Quick, what is the pizza capital of the world? Hint: Its NYC
So lets spend a few moments breaking it down. Chicago does a good Deep Dish and then some. Boston, San Diego, LA has are making all sorts of great pizzas, and so is New Haven which spoiled clam pies for me forever. And then there’s Naples and Rome that are really the two powerhouses outside of the country that can compete with NYC pound for pound. These are all fantastic pizza cities. But none of them comes close to the size and depth of the NYC pizza scene.
Yelp lists 11,000 establishments selling pizza in NYC which granted is a little high. And it only allows checking 999 results at a time, so I cant really see how many of these are actually pizza places. And according to the Health Dep’t there are around 1600 establishments with the word pizza or pizzeria in the name. So there you have it. We have exactly 1600 to 11,000 pizza places in NYC! Ok, so we dont really know. But the number is very high. In many neighborhoods you can’t walk a block without a pizza, bagel, Chinese takeout, and therefore a Pharmacy.
And with the numbers comes the competition. I’ve witnessed it increase dramatically during the last few years with the advance of Roman, Neapolitan, Detroit, and even NY style all over town. Experienced Italian Pizzaioli continue to flock the city, while local talents like Nick Anderer and Emily Hyland increase the assault. Our healthy pizza culture hasnt changed much, but we do have a lot more interesting options nowadays.
And these days those options go far beyond the institutions like Di Fara, which many consider the best pizza in city. So as I wrote elsewhere…
Think of Difara as the High Sparrow. The High Septon of The Faith of the 7 pizzas (Grimaldi’s, Lombardi’s, Totonno’s, Di Fara, L&B, Patsy’s, John’s of Bleecker). But since it was crowned as the high Septon of The Faith, the 7 pizzas became 700, and many of them are now more powerful and better looking than the High Sparrow. If you are a believer and part of The Faith, you already know who some of them are. But if you are an outsider, you only know the High Sparrow and your mission in life is to meet him. But to meet him you need to take what they call “The Subway” for a long ride and wait your turn among other non believers, which may take 1-3 hours sometimes. And when you finally meet him, the entire experience may depend on one thing. Whether the High Sparrow is having a good hair day. Its essentially like a job interview.
So for those readers or GOT fans that are still with us, yes, we are grateful for all those institutions that deliver quality pizza for all those decades. But today we have a lot of other options, some of which a little bit more interesting. Other than John’s, these guys are somewhat painful to get to, and there’s a very good chance there’s a better option near your hotel. So for the next week or so, I’ll be working on a map of some of the best pizza in NYC, along with other articles, starting with an updates list of the best of Hell’s Kitchen. A pizza week on EWZ if you will. And if you are not into pizza, you are an enemy of America!
I dont usually update a place this soon, but this is kinda important after yet another fine meal at Ivan Ramen LES. Weather is getting chillier (or seemed to be a few weeks ago at least), and I cant think of a better way to start Ramen season. The Chicken Paitan at Ivan is not the Ramen dish that made Ivan famous, but to me it’s right up there with NYC’s best at the moment. As I described 6 months ago when it came out, “the richness and deliciousness of a Tonkotsu without the heaviness”.
Its easy to overlook the capital once you look at the rest of Croatia, but you need to fly home from somewhere. Two nights, one full day is a good amount of time to see the sights, most of which from a compact center. By this stage of the trip, food research fatigue took over. But we still managed to sneak in a good final meal
The burning question. In the midst of all that madness, what exactly should I look for in this Zombie infested former Nabisco factory. I added a couple of names for 2017 without feeling the need to change anything else. This is just mostly a fresh reminder since I’m constantly being asked by people. What should I target in Chelsea Market…
This month on Hell’s Kitchen’s unofficial official magazine W42st, the theme is… ok, I dont really remember. I’m pretty sure the theme is not quickies, but sounds like it should be one of these days. I try, but sometimes I just cant match the Eatlists with the theme. If for example the theme is The Kardashians (it could happen), I would have a hard time coming up with related recommendations, other than maybe Casellula, home of the pig’s ass sandwich.
The first thing I have to tell you about Llama Inn in Williamsbutg is how gorgeous it is. Out of all the Peruvian I’ve been to in NYC, this is possibly the best looking. Albeit oddly situated in a not so attractive location by the highway. In fact I’m pretty sure the last time I came here this building was a gas station surrounded by other gas stations. The space is stylish even for the hotel filled chic Williamsburg standards. Designed by Joseph Foglia Designs, one can see how much time and effort went into this project.
This post was supposed to be about the other housewife, from Hanoi. Both Madame and Hanoi House opened in East Village around the same time earlier this year, pretty much turning the Vietnamese scene in East Village upside down. Both heavily reviewed by local media, sometimes 
Eating With Ziggy 