Travel + Leisure's Must Try Slices

You know how I feel about "Best Of" pizza lists, don't you? Oh, well I don't really like them. But I must say that any list which has Di Fara on it has to be at least some what legitimate. Travel + Leisure just came out with a piece featuring 11 must try slices in the USA. New York pizza places on the list are Co, Motorino, Famous Joe's and Di Fara. Pretty solid pickings.

Nothing else on the list stood out, but if I'm ever up skiing at Stowe in Vermont, it appears that I must try Piecasso Pizzeria & Lounge. And the next time I'm back home in Maryland, I plan on hitting up The Liberty Tavern in Arlington, VA.

I really like the last paragraph of this short piece (which I'll include below) for a few reasons.

First, I absolutely believe in "hometown bias." In fact, I just wrote about it last week (But I'd like to think I suffer from something that will henceforth be known as hometown bias). I thought I'd invented this term, but apparently there are others who suffer from the same symptom.

Secondly, I like that fact that they aren't saying "hey -- these are the best places in the country." It's more of a picking and choosing. Any pizza list should note that pizzerias will be skipped and overlooked, as a single list of less than a dozen places cannot be all encompassing.

Thirdly, well... the final seven words. Now, that's how you end an article.

While this list has a bit of hometown bias (four favorites are located in the greater New York area), and we skipped over traditional “apizza” parlors in New Haven in favor of a modest two-store chain in Providence,RI, ultimately the pizza makers who made the cut all have one thing in common. Nobody delivers. And yet, they all do.

L'asso: Too Cool For School?

The first word that comes to mind when I think about L'asso (192 Mott Street) is cool. It's not a particularly descriptive adjective, but if every pizza place in the city was a person from my high school class, L'asso would be the homecoming king. It's located in uber-hip Nolita. It's walls and exterior are decorated with hip artwork (they even have "gallery openings"). And they tweet. If L'asso is the most popular kid in the class, then it's grandfather can be found down the street at Lombardi's. The two pizza places are just a block away, but L'asso -- which has been open for five years -- couldn't be more different from it's neighbor -- which has been serving pies for more than a century.

I went to L'asso on a Friday night around 7PM with Scott from Scott's Pizza Tours. Eating pizza with Scott is a completely different experience than eating pizza with... well... anyone else. He's more passionate about pizza than anyone I've met and it can never hurt to learn a bit about the the ingredients and style of the pizza you're eating. By the time we left less than 2 hours later the space was full. The restaurant only holds about 30 people which feels like exactly the right size for the environment they're trying to foster.

L'asso -- although it's been around for five years -- has only recently started to generate the type of press and accolades that a top notch pizza place warrants. I'm curious how different their pizza might have tasted when it first opened in 2004. It predates what I sometimes refer to as the New York City pizza revolution, yet it still gets clumped together with the new generation of pizza places like Veloce, San Marzano, and Co.

The pizza comes in three sizes: small (12"), medium (21") and large (29"). The small pie is round, but the larger two are rectangular, so do be misled by the sizes. A quick Google search indicates that a circular pie with a 29 inch diameter would look something like this:

There's no way that L'asso's 29 inch pie could feed a family... and even two pizza lovers could easily knock it out. All of L'asso's pies are thin crust. Scott and I decided to order one medium pie and one small pie. It was just the right amount of food (although Scott said he could eat more!).

The 21 inch rectangular pie we ordered was half margherita (tomato sauce, buffalo mozzarella, oregano, basil, and olive oil) and half "Big D" off of the specials menu (essentially a margherita pie with some regular mozzarella and grated parmesan cheese). Our 12 inch circular pie -- The Mela -- featured mozzarella, gorgonzola, asparagus, apple and truffle oil. It was the highlight of the evening. Neither of us had ever had apple on pizza before and both of us were pleasantly surprised.

Personally, I'm not a huge fan of apples and even less a fan of gorgonzola -- but neither ingredient overwhelmed the pie. That couldn't be said for the margherita pie on which the tomato sauce stole the spotlight from the other ingredients. I really liked the tomato sauce, but some more mozzarella would improve the pie. It makes sense that apples would taste good on The Mela -- especially a pie that is cheese based. Apples are great for cheese fondue and our pizza essentially tasted like apples and cheese fondue on a piece of bread.

L'asso has more than a dozen other pies and many of them sounded delicious. Another trip there is necessary to dig a bit deeper into the menu. But what we ordered, we liked. As I noted earlier, our pies weren't particularly filling, which means you're not getting much bang for your buck here. A $25 pie at Di Fara, for example, is enough to fill 2-3 people, but a large pie at L'asso ($25-$28) would certainly leave a party of three wanting more. Lucky for those people, there is a full menu at L'asso -- including bruschetta, salads, soups, pastas, and dessert -- waiting to be devoured. Which begs the question -- is L'asso a pizzeria or an Italian restaurant that happens to emphasize it's pizzas? I guess you'll have to swing by and decided for yourself.

Merry Christmas!

I haven't been by Nino's (131 St. Marks Place at Avenue A) this winter, but I hope their Christmas decorations are living up to the great window art they had last year.

Even in a recession, Santa always has his priorities straight! A Merry Christmas and happy holiday season to all!

Customers Complain About Di Fara's Burnt Slices

Di Fara -- as I mention nearly every week -- is my favorite pizza place. Yet the blogs have been buzzing lately about its demise (see: The DiFara Slice Contention) arguing that Dom DeMarco has lost his touch, sometimes burning the pizza crust to a crisp. I saw this happen first hand last week and caught part of a customer's complaint on my iPhone (voyeuristic, I know).

In the first clip you can see the end of an argument with Dom's daughter, Maggie, who works at the restaurant. Much of the conversation is hard to make out, but the customer is complaining that her elderly mother would be unable to eat a crust so charred. After some back and forth Maggie told the customer they'd be happy to make her another pie but the lady didn't want to wait. So they took the burnt pie. Here's what I can make out:

Maggie: So then you want to wait for another one?
Customer 1: No. I don’t want.
Maggie: Well I have to charge you for it. The ingredients we use are very…
Dom: Alright. Alright.



In the second clip you get a better look at the pizza. The customers sit down to eat the pie and are visibly upset and disappointed:

Customer 2: Oh, look at this. I’m not going to eat this burnt and everything.
Customer 1: What are you gonna do, ma? She said wait for another one.
Customer 2: I ain’t gonna wait for another one.



Listen... crusts burn... nobody's perfect. The staff at Di Fara did the right thing by offering to put in another pie. It'd be great, in the future, if they see that a pie is this burnt to toss it. I'm guessing that when the folks at AlwaysHungryNY were there (The DiFara Slice Contention), the burnt pie might have been put aside as a slice pie -- even worse.

I clocked my regular pie in the oven at precisely 5:04. It wasn't burnt at all. I'd be curious how long the average pie stays in the oven at Di Fara. It's tough to keep track of everything when there is only one person making pies, but maybe if Di Fara garners some negative press, the crowds will stay away.

Should I even mention that there were less than 10 people there (including my party of three) there on a Wednesday night at 7:30? Probably not.

Good luck and shall your pies be charred to your liking!

Giuseppi's Pizza: Maryland's Finest

I grew up in Potomac, Maryland -- a fairly large suburb of Washington, DC. But a suburb with limited options for pizza. Typically, if we were going out to eat it'd be at Jerry's Subs & Pizza. And if we were ordering in, then Domino's and Pizza Hut were on speed dial. I know...

There were exceptions though. Ledo Pizza is a fairly well know local chain which serves square pies because, well, they don't cut corners (corny slogan). A quick look at their website indicates that they now have nearly 100 locations as far away as Florida. Armand's is another chain with a modest 10 locations in the DC Metro area.

It wasn't until about a decade ago that my pizza world was turned upside down. It was then -- in the late 90s -- that I discovered Giuseppi's Pizza in Rockville, Maryland. And even now that I'm a pizza snob (for lack of a better term), I still consider their pies top notch.

I have no idea how long it has been around, but I do know that their original location was torn down a little over five years ago as part of a massive redevelopment project -- the creation of a new Rockville Town Square which now features luxury condominiums and upscale restaurants. The original Giuseppi's was located alongside a Margruder's supermarket and CVS in the old Town Square -- a rundown grungy strip mall. The place fit in at the time. I remember walking in and seeing stacks of hundreds of pizza boxes by the door. After ordering at the counter you'd make your way to the back of the restaurant which was scattered with mismatched tables and a few old school video arcade games.

When the strip mall was torn down, the future of many of the stores and eating establishments was in jeopardy. Luckily, Giuseppi's found a new location a few blocks away in a vacant storefront on a block that had already been redeveloped. Today, it sits next to a Regal Cinema and California Tortilla -- in the middle of a pedestrian heavy center of town. In other words, things couldn't be better for Giuseppi's.

The place is packed every time I'm there. They're popping out pizzas by the minute. And their pies have never tasted so good. I'm not necessarily sure that if I took someone from New York down to try it that they'd be blown away. But I'd like to think I suffer from something that will henceforth be known as hometown bias. Giuseppi's is the little place that could. It's family run business and the owners are always there behind the counter. I grew up with Giuseppi's and it was the pizza place of my youth. It's no Motorino or Di Fara but it taught me that not all pizza is created equal.

On a recent trip there we ordered a large cheese pie -- half with mushrooms -- a family favorite. One thing about Giuseppi's that I will always love is it's distinct taste. I'm not necessarily sure that in a blind taste test I could distinguish a Motorino pie from a Co pie. But Giuseppi's has a very unique taste. It's cheesy. It's oily. And every bite makes you want to suck every last juicy bit out of it.

The place is cheap by New York standards. A large cheese pie will run you $13.90. It's 16 inches, but what I like is that they cut it into 12 slices. For the less adventurous, there is a 12 inch, 8 slice pie that costs $9.75. The most expensive pie on their menu is the Giuseppi's Special -- pepperoni, mushrooms, sausage, onions, green peppers, and olives. The price: $22.85. There are also great specials. For example, with each $5.00 purchase you can get a movie ticket to Regal next door for only $6.50. That's $11.50 for pizza and a movie. In New York, a movie alone is more expensive than that.

There are two things that I don't particularly like about the place and neither has to do with the pizza itself. The first: on the front window there is a huge sign that reads Real New York Pizza. Who are they kidding? Their pizza is delicious, but it's not New York pizza. You can only get that... well... in New York!

The other thing I dislike about the place is a little shrine right above the register. I'm all for being passionate about football, but Giuseppi's is located in the heart of Redskins territory. The owners apparently have a different allegiance. Hey -- at least it's not the Cowboys!

New Midtown Pizzeria Has "Freakin Tasty" Artichoke Slices

Good pizza places in Midtown are few and far between. Midtown Lunch -- the official source for anything edible near your office -- posts that the new newly opened Previti Pizza (41st between Park and Lexington) "freakin tasty."

Of note: the artichoke pizza with truffled spinach and cream sauce. Given a choice, I rarely opt for an artichoke slice over a regular, but I'll have to give this ML-approved option a taste.

Read the full write-up here.

Jude Law & Sienna Miller Share "A Pizza"

In celebrity pizza gossip news (oh yes, there's a lot of that!) People Magazine reports that Jude Law and Sienna Miller had a post Thanksgiving meal at Emporio Restaurant during which they shared "a pizza."

Now you might be wondering why I put "a pizza" in quotes. Well, that's how it appears in the People article. It's unclear whether or not this is poor usage of a split quotation, or if "a pizza" is an innuendo for something else.

Hey baby. Wanna come over later and share "a pizza" a my place?

Di Fara: Still Has It (Duh)

There's been a few articles floating around the blogosphere recently about the demise of Di Fara (see: The DiFara Slice Contention). Well I popped in the other week just to make sure all was well. And as I'd presumed, their pizza tasted just as amazing as always.

I never paid attention to any charring or burning before, so it's hard to compare what a pie today looked like compared to those I had a few years ago (other than by photos), but despite what appears to be some black on the crust, it was still delicious.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about my pie was the fact that there was a tomato, yes a whole entire tomato, on one of my slices. Although that doesn't fare well for the consistency of the pie, it was one of the best bites I had!

Happy Hanukkah (Pizza!!)

Last night, Paulie Gee tweeted a photo of a delicious looking Hanukkah pizza he created. Maybe it'll be the signature pie at his new pizzeria in Greenpoint which will be opening soon! Paulie writes that "the menorah is made out of a slice of a fennel bulb" he braised and it is "accompanied by mootz and anisette cream drizzle."

Anisette cream drizzle? Sound like something Snoop Dogg would put on his pizza. With a little bit of mozzarizzle, that is.

Truth be told, despite a thorough Google search, I'm still not completely sure what anisette cream drizzle or mootz is? A nickname for mozzarella? Perhaps Paulie can grace us with more details in the comments section so that all of you might be inspired to create your own Hanukkah pizzas at home.

L'asso Celebrates Twitter Milestone

Last week, Manhattan pizza joint L'asso got their 300th Twitter follower -- not a particularly big milestone in my mind, but hey... it's a nice number of followers.

I'm just not so sure it warranted the tweet: 300 twitterers agree l'asso pizza feels good in your tummy

Their followers include HDTVBargains based in Seattle, Washington and the Israel Consulate.

So L'asso -- while I commend you on reaching 300 followers, I think it's a bit of a stretch to assume that the majority of them have actually been to your restaurant. Sorry to break the news to you!

Totonno's -- Coming Soon To A Boardwalk Near You?

Ah, could that possibly be the smell of Totonno's reopening? The delays and delays and delays have been well documented on this blog and many others. If you're out of the loop, there was a fire in March and since then a slew of reopening dates that have long passed.

Well the end of the Totonno's drought may finally be year. Last month, New York Magazine published a full page article about the pizzeria (May the Dough Never Run Out) which focuses more on the history of the place and it's owner, Louise Ciminieri, than a potential reopening date. Yet just last week, the New York Post ran a blurb that was more pressing:

After a long wait, Coney Island’s famed Totonno’s Pizzeria, 1524 Neptune Avenue, is expected to reopen in the next two weeks... the re-opening was announced at Community Board 13. The delighted board cheered the news.

I wonder who had December in the office pool? What's the current over/under on the reopening date? Who knows whether or not pizzas will be flying out of the oven in the next few days, but hopefully by the end of the year Totonno's will back in full swing.

photo: New York Magazine

Buenos Aires Pizza Tour -- Las Cuartetas: Nothing Special

The final stop on my Buenos Aires pizza tour was Las Cuartetas (Corrientes 838). Located right across the street from El Palacio De La Pizza, I hopped over right after finishing my slices there, since I didn't think it made sense to come back another day. I was somewhat full, so I only ordered one slice -- the fugazetta. But before I get to the pizza, you should know about the place itself.

While El Palacio felt almost like a ghost town (or ghost pizza place, if you will) when I was there, it was amazing how much the atmosphere can change just a few feet (okay, meters) away. Las Cuartetas was packed. The front room, which held some 50 people, was full and the back room had another 20-30 people in it -- mostly young college aged pizza eaters. The pizza place is located on Avenue Corrientes, as were El Palacio and Banchero, but this is the closest place to the famous Obelisk -- a major traffic hub, especially among tourists. So I imagine if someone was in the area and looking for the closest pizza place, there's a good chance they'd end up at Las Cuartetas as opposed to one of the many other pizza places located a short distance away.

Although not quite as bad as Banchero, Las Cuartetas was nothing to be desired. I had the same problem with my fugazetta slice -- it wouldn't stay together. It was definitely inedible without a knife and fork and tasted more like some melted cheese on a piece of dry toast. At least it was warm.

As you can see below, once you made it past the cheese, the actual dough was very dry. The cheese was flavorful and gave the slice some kick, but it didn't manage to compensate for the sub par base.

The pie itself looked more appetizing, so perhaps I got a bad slice. As noted above, I'd already eaten pizza at El Palacio before coming here + I only tried one slice here (everywhere else I had multiple slices), so I don't feel completely comfortable reviewing this place. I can only share my experience with you. The fact that it was crowded -- and even in a touristy area, the fact that many of the people seemed to be locals when I was there -- would indicate that maybe the pizza isn't as bad as I think. On the other hand, it's cheap and in a convenient location -- based on only those criteria it sounds like a great place to stop in for a slice. Nobody else there seemed to be taking their pizza as seriously as I do.

My favorite part about the place was the arrangement. At all the other places you could sit down and order from a waiter or order a slice "to-go" and eat at a counter. At Las Cuartetas there was no "to-go" counter, but rather some seats that were set aside where people could eat their "to-go" slices. This was nice, because I didn't feel like I was stuffing myself on the run. I enjoyed a beer (and crossword puzzle!) while I ate my slice and was happy to be able to sit down without having to deal with a waiter. As you can see there were lots of people reading newspapers, studying, etc.

On a final note, I should mention that with all of the cheese that they pour onto every slice, it's possible -- especially for those who might suffer from lactose intolerance -- that one might have to use the bathrooms. I saw a lot of bathrooms during my trip and this was this only one that lacked toilets. Yes -- if you need to drop one -- we'll you'll literally need to drop one... into a hole... in the ground. So pop those Lactaid pills or beware!

I was thinking of constructing a short concluding paragraph about my Buenos Aires pizza eating experience (as I think I've mentioned, El Cuartito was my favorite place and a not to miss stop for any pizza lover), but I'd rather just end my four part recap on that note.

So good night... and good luck!

Buenos Aires Pizza Tour -- El Palacio De La Pizza: A Pleasant Surprise

Stop three on my Buenos Aires pizza tour was El Palacio De La Pizza (Corrientes 751). As you might have guessed, that aptly translates as The Palace Of The Pizza. If I were ever to live in a palace it would, in fact, be a palace of pizza. Despite the arguably corny name I didn't have particularly high expectations for this place. After the previous day's letdown at Banchero though, I knew it wouldn't be difficult to be at least somewhat satisfied with my experience. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the pizza at El Palacio. It wasn't quite as good as El Cuartito, but it was without doubt my second favorite pizza place in Buenos Aires.

I arrived around 10PM on a Monday night, which is prime dinner time in Buenos Aires. The tables up front were oddly empty and the back room was only partially full. It had a bit more of a pizzeria vibe than Banchero, but wasn't nearly as homey as El Cuartito. El Palacio was the only place at which the counter for eating slices was the actual counter where you placed your orders. The previous two places I'd been had a separate counter area overlooking the restaurant, but eating a slice standing up facing the guy behind the register who served it to you didn't feel particularly comforting.

Another interesting aspect about El Palacio was that they display their desserts in the front window of the pizzeria. For a place with pizza in it's name, I found this a little peculiar. Perhaps they are aiming to bring in tourists who are aimlessly walking by. Since there are other pizza places on the block, this might give them an edge as far as business goes. I didn't try any of the desserts -- the pizza was incredibly filling -- but they looked appetizing.

As for the pizza -- I ordered one fugazetta slice and one napolitana slice. The best part about both slices was the consistency with which they stayed together. The cheese didn't overwhelm the fugazetta slice as was the case at Banchero, as well as at my next stop at Las Cuartetas. The ratio of cheese to onions was right on the money and it was possible to eat the slice without using a knife and fork (which were offered to me, by the way). This was my favorite fugazetta slice on Corrientes Avenue -- the mecca of pizza in Buenos Aires. Once again, the second slice I ordered served as a nice counterpart to the main attraction, but it's not worth going here just for the napolitana slice. The tomato based sauce was flavorful and the spices complimented it nicely.

Perhaps the most appetizing looking pizza pie that I saw during my trip was the fugazetta pie at El Palacio. Sitting on the counter, it looked as I'd imagined it should. Thick and cheesy with slightly charred onions on top. If I were to open an Argentinian pizza shop in New York City, my pies would look exactly like this.

I considered getting some dessert on the way out, but then I realized that was only space I could be using for more pizza. And it's on that note that I walked across the street to Las Cuartetas -- the final stop on my Buenos Aires pizza tour. But first, some more photos of El Palacio:

Buenos Aires Pizza Tour -- Banchero: Not Worth A Stop

Yesterday, I began a four part recap of my pizza experiences in Argentina. The pizza and atmosphere at my second stop -- Banchero -- couldn't have possibly been any more different than that at El Cuartito. For starters, it's important to note that there are multiple locations of Banchero. The originial is located in the La Boca barrio at Suarez 396. There are also locations at Rivadavia 5401 in Caballito, Pueyrredon 123 in Once, and the most centrally located branch at Corrientes 1300. Had I not been pressed for time I would have headed down to La Boca, but because it's a bit of a trek and not located near any subway stations, I decided to hit up the Corrientes location which was a five minute walk from my hostel.

Even though I arrived at 1PM on a Sunday afternoon just as the place was opening, I was a bit surprised to find that it was completely empty. The day before I'd been at El Cuartito around the same time and it was packed. The Argentina way of life is a bit different than that in the States -- dinner is served starting around 10PM and bars stay open until 8AM or later. Still -- by 1PM on a Sunday I expected at least a small crowd to be chowing down on some pizza.

I also had perhaps unrealistically high expectations for Banchero. Afterall, it's this pizza place that claims to have invented the famous fugazza and fugazzetta slices. According to BuenosAiresTours.com, a man named Don Agustin Banchero arrived in Buenos Aires more than 100 years ago and became one of the first people to sell pizza there. It was at his first pizza place that the fugazza con queso pie was born (sauceless pizza topped with caramelized onions, oregano and seasoning) and a later incarnation with cheese known as fugazzetta soon followed. Now that Argentina has become famous for these slices, I was excited to try them from their source.

To be blunt, I was extremely dissapointed. I ordered three slices: a fugazzetta, a muzzarella, and a napoletana slice. All were lukewarm and lacked flavor. The slices, especially the fugazetta, barely stuck together and eating them with a knife and fork was a necessity. Here is a shot of what the fugazetta looked like when it was served to me:

It looks like a blob of cheese on a bit of dough. I sucked it up and worked my way through it with some utensils, but it didn't compare to that at El Cuartito.

I saw the most potential in the napoletana slice. The flavor was there, but the slice was still inconsistent. The onions tasted bland and once again the toppings overwhelmed the slice causing it to fall apart.

The muzzarella slice (I didn't notice any muzzarella on it, by the way), was similarly uninspiring.

I have many theories on what went wrong at Banchero. For starters, I didn't go to the original location and I wonder if my experience would have been more positive there. Someone in New York City would never review Totonno based on it's Manhattan location, so I certainly shouldn't do the same for Banchero. I also went at perhaps the worst time of day. Honestly, the pizza tasted like it had been left over from the night before. Either that, or the ovens were just warming up. The ovens in the front weren't being used and the pies that were served to me were brought out from the back.

Finally, it's worth noting that the place had no character and when you lack a warm atmosphere, the pizza really needs to be incredible to compensate. I felt like I was in a college dining hall. Even places like Famiglia try to create a certain type of vibe when you walk in. At Banchero, this was not existent. It didn't feel authentic. Again, this wasn't the original location, but you'd think they'd do something to make the place feel a bit more homey.

Below are some photos of the pies that they put out while I was there. Some look appetizing. Others not so much. But even if Banchero seems like must-try stop on any Buenos Aires pizza tour, I'd say you won't be missing much if you skip it. If anyone checks out the location in La Boca and has a drastically different experience, I'd be excited to hear about it. Comments, por favor!