, and the house-made mozzarella, which is so good that the proprietors wholesale it to other Italian restaurants and pizzerias in the know. The pies are individual Neapolitan-style beauties, with a chewy, puffy crust that is pretty swell. I usually have the Margherita here, but I've always been tempted to order the Southern pizza, topped with spicy sausage and American and Swiss cheeses. It ain't exactly authentic, but I bet it's tasty.
Forno Italia
Address: 43-19 Ditmars Boulevard, Astoria NY 11105 (b/n 43rd and 45th Streets; map) Phone: 718-267-1068
It's been awhile since Slice has waded into the plaintive muck of Craigslist's Missed Connections section. So come with me, my loves, to the swamp of love that spawns That's Amore. —The Mgmt.
At New Park Pizza on CrossBay Blvd today with your friend - m4w: If this work's I'll not only be really happy but amazed! At New Park Pizza on Cross Bay Blvd in Howard Beach Queens this afternoon. You are light skinned and you were sitting with your girlfriend who was darker. You were wearing what I think I remember was a pink Tee shirt with something written on it. You had a small white box in front of you on the table that you were sitting at and you were looking at the content and smiling. You are beautiful with an amazing smile and although I should have talked to you I was in kind of a rush and didn't want to embarrass you in front of your friend and I still regret it. Tell me what you had in the box and I'll know it's you. I hope this work's because I would hate to think I will never see you again.
To My Dream "ozzie"...The One of Three - m4w - 29 (East Village): As the bar was closing, we shared a simple kiss...I said "see you at the pizza place" yet you weren't there...If you're out there, I wouldn't mind a quick snog before you head back to Oz...And yes, there will be power ballad singing...
How was that Lombardi's pizza? Saturday night on the 6. - m4w (Murray Hill): Saturday night: you bought a pizza at Lombardi's, then headed back uptown on the IRT [that's the 6] from Spring to 33rd, clad in brown boots and other earth tones, and carrying a tote with three initials. 'bout 10:00 PM or so. My route was the same. Sans pizza and boots, tho -- white cords, cutoff linen shirt, black glasses, unshaven. Coulda shoulda. But didn't! So write me a note and we can correspond while I'm away in France for a week or two.
Bella Napoli Madison Ave - 30: Tall Asian women in Chloe jeans ordering pizza in front of me. Really hot. Would like to meet you.
The results are in, and, according to Friend of Slice Tien Mao, they're being aired as we speak (if you're on Eastern Daylight Time). If you're in later time zones, you might still have a chance to watch; check your local listings. I, for one, will look for a rerun and try to DVR. In the meantime, Tien gave me some play-by-play. He's working from home, multitasking with some TV in the background, I assume.
In planning Pizza: A Slice of Heaven, I originally envisioned a chapter on "beach pizza," for pizzerias found along the boardwalk in places such as Ocean City and Atlantic City in New Jersey, and Rehobeth, Delaware. I eventually nixed the idea because my research revealed that most beach pizza is pretty awful (there are exceptions along the Jersey Shore that are written about elsewhere in the book). Another exception that I had to include is New Park Pizzeria, located in Howard Beach, Queens, right next to Kennedy Airport.
New Park Pizzeria is the paradigm of a beach pizza joint. You order at the counter and take your slices to the outdoor eating patio in front of the restaurant. There's a small heated room in the back where people eat their pizza in cold weather. The guys behind the counter are invariably teenagers from the 'hood, and they wear their baseball caps backward, but don't be alarmed; they're reasonably friendly. The pizza comes out of a super-hot gas oven that produces charred-on-the-bottom, crisp-crusted slices topped with just a little too much good commercial mozzarella.
New Park Pizzeria
Address: 156-71 Cross Bay Boulevard, Howard Beach NY (at the corner of 157th Street; map) Phone: 718-641-3082
Note: Many people know New Park Pizzeria as the scene of a really ugly racial incident in December 1986, when four black men came to the pizzeria looking for a phone to call a service station because their car had broken down. They were chased out of the pizzeria by a group of white teenagers and beaten with baseball bats and a tree limb. They ran onto the nearby Shore Parkway, where one of them was killed by a passing car. That was years ago, and though I don't think the NAACP is holding any meetings in Howard Beach, nobody working in the pizzeria was ever accused of any wrongdoing.
Posted by Adam Kuban, October 15, 2006 at 12:00 PM
Manetta's is in a section of Queens I call the pizza triangle: cornered by Long Island City, Astoria, and Forest Hills. It's also a stone's throw from Silvercup Studios, where they shoot The Sopranos. If Tony and Carmela and Dr. Melfi are in the mood for pizza, they call over to Manetta's. So if your pizza order is backed up at lunch, chances are it's because the cast of The Sopranos has placed an order for 50 pies. Don't complain, if you know what's good for you. You may end up like Adriana or Steve Buscemi's Tony B.
Manetta's owner, Mario Manetta, built his oven with his own two hands, so when I asked how it worked, the pie man working that day said, "Ask the boss. He built it." The oven is in the back of the room you walk into off the street, past the display case of desserts and antipasti and salads.
Mario's pizzas are Roman-style individual pies, ultra crisp and very thin. He uses delectable mozzarella made in the neighborhood at Spatola, and sauce he strains himself from San Marzano tomatoes. Mercifully, he goes fairly light on the cheese, thereby achieving a fine balance on his pies between sauce and cheese and crust.
Manetta's is a full-service Italian restaurant, but I couldn't tell you how the rest of the food is. I've never had anything but the pizza (well, OK, I've also had a piece of pretty good cheesecake and a delicious rice pudding studded with macerated Italian cherries trom Mario's hometown of Monte Casino in Italy).
Manetta's
Address: 10-76 Jackson Avenue, Long Island City NY (Queens, 49th Avenue; map) Phone: 718-786-6171
New York is the king of pizza cities. Oh, yes, there are other pretenders to the pizza crown. Naples has its adherents, those who champion that beautiful city's high-lipped, slightly wet pies made in gorgeous wood-burning ovens. Chicagoans love their deep-dish pizza, and it is in fact a mighty tasty casserole, but one kind of pizza does not make a strong enough case for designating a city pizza royalty. New Havenites proudly point to the gorgeous, asymmetrical pies that come out of the coal-fired ovens of Sally's and Pepe's. Those are righteous pies indeed, but, again, you have to be able to show some pizza breadth. Pizza variety is why New York City sits comfortably on its pizza throne.
Thirty-One, the popular pizzeria just steps from the steps of the Ditmars Boulevard elevated train station, was destroyed by fire early this morning, Slice's Queens correspondent reports. Damaged, too, are McDonald's, Twin Donut, and the optician next door.
Thirty-One, located at 22-48 31st Street, was well-regarded by many of the neighborhood's pizza lovers and had been recommended to Slice by several of them. It served small 4-by-4-inch slices (above) cut from long, oval pies that came from a Woodstone oven. Slice had actually visited Thirty-One several times in anticipation of a review but, like the lazy bastards we are, never got around to it.
"I'm just pissed that I won't get to have another slice from there any time soon," said Dan Dickinson, a resident of Astoria and the source of the photograph above. "It took me a year of going there to realize the good pizza was at the counter, not in the back restaurant portion. Their pepperoni was ridiculously good."
NY1 reports that the fire sent 18 firefighters and one civilian to the hospital and that the cause is still under investigation.
The Daily News recently mentioned Thirty-One in its pizza roundup:
Respectable pie at this unassuming spot near the terminus of the N line: zippy sauce, mild cheese and a nice thin crust. But the main attraction may be the double-crusted focaccia robiola with the creamy cheese filling and drizzle of truffle oil.
About a month ago, Slice received an e-mail from a mysterious gentleman going by the nom de blog of "Lonesome Hero." "You might be interested in the Pizza World Tour I recently went on," he wrote. We were interested, but Slice HQ was busy, too busy to make mention of LH's ambitious tour of the five boroughs in search of the best pizza in each one. Shamefully, the e-mail went unanswered until we were reminded about it when we met the Lonesome Hero at a foodblog event. It's time for us to correct that oversight.
Lonesome Hero publishes A Year in Food, a blog "Documenting 365 days of dining out (minus the many meals I eat at work because let's face it, the Financial District is a wasteland and it'd be way too depressing to read or write about)." Why just one year in food? We don't know. He's mysterious like that.
WORDS BY CLAIRE L..::. PIZZA PHOTOS BY DAN DICKINSON .::. Your Queens correspondent lived for a spell in Paris, and during her last two weeks there, she discovered an amazing restaurant chain called Flam's. Specializing in Flammenküche, a pizzalike Alsatian specialty, Flam's had a rather un-Parisian policy: It was all you-can-eat. Though other all-you-can-eat restaurants do exist in Paris, the only people I ever saw going into them were shady busloads of confused tourists, and they were darkly lit buffets, not unlike New York City's weird Midtown delis full of steamer tables.
The classic Flammenküche, also known as tarte flambée, has a thin crust topped with fromage blanc, lardons, and onions. Like any good chain, Flam's offers a bunch of salty and sweet variations as well. At Flam's you can order Flammenküche individually or you can pay a set price and have as many savory and sweet pies as you want. It was awesome.
Anyway. I was unable to remember the name of this amazing food after I ate it ("flukeykook" was as close as I came to recalling it) and sadly moped around New York upon my return, occasionally muttering about this amazing pizzalike food. After I posted about this mystery food on the Martha Stewart cooking bulletin boards, a representative from the French Culinary Institute kindly posted André Soltner's very own recipe with helpful hints for tarte flambée. (Click through the jump for recipes, including the Lutèce variation.) But still. I’m lazy, and though I was grateful for Mr. Soltner's recipe, I wanted a Flam's of my own in New York!
I never did find a Flam's (and sadly, Lutèce closed its doors before I had a chance to celebrate there à la Chloe Sevigny in The Last Days of Disco), but I did find 718.
Located in the awesome borough of Queens, 718 offers a number of different types of tartes flambée. [The one pictured above is a tuna tarte flambée. The photos I took of the classic tarte flambée were too dark, so I used Mr. Dickinson's photo. You get the general idea. Claire L. did not try this kind; she prefers the classic version. —Ed.] Though it does not have the all-you-can-eat menu of Flam's (boo), the classic tarte flambée is quite good. It's a tad heavy on the lardons for my taste, but overall, mighty delicious. Their tarte is pretty big, so you might want to consider sharing it as well as another appetizer. Unfortunately, they don’t offer any of the sweet variations that Flam’s does, but it’s still worth a visit. 718 is owned by a native Alsatian, Raphaël Sutter, so he would probably be horrified to hear his restaurant compared to Flam's. Like if we compared a real pizzeria to Domino's. But hey, what are you gonna do?
718 also has fancier aspirations than a lot of the neighborhood's surrounding restaurants, with mood lighting, nicely upholstered banquettes, and dramatically sculpted plates. That doesn’t mean the restaurant has not succumbed to a wacky Astorian tradition though—belly-dancing during dinner.
Following the biblical precept to visit the sick, the Slice czar found his way to Queens last weekend. Surely, he must have been wondering, where have all his stringers gone? At least one—me—has had his pizza appetite bedridden the past six months.
Our Leader even armed himself with a remedy for my ailment: the hair of the dog that bit me. Thanks to the good folks at AstraZeneca, however, the prospects of a revitalized pizza weblog have improved dramatically. With my high-acid diet having dissipated considerably, so have the pangs that accompany it, a doctor's OK notwithstanding. I had actually dipped my toes in the pizza water six weeks earlier at Di Fara, following Slice's fifth-annual warm-weather welcome party at the Cyclone and the Coney Island boardwalk. With nary a hint of heartburn found in the aftermath of beers at Ruby's and artichoke pie from Dom DeMarco, I have recently reactivated myself from the disabled list.
This reunion took place in Forest Hills, home to one of the city's finest pizzerias. These pages have long had an unspoken affection for Nick's Pizza. Each of us had been several times previously, but never in a journalistic capacity. It's particularly poor reporting on my part—Nick's is but a few subway stops from Casa Seltzer.
Newsday today has a nice, witty review of Sac's Place Pizza, the coal-oven joint in Astoria, Queens. We like the way the author, Josh Ozersky (aka Mr. Cutlets, "New York's Most Conspicuous Carnivore"), starts the story:
Kazuo Matsui's Seibu Lions card, with an actual piece of a game-used baseball (top left). Shea Stadium, or, as Seltzerboy likes to call it, "Shea International Airport" (top right). Mets players swarm Cliff Floyd, whose ninth-inning single drove in the game's winning run (middle). The food directory that led us to the pizza stand (above left). FOS (Friend of Slice) H.S. digs into (but doesn't dig) a lackluster slice (above right) at Shea.
日本語訳 [NIHONGO] | When it comes to sports, this reporter couldn't care less who's on first or who f_ _ _ed around and got a triple double. But give me a free Mets ticket and just watch how fast my tune changes. "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," indeed.
Not only did last night's complimentary tickets to the Mets-Cardinals game give E-Rock and me the opportunity to see Japanese shortstop sensation Kazuo Matsui in action (as you might know, Slice is an unabashed fan of all things Japanese), it also gave us the chance to sample some Shea slices for our readers.
On the beautiful day that was last Saturday, Slice Pizza Club No. 3 convened at Sac's Place Pizza in Astoria. Five people sat down to lunch that afternoon, including this reporter, who also served as the lone representative of this publication. This is the story of what they ate.
With a half-day's labor under my belt, I took advantage of a generous work reprieve and followed the warm climes to the beach—well, Howard Beach, that is. The weather was only part of the equation. Pizza, naturally, was what was really on my mind.
If only the Jamaica Bay breezes had not precluded a prosperous trip to the nearby shore, the afternoon wouldn't have been a complete loss. Last night's dinner was some of the worst pie I've eaten this side of the Hudson.
I approached this journey with some trepidation. Howard Beach was the scene of a highly charged incident in 1986 in which a band of white residents beat and chased three black men, ultimately killing one. More specifically, New Park Pizza on Cross Bay Boulevard was the place where it all began.
While the crime remains etched in the minds of many, it's important to note that Howard Beach, at least in some ways, has changed (imagine Vinnie Barbarino cruising Levittown). Any lingering tension is a conundrum best left for another forum. What I wanted to ascertain was how much the pizza had changed. I can't vouch for New Park's previous luster, although reliablesources had recently intoned encouraging notes about it maintaining a standard of respectability. Logic would tell us that a visit to an elder slice statesman, in one the city's last Italian American communities, couldn't be a complete waste. Having returned shaking my head in disbelief, I am reminded yet again not to bet on rumor and superstition.
New Park, still considered the neighborhood's leading pizza shop, feels more like a City Island crab shanty. It's little more than a shabbily built red-brick box, slightly recessed from a bustling thoroughfare. It offers only a few tables—all picnic-style, in an open-air seating area adjacent to the self-service counter. For such a small facility, it's bewildering that 90 percent of it is not accessible to customers; pizza of this breed could be produced with little more than a freezer and a microwave oven. (The store's T-shirt attire boasts of "brick-oven pizza," though it appears that all the work is done using the standard steel-deck variety. Not that it matters—a decent oven is the least of this place's problems.)
I had two slices: one regular and one Sicilian. Reheating is the standard here—most business is done by the slice—and I suspect that these two pies had been at the ready long before my arrival. The crust was unbearably thick and slightly undercooked. If the cheese used is real, I've had processed kinds with more life. The sauce bore much closer resemblance to Newman's Own than Naples.
Admittedly, this was all gleaned from one visit, normally not enough to draw such a strong conclusion. But I found nothing redeeming from this culinary excursion to southern Queens to give me hope for another try. Perhaps this won't be the final word on New Park, or on Howard Beach.
Posted by Adam Kuban, November 14, 2003 at 10:44 AM
Nick's Pizza garners a review in today's New York Daily News. Irene Sax visits the UES location for the News's Eats Beat section and reports:
The crust was thin, well-salted and blistered along one edge from the oven's high heat. As it cooled, it stayed crisp, a sign of first-rate pizza. The fresh, light tomato sauce was barely flavored with oregano, the cheese was high-quality, and there were slivers of basil and a kiss of grated Parmesan on the top. Altogether a superior product.
What makes it Argentinean is the addition of "faina," a crisp top crust made of harina de garbanzos (chickpea flour). The faina is slow-baked separately and placed on top of the pizza before putting the whole thing in the oven again. The resulting slice ($3.70) is a kind of wedge-shaped sandwich with a distinctive crunchy top and a flavorful, melted ooze in the middle."
Doesn't sound too bad. I wonder if faina is anything like panelle, the chickpea-flour fritters found in such places as Ferdinando's Focacceria in Red Hook or Joe's of Avenue U.
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Slice's Queens Pizza Map lists all pizzerias we have reviewed and/or mentioned in Queens. Clicking the pizza icons will bring up address, phone number, URL (if any), and a link back to all entries Slice has on the particular pizzeria. It's a handy way to visually navigate what Slice has to offer. The map legend is at right.
Remember when Rachael Ray was 
About a month ago, Slice received an e-mail from a mysterious gentleman going by the nom de blog of "Lonesome Hero." "You might be interested in the 
In his own words:
Nick's Pizza garners a review in today's 
