We started the new Time Out list right where we left off. It’s like the second season of a hit television show. Except there are no commericals. Not yet anyway. Wait until I figure out how to monetize this blog.

Anyway, it was a few weeks after having a bite of the Greenpointer (our final dish from last year’s list) that we returned to one of my favorite pizzerias for a dinner with friends. Two of my good friends who’ve helped me immensely with this blog had never been to Paulie Gee’s, so I made them schlep out to Greenpoint to try the madman’s brilliant pizzas. The fact that we got the Hellboy (from Time Out’s newest list) was sort of an added bonus.

The Hellboy is a play on one of his other pizzas, the Delboy. It’s just taken to hell with some serious heat. The Delboy is rather simple with fior di latte (mozzarella), spicy sopressata ham, and parmigiano reggiano cheese. It’s the perfect balance of flavors and like all his pizzas, it’s well-rounded and delicious.

Personally, I didn’t think the Hellboy was much of an improvement. The only difference between TONY’s list item and the original Delboy is the addition of Mike’s Hot Honey (it’s made and marketed by one of Paulie’s bartenders). Hot Honey sounds amazing and I bet it is on its own, but for me it made Paulie’s pizza taste like takeout Chinese food.

There’s something about the overly sweet flavors balanced with aggressive heat that makes me think of General Tso’s chicken. And while some people won’t see the problem in that, it reminded me of more processed and cloying food. But that being said, the ingredients are still fresh and taking a bite of any of Paulie’s perfectly charred pies will make you a believer in artisanal pizzas. And in commuting out to Greenpoint.

Would Paulie Gee’s Hellboy make my Top 100 of the year? Almost any of his other pies would, but this flavor combination didn’t quite work for me so I have to only give it a 7 out of 10.

30. LEMON BAR from THE TREATS TRUCK

I miss The Treats Truck so much. Ever since Kim Ima stopped parking in Midtown due to the ban on food trucks, my treats intake has shrunk dramatically. And while my doctor might be happy with that, my tastebuds certainly are not.

One of the treats I miss most is the Lemon Bar. I’m not even a fan of lemon desserts, but this one which premiered last winter as a way to reminisce about the bright days of summer could turn even the biggest lemon snubber into a fan. The shortbread crust gives the gooey dessert an extra buttery crunch, while the sweet and tart filling is fresh and succulent. And Kim always asks you which piece you want, giving you the option of getting the crunchy end piece. She still parks at a few locations in Manhattan, so she’s just a subway ride away from wherever you are. And even though they wouldn’t be the same, maybe I’ll have to buy her new cookbook and attempt to make them myself. Just don’t tell my doctor. Price: $2.50

29. COCONUT CHAI at BONOBO’S

This was a true New York discovery. I was just thirsty one afternoon and wandered into what looked like a generic deli across from Madison Square Park. In fact, it’s Bonobo’s, a casual vegetarian restaurant. And on display, I stumbled upon a very intriguing drink, which turned out to be one of the most delicious things I had tasted in my life!

With creamy, sweet coconut flavors on the front and spicy, sweet chai masala spices on the finish, this drink may as well have been dessert and a nutritious one at that. It’s made with fresh young coconut and the only extra sweetener is the healthier agave nectar. My only complaint is how small the bottle is and how addicting the stuff inside is. There’s not even close to enough to give me a satisfying fill of my new favorite discovery. I guess that just means I’ll have to buy another bottle.

28. GO FIG YOURSELF PIZZA at PAULIE GEE’S

Good ol’ Paulie Gee! I’ve written about his amazing contributions to the pizza world and have been a fan of his since the first day I tasted his wood-fired creations. Last year, the Cherry Jones made my list. And this year, a seasonal pie with similar ingredients made my list. That’s right, this is another fruit pizza!

Usually the thought of fruit on pizza (pineapple?) earns gasps in the serious pizza world. But Paulie is a master of flavor combinations and discovering fresh ingredients. The Go Fig Yourself (the name alone should make a Top 100 list) uses fresh black mission figs (hence the seasonality of the pie). The rich bite of gorgonzola and salty earthiness of prosciutto di parma keep the sweetness of the figs and fior fi latte in check. All good chefs know every dish should have some sort of acidity. Paulie takes care of that with a sprinkling of orange blossom honey. Brilliant! Price: $17

27. STRAWBERRY CINNAMON RIBS at TRAIF

I’ve always been a bad Jew. I used go out every year for my birthday to get a big slab of BBQ pork ribs. They really were my favorite. And I would tend to agree with most of Brooklyn that pig is the tastiest of all the meats.

Traif is a perfect place for me in many ways. The name itself hints at things only a bad Jew (or a non-Jew) would eat and the food here is stupendous (and affordable). The second dish to make my list this year (there were two on last year’s list as well) are the glazed baby back ribs. This is a throwback to my youth, but I never experienced any as uniquely flavorful and tender as these. The glaze is quite complex with a good level of sweetness from the strawberries and a mild spiciness from the cinnamon. Maybe this could convince more Jews to finally come over to the dark side. Price: $9

26. GRAPEFRUIT GIVRE at BOULUD SUD

The Grapefruit Givre was perhaps the strangest dessert I’ve ever tasted. And yes, I’ve had beet ice cream and celery sorbet, but this takes the cake. Not because of the strange flavor combinations, but because there are so many things going on in this visually striking, slightly avant garde, playful dish. 

I probably wouldn’t have tasted this if it wasn’t listed on Time Out’s list for 2011, so I’m eternally grateful. Pastry chef Ghaya Oliveira, who hails from Tunisia, uses a hollowed out frozen grapefruit as the bowl. Inside are layers upon layers of delicious treasures, including a tart grapefruit sorbet, creamy sesame foam, and chewy pieces of floral rose candy. The interactive dish is sealed up with a brittle sugary caramel tuille and beautiful cotton candy-like halvah shreds. The fruit is garnished with sesame seeds. And like an enthralling piece of art, at first I didn’t know what to make of it, but eventually I let the experience overtake me and I reveled in its glory. Price: $13

This year the end of the list came fast and furious. I don’t know if it’s because we got overconfident in our skills or because this summer just flew by or it’s because Time Out seems to release the next list one week earlier each year. Whatever the reason was, my big plan for a closing party at Paulie Gee’s fell through.

I wanted to invite every person I ever knew in my life to be there for the celebration. But then I got word that the new Time Out list was being published and I still had yet to go to Paulie Gee’s for the Greenpointer. And inviting a Bar Mitzvah-worth of friends to a pizzeria in Greenpoint becomes really difficult with such short notice. I needed to send out invitations months in advance.

So I rushed myself to Paulie Gee’s early one Tuesday afternoon to make sure I got a bite of this pizza before it was too late. I’ve been to Paulie’s a few times and really love everything about the  place, the man, and his pizzas. His Cherry Jones made my own Top 100 from last year (and look for another coming this year), but somehow, I had never tried the Greenpointer.

Like all his pizza, the dough gets just a few minutes in his beautiful wood burning oven to give it that perfect pillowy softness and rugged crisp char. His doughs are just as good as at Kesté, my favorite Neapolitan-style pizzeria in the city. He tops the Greenpointer with fior de latte mozzarella, arugula lettuce, shred of Parmigiano-Reggiano and the most interesting addition of all: lemon juice. This is a healthy man’s pizza.

I’ve never encountered lemon juice on a pizza before. You’d think the acidity would clash with the creaminess of the cheese, but it gives it a lightness and a tang that makes the perfect balance. This is the lightest pizza I’ve ever had yet it’s still loaded with so much flavor. Paulie is truly a master of flavor combinations.

This was rated Time Out’s fourth favorite dish and it was quite a high note to end the entire list on. I just wish all my friends were with me to celebrate.

And since I was in such a celebratory mood, I came back to Paulie’s just a week later (on the day the new Time Out list was revealed) with a group of four friends. We were there for some serious pizza deliciousness, but also because his Hellboy pizza made it on the newest list. And I thought it might be nice to pick up right where I left off. You’re going to have to wait until next year for my review of the Hellboy because first I’m going to unveil my own Top 100 of the year. Talk about a celebration!

Would Paulie Gee’s The Greenpointer make my Top 100 of the year? It may have with a 9 out of 10 but there were some other pizzas on his list that I liked just a teeny bit more.

In order to gain credibility for the web series, Brian brings his work friend Anthony (an authentic Italian) along on the search for the best pizza in NYC.

Starring
Brian Hoffman
Adam Lerman
Anthony Merlino
Erin O’Brien

Brian is forced to choose between the affections of two girls, during his search for the best corned beef/pastrami in NY.

Starring
Brian Hoffman
Adam Lerman
Lindsey Gentile
Magdalena Rogowski

Brian promises to wait until Adam returns from his summer job to film the next episode. But when he discovers that another food blogger is also making a video about NY’s best ice cream, the competition becomes too much.

Starring
Brian Hoffman
Adam Lerman
Lawrence Weibman
Marianna McClellan
Isaad Gellis

Directed by
Shelley Butler

When Adam doesn’t return his phone calls, Brian searches for a new sidekick to help document the search for NY’s best dumplings. He finds somebody who looks like the perfect replacement. But looks can be deceiving.

Starring
Brian Hoffman
Adam Lerman
Alan Pittman
Jiji Lee

With
Jonathan Monk
Mark Emerson
Amy Heidt

Directed by
Shelley Butler

Supermarkets tend to overwhelm me – especially the massive specialty stores that seem to specialize in, well, everything. When I first walked into the subterranean Whole Foods that fills the basement of the Time Warner Building, I had to call my mother and ask her what I should do. For the record, she didn’t have an answer but provided motherly support as usual.

So anybody who has been to Mario Batali’s new theme park Eataly can only imagine how intimidated I am by this Italian mega store. In addition to groceries galore and lots of oddly placed museum-like signs, there are no fewer than seven “restaurants”, not counting an espresso bar, gelateria, and pastry counter. Where to begin?

I’ve been here before but aside from some quick grocery shopping one night, I’ve been mostly frightened away by the massive crowds, consumer frenzy,  and decision making issues. Leave it to Time Out to force me to try the food here and overcome my fears. Thank you, TONY!

The list item at Eataly was the San Marzano Pizza, which is served at one of the rear restaurants. It’s called Le Pizza and La Pasta (or Rossopomodoro, which is an Italian chain restaurant). When we sat down, we were given one menu with the pizzas on one side and pastas on the other. But it took a while for us to sit down. In fact, we almost gave up.

We arrived late on a busy Saturday afternoon, hoping we’d be able to get a table after the lunch rush. The hostess (there are hostesses at each of the “restaurants”) told us it would be about a 45 minute wait. We were starving and hoping to complete a list item, so we stepped over to the seafood counter and regrouped wondering what we should do. We made the decision to go somewhere else, but I thought we should check one more time with the hostess before we left. Granted it had only been about 10 minutes, but I thought you never know.

Well when I gave her my name again she told me a table was finally ready. It was very strange because it was a gross over-estimation! My guess is that they give you a longer wait time so you are forced to walk around the market and buy things. Little did they realize the only thing that would have happened with us is we would have left.

But we got lucky and told our Italian waiter (who was flirting with the table next to us in the mother tongue) we wanted to share a shaved winter salad (even though spring had technically arrived) and the San Marzano pizza, although I might have picked something a little more complex. Yet this is what was on TONY’s list and when I did my pizza search, these were the pizzas I used to judge other pies by.

The salad was very nice – fresh, crisp, and light. The pizza I’m afraid was a bit of a let down. There have been so many authentically Italian, Neapolitan-style pies served in this city over the last few years that it is no longer a revelation. And you have got to be on the very top of your game to stand out. And the pie I tasted here can’t compete with the likes of Kesté and Luzzo’s.

The dough was crisp, with a consistent char on the bottom, yet the crust didn’t have that doughy, pillowy quality I’ve come to love. I found it rather dry. The rest of the pizza was far from dry, in fact it was a bit wet as the toppings slid right off each slice. I realized this is a fork and knife pizza.

The tomato sauce was too acidic for me and was missing any sort of sweetness. The basil seemed more for show rather than for flavor. And the cheese, while buttery and rich, sort of had the consistency of chewing gum. I thought maybe my American palette got the best of me. But the aforementioned Italian ladies at the next table asked us what we thought. When we told them truthfully, they agreed with us making a face at the pizza.

It was far from bad, but if I’m looking for authentic Italian pies that taste amazing I’d go some place with less of a crowd, without a fake wait time, and a relaxing atmosphere. This place just makes me nuts. And I didn’t even begin to look at the gelato flavors. I’d have been there all day!

Would Eataly’s Rossopomodoro’s San Marzano Pizza make my Top 100 of the year? Is Eataly’s Rossopomodoro the best pizza in NY? Aside from the crowd issues, the pizza had some major issues in my mind and great Italian pies can be had at many other locations throughout the city. 6 out of 10.

But the last two gatherings were at Saraghina and Artichoke. I’ve been to them both (although would have been up for trying Artichoke’s newest location). However, when Jason announced his next conquest for Pizza Club, I knew I had to find a way to make it even if my job was on the line. Fortunately for me, this month’s excursion was on a Tuesday night and I was able to join without an entire rigamarole from work. It’s a brand new pizzeria called 900 Degrees. And the concept sounded terribly intriguing.

Many other pizza goers must have been just as excited about this place because there were 14 smiling faces waiting to dig into the pies, including Scott Weiner from Scott’s Pizza Tours. This spot had only been open a few weeks and this was already Scott’s third time here. Regardless, it’s always a pleasure to share a pie with his enthusiastic pizza appetite.

The chef, a remarkably young woman named Audrey Sherman, was incredibly sweet and welcoming to us – even walking us through the different ovens they have (not literally, of course). She trained at Tony’s Pizza in San Francisco, and along with some of the management and wait staff re-located to bring their special pies to New York. And more specifically, to the pizza heavy West Village.

The reason they have more than one oven is because the deal here is that they make just about every style of pizza imaginable. While most of the other heavyweights along Bleecker Street focus on one style or another, 900 Degrees does them all. The idea of this really excites me, but I’m also aware this could be a recipe for disaster. It’s sometimes dangerous to stretch yourself too thin – no pun intended.

The menu was quite overwhelming. They offered everything from Napoletana to Roman to Sicilian to good old fashioned New York to more inventive original American pies. I’m glad Jason was in charge because I didn’t know where to start. This was truly a case where I wanted everything on the menu. Scott very serenely pointed out that that’s the reason why I have to come back. Explains why he’s been here three times already.

After an amazing complimentary appetizer special of sauteed radicchio topped with an intensely flavored balsamic and a mound of homemade mozzarella, the pizzas start appearing. They were very good at coursing them out. Instead of bombarding us with food, they let us linger on each pie and made it a little too easy to eat more than we should have. By the end, I was beyond stuffed, but because it was spread out throughout the evening, I wasn’t in too much pain. This was pizza service at its most thoughtful.

We started off pretty simple with the Margherita. The dough was nice and blistery with pockets of steam and char, although I found the bread just slightly dry. The tomato sauce was bright and tangy, while the cheese was fresh and tasty. It was a decent version, but I don’t think it compares to the perfect Napoletana pies down the street at Kesté.

We also tried the Spacca Napoli, which replaced the tomato sauce with cherry tomatoes and the Fior di Latte with Buffalo Mozzarella. Clearly, the cheese was a little creamier and buttery, but I was still not completely overwhelmed by the pizza.

That completely changed from there on out. The next pizzas we got were all unique and flavorful and put any doubts I had to rest. The $35 Roman pie was next. On the menu, this section was the most exciting to me. It was basically a three course meal divided into sections of thin crust, square pizza. All three options piqued my interest, but Jason settled on the Bennici, which started with pepperoni and sausage, continued with ricotta, prosciutto, peppers, and arugula, and ended with a slightly sweet blend of pesto, caramelized onions, and robiola cheese. It was an interesting pizza tasting. All the flavors worked really well and the crust was wonderfully crisp. Unfortunately, I got a little intimidated and started with the final third, so I didn’t get the true sense of the progression. But I tell you it all tasted good!

The most exciting pies in my mind were the ones listed in the American section at the bottom. These were stranger concoctions, closer to what you’d find at California Pizza Kitchen, but the flavors and textures were spot on. CPK would be lucky to have a chef this innovative. The first one blew my mind. The Farmers Pie had mozzarella, white rose potatoes, leeks, broccoli rabe sausage (that’s right – sausage made with broccoli rabe), beautiful pink Calabrese chilis, and shaved raw goat’s cheese. It was quite the work of art. And the spiciness was delicate and blended in with the richness of the cheeses and the potatoes.

Like the Farmers Pie, the namesake pizza (the 900°) was baked in a wood oven so it also had a killer woodsy, char on the bottom. But it was the toppings that put it over the edge. And I realized this could have been a total fiasco, but the combination of pulled pork, hot peppers, citrus, tomato, cactus salsa, and queso fresco was a knock out. It had wisps of Southwest flavors, but none of those intense ingredients overwhelmed the pie. I’m still have trouble processing how well it worked, so Scott’s right, I will have to come back.

We moved on to the Tomato Pies section (which are the most classic New York). They’re obviously heavy on tomato sauce and the mozzarella is there, it’s just a bit sporadic. The dough is also a little chewier and thicker than the ones we’ve tried so far. The Vodka Pie looked like some of those sad pasta pies you see at corner pizzerias, but this was perfectly fresh with a rich vodka cream sauce, pancetta, and soft penne pasta. The Original Tomato pie was heavier on the tangy tomato sauce, dotted with spicy pinched sausage and all the usual fix-in’s – oregano, sea salt, and garlic. Yum.

Finally, I absolutely loved the Pancetta Porcini, which had intense earthy mushroom notes with truffle oil and wild mushrooms. Yet for me, the crowning achievement is the pizza that won a Gold Medal from the Food Networks Pizza Champions Challenge: the Cal Italia. This beauty featured a trifecta of cheeses: mozzarella, asiago, and gorgonzola. It had pockets of a sweet fig puree along with layers of prosciutto, and a generous drizzle of balsamic reduction. I had two slices of this and both were in silence. The sensation of sweet and savory was a holy experience. Everything was of the utmost quality and bled together in harmony. A perfect pizza experience.

We didn’t even get to sample anything from the Sicilian section of the menu. Regardless, I feel like I got a good sense of how things work here and I must say that all the pies are well-thought out and lovingly prepared. I wasn’t crazy about the ambiance (it reminded me of a restaurant in a shopping mall), but with pizza this good, I could care less where I was sitting.

When the complimentary tiramisu arrived, I was in shock. Yet somehow I managed to work up to a taste. It was served layered in a jar – resembling an ice cream sundae. This dessert, while nice and interesting, had nothing on other versions and certainly doesn’t come close to the magnificence of their pizzas.

From my understanding, this place is just as good as Tony’s in San Francisco. Maybe Jason needs to plan a Pizza Club on the West Coast so we can find out. For that, I’d take off work.

Is 900 Degrees the best pizza in NY? Not all their styles are perfect, but everything is good and the more interesting pies are phenomenal. This can’t get less than a 9 out of 10.

One highly regarded pizzeria out on Staten Island that I never made it to on my pizza journey is Joe & Pat’s. And now that the owner’s son, Angelo Pappalardo (who’s also worked at serious kitchens like ‘Esca) has brought the old school Italian recipes to Manhattan, I may never work up the motivation to get back on that ferry. Except after tasting the food and having an amazing lunch one Sunday afternoon at Rubirosa, I feel I need to go and see where it all began.

Rubirosa opened quietly last year and is slowly gaining momentum and a following. Along with Torrisi Italian Specialities, it’s bringing authentic, quality Italian food (none of that touristy stuff) back to the environs of Little Italy. Upon entering the cute little storefront, I was thrilled to discover that this was truly a restaurant for everybody. The front room around the bar area is romantic yet inviting to hipsters, fashionistas, and neighborhood clientele. Further in is a brighter space that is welcoming to Soho shoppers, tourists, and families. And then all the way in the back near the pizza oven feels like a quick, take-out joint. Of course, everybody is welcome in every room (I walked through the maze to check it all out and no alarms sent me back to my designated seat) and the menu is the same regardless where you sit.

The menu’s highlights seem to be pizza, but plenty of Italain red-sauce dishes are offered including some amazing meatballs (which come as a side order if you don’t want them with spaghetti). The black and white tagliatelle (which like all the pastas comes in two different portion sizes) was also a stand-out for me (with impressive opposite colors on either side of the pasta) featuring an array of fresh shellfish.

But pizza is what is advertised on their marquee outside, pizza is what Joe & Pat’s is famous for, and pizza is what I’ve dedicated a good chunk of my blog to. So Rubirosa’s pizza is what I’m going to focus on here.

We chose the small Fresca pie, which was a triumvirate of fresh Margherita-style ingredients: fresh mozzarella, fresh tomatoes, and fresh basil. All the ingredients were as advertised although I thought the basil was a little sparse. The tomato sauce was on the sweet side but played nicely with the crisp, well-done crust. And oh, that crust. It was as thin as they come cracking upon touch but maintaining a flavor and moistness usually reserved to thicker style pizzas.

Supposedly this is the same recipe as the classic one at Joe and Pat’s. It was just one of the highlights at Rubirosa, which is a fantastic new restaurant that makes me want to travel (to Staten Island) and stay put (on the convenient island of Manhattan) all at the same time.

Is Rubirosa the best pizza in NY? They bring great classic Staten Island pizza to Manhattan complete with fresh, delicious toppings and a super thin crust so they get an 8 out of 10 but it remains to be seen how they stack up next to their predecessor at Joe & Pat’s.

But the truth is I don’t eat pizza that much anymore. It used to be a quick, cheap snack to grab when I was in a hurry somewhere, but lately I’ve been trying to save those extra calories for the other rich food I consume. And unless I’m going to a Pizza Club event, pizza just doesn’t usually make its way onto my dinner plate – paper or otherwise.

Well, here I was in the East Village and I was running late to a CPR class (I had to become certified for my work as a tour guide). The only option I had for some quick sustenance apart from a deli sandwich was Enzo’s, which was just around the corner.

I had been here before many years ago, but never officially made it during my pizza quest. When I did a quick google search to see what other bloggers thought of the pizza, not much came up. So although it seems to be a local hangout, I don’t think it gets much attention outside of people like me just needing a quick slice to go. And that’s what this was. I ordered a grandma slice because it looked pretty good with a bright green basil leaf exposed and waited just a minute for the guy to reheat it.

The pizza didn’t get quite as hot as I expected, but the dough had a beautiful crunch. It was so firm and crispy that the slice fell apart with each bite, almost disintegrating in my mouth. The sauce was sweet and well-seasoned, but I could taste that it emerged from a can. The cheese wasn’t too greasy and was dispersed generously for a grandma slice. The basil was cooked into one bite of the pizza, but didn’t add much to the rest of the slice other than a pretty garnish. The addition of parmesan and oregano meant that I didn’t have to add anything to it, I could just grab some napkins and go.

Enzo’s serves a decent slice and will certainly do when in the neighborhood and in the need of an inexpensive, fast snack. I’m just glad I didn’t eat it too fast right before my CPR class and ended up needing CPR myself. Wouldn’t that be ironic?

Is Enzo’s the best pizza in NY? They get a 7 out of 10 because they’re not the best in city, but they serve a decent grandma slice and will do when in the neighborhood and in the need of a quick, crispy slice.

When I ran into some of Jason’s friends outside the restaurant, they informed me Jason would not be attending. He was quite sick and it was in the best interest of everybody that he stay home and get better. A pizza club without Jason? How could this possibly be?

Well, we managed. Ordering pizzas was a little difficult, but in his honor we decided to order just about every pie on the menu. Jason would have wanted it that way. Photos were snapped, comments were made, and pizza was consumed. But when we tried to divide the bill, we were all left a little baffled without Jason’s math skills.

So did Jason miss out on amazing pizza? Not really. It was the quickest of all the pizza clubs to date and I feel like a lot of it had to do with the fact that the staff wanted us out. We were a table of 10 and we didn’t spend too much money. No big wine, no big pastas. Just one of every pizza on the menu. The server was nice enough at first, then eventually stopped paying attention to us. And Donatella herself was walking around, but we may as well have been dirt on the floor.

Donatella is a big food personality. She’s a restaurateur and is credited as chef here. She’s been in the news over the years for her famous break-up’s with big time chefs at other restaurants – most notably with David Burke at their once lively spot davidburke & donatella. That spot is now known as David Burke’s Townhouse (so you can guess who got the eatery in the divorce). Most of the tabloids and blogs blamed the conflicts on Donatella’s difficult personality. And with the looks of her gold-plated pizza oven with her own name emblazoned on it, I imagine she has a bit of an ego problem.

Now I don’t know Donatella, but I sensed some attitude as we were continually ignored the entire meal. I was amazed as we left and she was standing at the host stand. I made full eye contact with her and she completely ignored me as I left her restaurant. No goodbye, no smile, no thank you, no come again. I felt really unwelcomed and most likely will not be returning. Whether she told me to or not.

Okay, enough about the woman, how was the pizza? It was alright. Nothing groundbreaking in my mind. Donatella studied pizza-making in Naples and had a legendary pizza oven maker build her a wood-oven right in this location in Chelsea. Yet I still don’t think it made her pizzas any better than the big neo-Neapolitan spots that have been around for awhile now (Kesté, Motorino, Luzzo’s, etc.).

In fact, I think they paled in comparison. We started with the margherita (as any pizza judge should). Immediately I could tell the dough was too soft without any crispness. It was lacking much basil and the fresh cheese and tangy tomato sauce made the pizza rather soggy. It was one of those pizzas that falls apart as soon as you pick them up. It required a fork and knife, which to me is not a good thing.

The soft and soggy issue continued throughout the meal. I think in general most of the pizzas were undercooked (they came to the table in under 2 minutes) and they were all rather messy as the ingredients continued parting ways with the thin crust. The charred and marinated mushrooms on the Capellacio were chewy and dry, but were still no match for the wet mozzarella. The Carita was ridiculously salty. When you have anchovies and olives on a pizza, why also add capers? It wasn’t the capers that bothered me but the combination of all that salinity without any sort of balance.

The Enzo (named after the constructor of the oven) was the favorite at the table. It was well-balanced with interesting and fresh toppings: sausage, broccoli rabe, and smoked mozzarella. I also enjoyed the Diavola with spicy salami, chili oil, and pecorino. Although, again too many of the same flavors – I didn’t think you needed both chili oil and spicy salami! I don’t know what they taught Donatella in Naples, but balance is important in constructing pleasing flavors.

I think in many ways the pizza was missing the same thing the service was: a little love. They were soggy, limp, and uninspired. Many at the table liked the thinness of the crust and the freshness of the toppings. But I couldn’t get past the messy composition and lack of balance. Not to mention the hostess’ lack of graciousness towards her guests. So while I don’t wish Jason was subjected to the restaurant’s flaws, I do wish he was there to give us an opinion on the pizza. And to have helped us figure out how to divide the bill.

Is Donatella’s the best pizza in NY? You can train in Naples and have a special oven built for you, but the pizza was undercooked and out of balance. It gets a 5 out of 10.

And this is what brought me down to the Financial District. I’m currently working on expanding the Food Cart tour to this part of town. It’s not a neighborhood I’m terribly familiar with so I’ve spent the last few weeks walking around, talking to street vendors, and most importantly, tasting their food.

So it was only a matter of time before I got around to Jianetto’s Pizza Truck, which is parked on Wall and Front Street.  I still had low expectations for Jianetto’s, which also has a truck parked in midtown. Maybe it’s because the one pizza I’ve tried from a truck (Eddie’s) was rather lackluster. Maybe it’s because this particular truck looked very dark and slightly dingy inside. Maybe it’s because they advertise themselves as “Best Pizza in New York”. Come on, seriously?

But it was part of the job. I ordered one of their regular slices, which is grandma-style. The guy pulled it out of the oven (with a broken door), wrapped it up in a brown bag, and handed it to me with a smile.

I took it over to a bench with my doubts. Some of the sauce got all over the paper plate and the cheese seemed rather absent. It looked fine, but I expected nothing special.

My first bite far exceeded my expectations. It was warm and crispy. The tomato sauce was sweet and garlicky (as grandma-style should be) and I got a strong flavor of mozzarella cheese. On first glance, I only saw a sprinkling of parmesan, but I soon discovered there was a nice layer of melted mozzarella underneath the bright tomato sauce. I was so pleasantly surprised. This was a great slice of pizza.

And from a truck no less. I had no doubts. Except for some reason I did. You can imagine this is one of the trucks I will be approaching to be a part of our tour. I hope it works out because I’d love to share this unknown gem with the city.

Is Jianetto’s Pizza Truck the best pizza in NY? Maybe not the best as it is advertised, but still an 8 out of 10 because it’s surprisingly really flavorful and crispy and as mobile as possible.