Posts Tagged With: NYC pizza

What’s Wrong with the NYT Best Pizza List? Everything.

Posted on October 31, 2024 by Ziggy

Ok, not everything. But enough for me to pause the Piedmont posts to reflect on an issue near and dear to my heart. Other than the Yankees blowing a big lead to lose the World Series, there’s nothing that can rile up the natives more than another pizza list. Especially when it comes from the NYT. But as with any pizza list there are some good things (cause its pizza), so I’ll start with that…

First, the link. I like the transparency. I like that the story starts with “The reporters for this story visited 50 pizzerias across all five boroughs.” I like that the reporters are active in the comments section, being humble and all.

I do like some of the mentions of newer places like L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele, and Ungaro Coal Fired Pizza Cafe in Staten Island. Da Michele especially feels fresh even for a Neapolitan. Although, why include a picture of someone using a knife and fork. We usually get the pies at Da Michele sliced, and we eat them with our hands. Its New York, not mayor de Blasio house.

Moving on to the issues…

While I appreciate the transparency, we have over 2000 pizzerias. NYC is the pizza capital of the world. Coming up with a list of 25, after eating at 50 places just wont cut it for “Best Pizza in NYC” list. And besides, in NYC, figuring out the best pizza is like trying to figure out the most active squirrels in Central Park.

Some individual inclusions and exclusions

Joe and Pats – Listing the overrated East Village location instead of the institution in Staten Island feels very wrong, strange and most importantly very wrong. Its like listing Di Fara Pizza on South St instead of the iconic Midwood. I understand its an expensive bridge even for the NYT, but Staten Island is one of our most important pizza boroughs.

Denino’s – Speaking of Staten Island, this is one of the more overrated places on the island. Old doesn’t always mean great.

L&B Spumani – Seriously, did they just forget to take a picture of the Sicilian? Maybe they never tasted it, or contractually obligated to include that pup? The Sicilian is their claim to fame.

Scarr’s – Ever since they moved to the bigger space across the street, they’ve gone downhill. It used to be my favorite slice in NYC but now its really no better than an average slice, and pretty much strictly for tourists.

Lucia of Ave X – I’m ok with this inclusion. In fact its one of my favorites. In fact I just had it yesterday! But this also highlights the challenges of a best pizza list in NYC. Its nothing more than a solid neighborhood joint where you can get a good slice that’s convenient to me. We have hundreds of these. And at least a hundred like Sacco in Hell’s Kitchen, Best Pizza in Williamsburg, Nonna’s in Great Kills, Lo Duca in Flatbush are excellent. Lucia, Joe’s, and the rest of them are simply more famous either due to age or marketing.

Other exclusions are more puzzling.

No Song e Napule? This might be the best we have. Its pizza perfection.

No Lucali’s? The author admits in the comments that the hassle was not worth it. But at the end of the day it’s still a best pizza list, not the most accessible pizza list.

No Una Pizza Napoletana? Widely considered by pizza experts one of the best pizzas in America, not just NYC, and the top in the world by the respected https://www.50toppizza.it/. Strange omission.

No Keste, Don Antonio? I can go on and on. But I guess you cant include them all, and a mix of types is important. Although more emphasis should be made for Neapolitan which is awesome in NYC at the moment.

No Di Fara?!? Ok, I actually agree with this.

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L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele – Eat, Pray, Love, Repeat

Posted on January 18, 2023 by Ziggy

Opening a pizzeria in the heart of Manhattan these days requires some major Bombolone. From the West Village location of da Michele alone one can walk to a variety of pizzerias that are ranked with the best of them… Brunetti, Ribalta, Song’ E Napule, John’s of Bleecker Street, just to name a few. These few are mostly of the Neapolitan kind, the result of the new wave of Italian immigrants. Unlike their Sicilian and Neapolitan predecessors who worked with limited ingredients back in the day, the new wave has access to not only ingredients, but the proper pizza oven.

But all the ingredients in the world wont put you on the map if you are missing the main one, a capable Pizzaiolo. Thats always been the main difference between eating in NYC and Rome or Naples, for the most part. We are getting there, if not there already. L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele is the brainchild of Francesco Zimone and Michele Rubini who are expending on the legacy of the original staple in Naples (since 1870). After two visits, needless to say, these two got pizza down to a science, mainly thanks to the all important Pizzaiolos they brought with them.

During my conversation with Michele after my first meal, I learned that these guys are no stranger to the ultra competitive NY pizza scene. More importantly perhaps they are well aware of what it takes to run a successful pizzerie in Naples, in accordance with Verace Pizza Napoletana Association which Michele Rubini is certified with. The Naples location is also famous for being featured in Julia Roberts’ Eat, Pray, Love. It has received so many accolades over the years, it has no more room on its door. Shame you wont see a “Ziggy Approved” sticker anytime soon.

Simply put, this is as good as pizza gets in NYC. The pies are larger than the typical Neapolitan found all over the city. I wrongly assumed they increase the size to please Americans, but Michele told me thats the size in Naples as well. The base is soft, light and perfectly charred. And the ingredients gel together beautifully. There’s a double cheese option for some reason, but not worth the risk of losing a perfectly balanced Fior Di Latte, Pecorino, tomato sauce combo.

Its important to keep it simple with the delicate Neapolitans, and always go with the Margherita, but I cant help but get the Diavola every time I see it. Here its superb, and the spicy salami is actually spicy. The Pesto is the only white one I tried, and its not too shabby either. Two pies can easily feed a hungry three, but not quite 4, unless you order other items. Its a fairly full menu for a pizza joint, and it will get fuller with burgers, fish and steak soon. The multi-room space is fairly spacious, with a long bar, and a third room downstairs that isnt quite ready. Its the most ambitious pizzeria that ever opened in NYC. So far so delicious.

L’antica Pizzeria da Michele
81 Greenwich Ave (West Village)

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Pizza and the City

Posted on October 1, 2017 by Ziggy

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!

 

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