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.
474 Columbus Avenue, New York NY 10024 (b/n 82nd and 83rd streets; map)
212-686-5222
On many hot summer weekends in New York City, we end up renting a car and high-tailing it out of the city to beat the heat and smell some grass and flowers. And though I hate paying Hertz for an extra hour (they charge a fortune), I have incurred that charge at least once because I just had to stop at Sal & Carmine's to pick up a pizza. Frankly, it's worth it, because the pizza there is that good.
You've heard of semisweet chocolate, right? Well lately I've been encountering a lot of what I call semiserious pizza, most recently at Dean's Pizzeria, yet another pizza "concept" from the folks who have given us the Patsy's mini-chain, Angelo's, and Goodburger.
What is semiserious pizza? It's pizza that has many of the characteristics of serious pizza—made with good (if not great) ingredients, baked in an oven that can hold temperatures as high as 800 degrees (either gas-, wood-, or coal-fired), and served as whole-pie only. The only thing missing from semiserious pizza is the presence of a passionate pizzaiolo owner, someone who lives and dies with every pie.
That's my problem with Dean's. Dean's is actually pretty good pizza. It makes thin-crust Neapolitan pies and grandma pies, all with fresh mozzarella and decent canned tomatoes. It's certainly much better than the average New York slice joint (Dean's only sells whole pies, by the way), but it's not great, and the reason it's not great is that it's a concept, meant to be rolled out to multiple locations. It's faux great, or semiserious, like I said.
Related: Gael Greene on Dean's Pizzeria
Dean's
Address: 215 West 85th Street, New York NY 10024 (UWS b/n Broadway and Amsterdam Ave.; map)
Phone: 212-875-1100
Additional Location
Address: 801 Second Avenue, New York NY 10017 (Midtown East b/n 42nd and 43rd streets; map)
Phone: 212-878-9600
Photograph from blueneurosis on Flickr
I've begged and I've begged, but to no avail. I told Sal and Carmine my wife had a broken leg. They wouldn't budge. They wouldn't deliver. I've had the following imaginary conversation with Sal and Carmine many times. "But Sal," I plead, "you make one of the best slices in Manhattan. I mean, it's not even close. I love your charred crust, your sauce, your full-cream mozzarella. Do you know how many of your slices I've eaten in the past 24 years!"
I do a quick calculation. "Fifteen hundred. I've eaten fifteen hundred of your slices, and if you used fresh mushrooms instead of canned, that number would have easily doubled."
No dice on the fresh mushrooms and no dice on the deliveries.
Sal & Carmine's
Address: 2671 Broadway (b/n 101st and 102nd), New York NY 10025
Phone: 212-663-7651
Rating: 
This entry is an excerpt from my book Pizza: A Slice of Heaven. To read more, visit the Slice of Heaven archives here on Slice.
Dean's Pizzeria & Restaurant, a new Nick Angelis–affiliated joint is opening on the Upper West Side, as reported by the New York Times yesterday. Angelis is the man behind Nick's (locations in Forest Hills and on the Upper East Side) and Adrienne's Pizzabar (Financial District), and he's helping his sister, Mirene, with this venture.
Located in a former hotel ballroom with Greek columns and elaborate crown molding, Dean’s, along with its full Italian menu and full bar, is offering both an “old school round pizza” ($13 and $15, plus toppings) and an “old-fashioned square pizza,” ($16, plus toppings). The latter is especially thin, without the unappetizing gooey layer of dough above the crust that grandma pies usually have. The sauce on all the pies is uncooked, milled tomatoes; the squares have a garlic and oregano kick. The round pies use all fresh mozzarella, the grandmas half fresh and a high-quality chewier variety seen in some of the better slice joints.
I know you're all tired of hearing about Dom. Sorry I didn't blog this one for you homeslices yesterday.
Dean’s Pizzeria & Restaurant
Address: 215 West 85th Street
Phone: 212-875-1100
Reader comment and response is still pouring in thanks to yesterday's New York Times story. So many great comments and recommendations. And questions. Reaching into the proverbial mailbag, we have ...
Dear Slice,
Do you know of any good late night or 24 hour pizza places in NYC?
—Bilal
Dear Bilal,
Slice is a homebody, more prone to lying prone on the couch at night, remote in hand, watching Battlestar Galactica. But our favorite late-night (if not 24-hour) place is Vinny Vincenz. Great squares here. Sunday through Thursday till 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday till 4:30 a.m.
Late enough for you?
And, as always, readers, if you know of any good 24-hour or late-night pizzerias, chime in with your comments!
Hasta la pizza,
Adam
VINNY VINCENZ
Address: 231 First Ave., New York NY 10003 [East Village, b/n 13th/14th sts.; map]
Getting There: L train to First Ave. Vincenz is practically on the corner
Phone: 212-674-0707
URL: vinnyvincenz.com
In yesterday's New York Times F.Y.I. column, the question was raised: Where was the first Ray's Pizza, and what's the story behind it?
A. Why don’t you ask something simple, like what happened to Judge Crater? Some New York culinary questions (just who invented the black-and-white cookie is another) are destined to remain shrouded in mystery. The evolution of Ray’s Pizza resists an easy explanation....The Ray’s question is also bristling with lawyers. Rosolino Mangano, of Famous Original Ray’s Pizza on Columbus Avenue near 83rd Street, went to court in the early 1990’s, registered that name and branched out with many identically named Ray’s, run mostly by relatives, with others under license. Then there was Ralph Cuomo, who in 1959 opened a Ray’s Pizza at 27 Prince Street and then another one on First Avenue and 59th Street; the second location ended up in Mr. Mangano’ s hands. Other would-be Rays said they had a right to their versions. Some joined forces; some sued. You get the idea.
Slice suspected as much, from the research we've done on the topic, that's why you've never seen an in-depth investigative piece on the place on this website. I mean, if the might and muscle of the Gray Lady couldn't uncover the truth, we're afraid the Ray's question will forever remain a greasy mystery.
FURTHER READING
From A Full Belly, March 18, 2004:
Food Wars claims that there are at least 3,000 pizzerias in New York, and at least 30 of them use some form of “Ray’s” in their name including but not limited to Ray’s, Ray’s Pizza, Famous Original Ray’s Pizza, Ray’s Famous Original Pizza, World Famous Ray’s Pizza, Not Ray’s Pizza, and RayBari Pizza. A quick poll of Citysearch finds 2788 results on “pizza” and 45 results on “Ray’s pizza”. The thing is, there is no Ray.Using his mom’s pizza recipt, Ralph Cuomo opened Ray’s in 1959 in Little Italy, which quickly became known as the place to buy the slice (and later, the place to buy a slice AND some heroin, but curiously enough Food Wars fails to mention this bit of trivia). In the early 60’s, Cuomo opened a second Ray’s (54th and 7th Ave), which was eventually bought by Rosolino Mangano. Mangano changed the name to Famous Original Ray’s, even though it wasn’t the original. Mangano now goes by the name “Ray” even though legal name is still Rosolino, and has opened Famous Original’s all over New York City. Mangano also claims that he is the “Ray” that has made the name "Ray’s" famous.
In 1981, Mangano sold a store to someone else, who continued using the name “Ray’s” and soon more “Ray’s” pizzeria variations began popping up. Ralph Cuomo then attempted to trademark the name "Ray’s." The three "Ray’s" pizza players eventually incorporated together, trademarked the name Ray’s, and then went after everyone else using the name.
But wait, there’s more! Joe Bari bought a “Ray’s Restaurant” in 1973 and turned it into a pizzeria and added his own name, Ray Bari Pizza. Bari believes he, not Mangano of Famous Original Ray’s, made the name famous by using cab drivers to spread to word about the pizzeria. Joe Bari refused to change the name, and was sued by the corporate Ray’s, and eventually changed his restaurant name to RayBari Pizza.
And there you have a small slice of the contentious history behind New York pizza.
You Can Call Them Ray [New York Times]
New York Pizza, Part 1 [A Full Belly]
At his friend Maurizio DeRosa's urging, Celeste chef Giancarlo Quadalti set out to make authentic Neapolitan pizza in the gorgeous wood-burning oven installed in the corner of his restaurant. A year later, DeRosa concluded that New Yorkers didn't want the real thing. "It was too wet for people. People would take napkins and blot the pizza to absorb moisture. We were devastated. We would look and suffer in silence."
But after an appropriate mourning period, Quadalti made the necessary adjustments. Now Quadalti drains the tomatoes just the way many American pizzaioli do. As a result, Celeste's pizza is probably not authentically Neapolitan, but it is quite delicious and Italian in conception. That means they use double-zero Italian flour, imported canned tomatoes (drained), and excellent cow's-milk mozzarella, imported from Maspeth, Queens. The crust is a little crisper than any I found in Naples, but trust me, Giancarlo, that's the way we like it. I usually have either the Margherita or a marinara (made with tomato sauce and anchovies here), but sometimes I get crazy and order the one with prosciutto and arugula. It doesn't matter what pizza you eat at Celeste. They're all delicious. After devouring your pie, it is imperative that you have gelato for dessert at Celeste. They're all made by the mad-genius gelato maker, Gino Cammarata, from the tragically shuttered restaurant Bussola. If you're with a group, have the "porcini mushroom" ice cream, made with hazelnut ice cream and chocolate sauce in the shape of, yes, a porcini mushroom.
CELESTE
Location: 502 Amsterdam Ave. (84th/85th), New York NY
Phone: 212-874-4559
Ed's Rating: 3 pies (out of a possible 4)
Ed Levine is a regular contributor to the New York Times Dining section and is author of New York Eats and New York Eats More. He also maintains a blog: Ed Levine Eats. This entry is an excerpt from his book Pizza: A Slice of Heaven
So, last night was the Food Blog Panel at Makor Center. As you might know, yours truly was a member of the panel, along with Alaina "A Full Belly" Browne and Josh "The Food Section" Friedland. Andrea Strong moderated.
I don't have much to say about the event, because I didn't take notes, didn't record it, and I was a bit nervous so can't remember many details about what we all talked about. Perhaps later in the day my fellow panelists and some of our fellow foodbloggers in attendance will chime in on their sites and I'll link.
We basically talked about the role of foodblogs in food media (were they a threat—ha!—to traditional media or a complementary source of info), why we started our respective blogs, what kept us blogging, which food writers we liked, and what other blogs we liked out there.
I felt I was a bit ineloquent at times and was told I was gesticulating too much, and I wanted to name a lot of fellow foodbloggers as daily reads but then fell flat and drew a blank, even though some of them were in the audience. Sorry, folks!
Anyway, it was a fun night—for me, anyway. Audience members: I don't know how you sat through an hour of bloggity blog blab. More power to you. And thanks, many thanks, for attending. (Special shouts out to the bloggers in the crowd: Capn Design a.k.a. "Hamburger" Matty Jacobs, Miss Ginsu, The Amateur Gourmet, A Year in Food, The Girl Who Ate Everything, Anil, Lia, Kathryn, Janelle, and anyone my sleep-deprived brain might be forgetting.)
Big ups to Josh, Alaina, Andrea, and the Makor Center, too.
Photograph by Slice city editor Seltzerboy. From left: Adam K., Andrea Strong, Alaina Browne, Josh Friedland
Just a reminder that tonight at the Makor Center, the editor in chief of this blog, Adam Kuban (that's me), will be speaking on the topic of foodblogs. I'll be on a panel with Alaina Browne of A Full Belly and Josh Friedland of The Food Section. Food writer and fellow culinary-site proprietor Andrea Strong will moderate.
The discussion, For the Main Course, a Blog, starts at 7:30 p.m. TIckets are $12 in advance (you can buy them through the Makor site; click the link above) or $15 at the door.
Special note to my friends and coworkers: Yes—feel free to attend. Why are you all asking whether I really want you there or not? If you can't make it, no biggie; I'm sure I've bored you all to tears already, talking about blogging, burgers, and pizza.
Special note to readers: I feel so bad about being incomunicado for the past several weeks and then posting about something tangentially related to pizza, but I promise I'll pick up the posting slack here on Slice. I've still been eating pizza and have a backlog of reviews to get through. Watch for reviews of Lento's, No. 28, and Nick's in the days to come.
Really Hungry Bloggers [the 92nd Street Y's blog]
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