NYC Tastes

Since I've revealed our insane pizza eating this summer, I think it's okay to do back to back pizza posts.  So here is another new favorite, Joe & Pat's Pizzeria.   This family owned spot is an institution in Stanton Island, where it's been slinging pies since 1960.  They've had such huge success, they opened up second outpost in the East Village and we've been reaping the benefits ever since. All their pies are thin crust and crispy, with flat charred edges and the perfect ratio of cheese to sauce.  I highly suggest ordering the 1960's Original which showcases that delicious fresh mozzarella and their incredible signature sauce.  Or the Tri-Pie for those undecided folks which combines tomato, vodka and pesto into one whole pie. Just about anyone who struggles with ordering should have an easy time here.  All the pizza's are available as half and half and for those that don't enjoy pizza, there's a large menu of pastas, panini...

We've been eating a lot of pizza this summer here at NYC Tastes, I mean A LOT.  More than just our usual Joe's Pizza order, we've been consuming great new pies all over the city and one of our favorites has been at Sottocasa. This tiny little spot in Harlem specializes in Neapolitan pizza, but not that limp, soupy pie. This pizza is thicker, with a pillow soft exterior, studded with bubbles of char from their wood burning oven, then topped with the freshest of ingredients.  Like the Valdostana with tomato, prosciutto and sage finished with melted mozzarella and fontina cheese. Or the Tartufata, a white pie layered with homemade truffle spread and topped with mushroom, basil and prosciutto di parma.  Mr. T loved the Tartufata while I fell head over heels for the saucy Valdostana. There were so many textures and flavors going on, from the crispy bites of sage to the salty ribbons of prosciutto.  In addition to the wonderful pies Sottocasa had a long...

Remember when I hiked all the way out to Brooklyn Sunday morning to dine on a limited edition burger from  Pizza Loves Emily ?  Well now I just have to stroll down to Downing Street for that delicious burger and fantastic pizzas at their newest outpost in the former Blue Ribbon Bakery space.  This visit I ordered the namesake Emily Pizza; a round pie topped with truffle Sottocenere cheese, pistachio and honey.   I loved the strong, earthy flavor of the cheese paired with the sweet honey.  But the best part was definitely the dough; crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside with big fluffy pockets of char around the edges. I also loved the house cocktails like this pretty pink drink made with gin, basil and raspberry. It's all about love at Pizza Loves Emily. Pizza Loves Emily 35 Downing Street New York, NY 10014

I don't usually get too excited about Italian fare but Barano in South Williamsburg has been invading my dreams consistently since the last visit.  Helmed by Chef Albert Di Meglio of Rubirosa, this cozy little spot is churning out some seriously incredible food.  Let's start with the pizzas, all of which are made in their gorgeous wood burning pizza ovens. The crust is thin and crispy with charred edges that make a satisfying snap when cut using their special metal pizza scissors.  The list of toppings change frequently but I highly suggest the Kabocha Squash Pizza with gorgeous stracciatella cheese, spiced crema and speck drizzled with an aged balsamic vinaigrette. The second thing I love about Barano are their inventive pastas, specifically the Saffron Gigli. These toothsome orange noodles are dusted with a layer of pecorino cheese and black pepper then doused in a Calabrian Honey Sauce.  It's both spicy and sweet a...

New York City has always been a pizza town.  Back in the day there were dollar slice joints on just about every corner with some sort of "Ray" attached to the name. Today the pizza scene is much different; restaurants like Pasquale Jones and Roberta's are the norm with toppings like arugula, artichoke are egg replacing the classic pepperoni.  It's just not as easy to find a classic NY slice anymore, but they DO exist!  And some of the best can be found in Astoria at Rizzo's Fine Pizza. This tiny little pizza shop on Steinway Street opened in 1959 by two brothers and is exactly what a NY pizzeria should be.  A few seats up front with a small selection of pies and incredibly friendly staff, so friendly they gave me a slice of their signature square pie for free. The pizza here is thin- not quite as thin as the Vezzo/Posto empire but definitely skinny with crispy brown crusts, a hearty sauce and a great blend of parmigiana and mozzarella che...

When &Pizza made its New York debut I honestly wasn't that excited.  I knew people in Washington D.C. were obsessed with this place but New York City already has tons of amazing pizza shops. How could this be any different? Short answer- because it's all about variety. For just $10 you get a long, thin pie with any amount of toppings you want.  Meaning you can literally create a pie in hundreds of different ways.  They have a few specialty pizzas already to choose from but even those can be customized.  For this visit I chose half Gnarlic pie and half American Honey with extra mozzarella on both. The Gnarlic side had garlic ricotta cheese, mozzarella, Parmesan and grilled onions studded with a bright basil pesto; while the American Honey side toted a spicy tomato sauce base with pepperoni, arugula, red pepper flakes and goat cheese layered with some sweet hot honey.   Both sides were delicious; I loved the thin crispy edges of the pie and the balance...

It's kind of ridiculous when I think about how much of my life is spent just hitting the F5 button trying to purchase various event tickets.  There's been all sorts of concerts, numerous beer festivals, way too many restaurant reservations (looking at you Momofuku Ko) and most recently for pizza from Margot Pizza in Brooklyn. This pop up inside Emily restaurant is hosted just once a month by Slice founder and Serious Eats writer Adam Kuban, the guru of pizza in NYC.  The specialty here is bar pie (my favorite style) served thin and crispy from the wood fired oven. Each ticket gets one drink and one choice of pie from a small menu of eight different varitites.  We decided to split our pizzas starting with the classic Margot-rita with tomato sauce, romano, cheese, basil and oregano and the Collaboroni with pepperoni, pickled jalapenos and post oven honey. Both pizzas were ultra thin with slightly burnt edges loaded with cheese. I absolutely  loved ...

The flurry of snow that blanketed the city MLK weekend was absolutely wonderful!  I couldn't wait to get outside and soak in the magic of my beautiful snowy city and what better place to do that then Pasquale Jones.   This cozy little spot formerly housed Toby's Public House, a bar/restaurant I always found drab and depressing were it not for the fantastic windows over looking the streets of Nolita.   The space has since been redone and the changes are fantastic. The painted white walls and soft hanging lamps above each table give the space a lively, vibrant feeling while the wood burning ovens and gorgeous glassware add in some rustic, elegant charm. At lunchtime Pasquale Jones serves a small menu of pizzas, pasta and appetizers including their signature Little Neck Clam Pie topped with a creamy garlic sauce, lemon and a flurry of chopped parsley.  The Neapolitan style dough was perfect; light and puffy with blistered edges and a slightly ch...

Ask any New Yorker where to find the best slice of pizza in the city and chances are you'll get a passionate, almost aggressive response that may even turn into a debate with others around. I find this happens most often when I'm out in Brooklyn.  Brooklynites have some serious pizza pride. Of course they have the big spots like DiFara's, Roberta's and Totonno's but there are so many other neighborhood joints that locals swear by; one being Originals Pizza out near Bergen Beach. This old school spot has been serving pizza since 1967 and it doesn't seem like much has changed.  It's the standard counter service pizzeria with a few seats inside and a large outdoor area with picnic tables perfect for enjoying the summer sun.   There were about 15 people in line when I arrived at lunch time and instead of listening to their orders I was stupidly playing PokemonGo and completely missed the fact that every person ordered the same exact thing.  Of course ...

Years ago I used to work out in Sheepshead Bay about once a month and I absolutely hated it.  The morning commute was long, things of convenience like banks and Duane Reade's were strangely situated avenues apart instead of every street corner and even my excitement of the nearby beach quickly diminished when I found the peaceful spot filled with large Russian men fueled on weekday vodka shots. But then I found Di Fara's just subway stops away and the perfection of their incredible pies and the love that went into each and every one made me look forward to these trips on the Q train. Everything about the surrounding neighborhood seemed to get brighter.  I started finding cute little bodegas that had much cooler stuff than the boring Duane Reade and even those large Russian men were really quite a friendly bunch (and very open to sharing their vodka).  I stopped working out there about 5 years ago so when the opportunity arose for a random weekday meeting I jumped at th...

One of the biggest gripes I have about working in midtown are the insane prices for an average lunch.  I've walked out of numerous different delis with a $13 sandwich in hand wondering what in the world just happened.  It's hard to find any deals in this area but when I hold off just a little bit longer for lunch I head to Naples 45. Every day at 2:00 Naples drops the price of slices to-go to just $1.75.  This means ALL slices; pepperoni, mushroom and broccoli rabe, red pepper and sausage; whatever is leftover from the lunch rush gets the special price tag. The pizza isn't life changing but it's damn good.  Super thin crust with a slightly charred bottom and fresh ingredients.  They do struggle a bit with consistency. I've had pieces so cheesy I could barely see the dough while others have had almost no toppings at all. However simply pointing to the exact slice I want from the display has worked beautifully and it's been easy street ever sin...

Back in college there was a dive pizza joint called S&G's where everyone ended after a night of bar hopping.  They had all sorts of different pizza's that were nothing special but OMG their Mexican slice was INSANE!!  It was super thin, loaded with gooey cheddar cheese, shredded lettuce, tomatoes, ground beef, a deliciously spicy salsa then topped with crushed tortilla chips. It was one serious sloppy mess to eat but nobody ever cared.  That slice was like winning the lottery at the end of a long boozy night.   Since graduation I've been searching for something that would compare.  The specialty pie game in the city is honestly pretty weak.  Most stick mainly to the classic Italian standards (remember when Kramer wanted to put cucumbers on his pizza).  Then I found Rosa's out in Maspeth where this taco pizza seemed to be calling my name.  It had most of the ingredients; the gooey cheese, the spicy ground beef and tomatoe...

The newest pizza place to hit Murray Hill is Rocky Slims, taking over the space that once held slice joint Mike Due.  While the cuisine is still the same, the atmosphere is totally different.  Gone are the white tiled walls and rickety tables; they've been replaced with a sleek new bar, exposed brick walls and a wood fire oven churning out whole pies with exotic topping like Smoked beets with ramps and Gorgonzola, and Mussels with burrata and borttarga. We dined in for our first visit and tried out the Classic Pie with tomato, mozzarella, pecorino and basil.  The ingredients were super fresh and I loved the puffy charred bubbles on the crust and light charring on the bottom. My only gripe would be the price...$17 for what they consider a personal pie is a bit more than I'm willing to part with for a pizza.  Our next visit we skipped the sit down restaurant and went directly to the slice counter on the side.  This is where I found one of my favor...

My  first experience  at Marta was good.  I loved the ultra thin cracker crust and fresh toppings, but really wanted to explore more of the menu.  This time I brought multiple dining companions and had the opportunity to try out much more like these Green Risotto Croquettes. Each log was filled with rice, mozzarella cheese and herbs then fried until brown and crispy. I was surprised how much just a squeeze of lemon juice brought out the bright flavors of the herbs inside.  There was no need for any other sort of sauce...these were delicious on their own. The classic Margherita was wonderful; simply seasoned with just a little olive oil and basil.  I actually liked this much better than the Margherita di Bufala from my  previous visit .   But the best pie of the night was easily the Salsiccia topped with Pork Sausage, Cremini Mushroom, Mozzarella and Pecorino.  Everything on this pie just worked creating a gorgeous med...

Our first day in Vermont started with a trip to Hill Farmstead and lunch at Parker Pie. We hadn't eaten anything since leaving NYC so after six hours in the car and two in line at the brewery, I was more than ready to power down some serious food like the famous Green Mountain Special. Bubbly, crisp dough topped with cheddar cheese, baby spinach, red onion, bacon, apple and fresh garlic all drizzled with sweet maple syrup.  It's a big mishmash of everything wonderful about Vermont in one amazing pie. Being so close to the Canadian border it only made sense that Poutine was on the menu... ...and being so close to Hill Farmstead of course the beer list was incredible.  We split a Cantillon Gueuze and then slowly worked our way through the draft list.  I'm pretty sure we could have stayed all evening but the snow started to fall again so we hit the road. Onto Waterbury for the next few days and finally a dinner reservation at Hen of the ...

As 2014 winds down I start to think about all the incredible bars and restaurants I've enjoyed over the past year and surprisingly one of my favorites from 2013 keeps on popping up in my head- Paulie Gee's. This Greenpoint pizzeria is simply amazing.  The puffy chewy crust, the fresh herbs and incredible toppings...here's some glamour shots from our last visit.   When I look at this picture all I think is YES, YES, YES!!!   This is the Hell Boy and it my be my favorite pizza in the world.  Fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, sopresetta piccante and parmigiana reggiano all drizzled with Mike's Hot Honey.  It's spicy and sweet...one piece is never enough. I truly think I could eat this whole pie if no one was looking.  Mr. T likes the Ricotta Be Kiddin' Me made with Canadian bacon, sweet Italian fennel sausage, fresh basil and dollops of ricotta.  You really can't go wrong with any of the pies here...Paulie Gee's is where its at. Paulie Gee's 60 G...