Tag: neapolitan

#13 Una Pizza Napoletana (new location)

May 31st, 2019

Manhattan, NYC

We first went to Una Pizza Napoletana in September 2016, back when we were doing the original pizza trek around the US. We liked it then, and it was the first of several good neapolitan pizzas that we tried out in San Fransisco. Originally, Una started out in New Jersey, then moved to New York, and then out to San Fran, and now it’s back in NYC.

The New York location is in the Lower East Side, and apparently is bigger than the original Manhattan location, although we can’t personally attest to that. We showed up there around when it opened on a weeknight, James in tow. We got a table near the back where they were making the pizzas.

We tried two pizzas here. We had to try the original margherita pizza that we loved so much in San Fran, and we also tried the seasonal specialty pie that had sun-dried tomatoes and fresh tomatoes. Both were great, but the main standout on these pizzas is the crust. We remembered liking the crust when we went previously, but this time it blew us away. It was incredibly light and fluffy, with a touch of salt (just enough). There was some charring and bubbles on the crust, but not a lot. The pizzas were a bit soupy as Neapolitan pies tend to be, but they weren’t the worst that we’ve tried.

James liked the crust on these too. He didn’t like waiting for the pizzas so much, and we had to bring him outside to play with sticks on the sidewalk while we were waiting for the pizzas to come. He is definitely getting to the age where sit down dinners are hard!

There’s been a bit of a controversy around Una Pizza lately. When it originally came back to NY, it got only one star from NYT critic Pete Wells. Then, just under a year later, Pete Wells reviewed it AGAIN and gave it two. Apparently, he heard a rumor that Anthony Mangieri would uproot Una yet again.

Whatever the critics think about this pizza (and the reviews have been mixed), it’s quickly become our new favorite Neapolitan pizza in NYC. We’re looking for another excuse to leave our baby with a babysitter and come here again for dinner. The Daily Meal has ranked it higher than ever this year.

To visit:

Una Pizza Napoletana
175 Orchard St
New York, NY 10002

BarbaraLeave a comment

#80 Coalhouse Pizza

March 3rd, 2019

Stamford, CT

To be honest, we wanted to get Pepe’s Pizza this day. We were on our way back from New Haven, and we didn’t feel like waiting at the Pepe’s New Haven location, so we decided that we’d make a stop in Fairfield at the (not-as-good) location there. We were going to be a bit on the early side for dinner, so we thought we’d be OK. It was packed. We didn’t feel like waiting with a tired baby in the car, so we decided to change our plans and drove a few more miles down I-95 to Stamford.

Coalhouse Pizza was a new addition to the list in 2018. We weren’t sure that we were in the right place at first because the restaurant is in a strip mall, but it definitely doesn’t have a “strip mall” vibe when you go in and sit down.

It was opened in 2008 as a place to serve great pizzas and craft beer in a family-friendly environment. Today, they also have the Whisky Bar, which has the largest selection of tap craft beers in Connecticut, and over 250 varieties of whisky. Since we still had over an hour to drive home, we didn’t get to sample any of these, although neither one of us is a big whisky drinker.

The pizzas here are Neapolitan-style, made with the “00” flour and their oven can burn gas, wood, coal, or all of the above. It can apparently cook 20 pizzas at once, in 2-3 minutes (according to their website). Their pizza menu is almost too expansive. We had such a hard time deciding what pizza to go for.

We ended up choosing the ‘Blue Skies’, which was just a regular cheese and tomato. We also tried a sausage, mushroom, and pesto pie. We did end up with leftovers. While the crust was reminiscent of a Neapolitan style (airy and fluffy), the size was definitely larger, even for a small.

James got to nibble on the crust here and seemed to really enjoy it. We’d come back if we end up driving through again and needed a pizza stop. Although we’d ideally be able to make a stop and be able to try one of their unique beers on tap while we’re there.

To visit: 

Coalhouse Pizza
85 High Ridge Rd
Stamford, CT 06905

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#75 Nostrana

February 1st, 2019
Portland, Oregon

It’s been a while since we posted, but earlier this month we took a birthday trip out to the Pacific Northeast to visit some friends, and to hit a few remaining pizza places from the lists. We started out at Nostrana, which made the list in 2016, although hasn’t done so again since.

We almost didn’t make it here. Our flight from Newark was delayed, and Nostrana is only open until 2 pm for lunch. We had dinner plans with friends, so we were on a very tight schedule. We ran off the plane, grabbed our luggage and the rental car, and made it in the door of the restaurant at 1:55 pm.

While they recommend making reservations for dinner, we had no problem getting seats for lunch with James. We ordered a margherita pie, and one with mushrooms and arugula topped with freshly sliced pecorino. James ate a few mushrooms and some bread.

This was only the second restaurant that we’ve been to that give you scissors to cut your pie. The first being Franny’s, in Brooklyn, which is sadly no longer in operation. We really enjoyed these pizzas. The crust was good and chewy and the margherita was the right ratio of sauce:cheese.

So you may be wondering, is cutting your pizza with scissors really more authentic? Well, we read that in Italy, street pizzerias that made long, Roman-style pies would cut the slices with scissors (or “food shears”) for their customers. They could then customize how big to cut the slices and would charge by how much the slice weighed. Should scissors be used for cutting Neapolitan-style pies, though? We aren’t sure. In some ways, scissors are much better for cutting than a traditional pizza cutter (and definitely better than a knife and fork!). However, the pizza needs to be thin enough and you don’t want too much cheese or topping to cut through. It worked for these.

We’d love to come back here sometime for dinner, although as I said before, reservations are recommended. They are also only open Monday through Friday for lunch.

To visit: 
Nostrana
1401 SE Morrison St Ste. 101
Portland, OR 97214

BarbaraLeave a comment

#81 A Mano

September 1st, 2018

Ridgewood, NJ

I grew up in Ridgewood, NJ, but I had never heard of A Mano pizza until this past year. Of course, the pizzeria opened in 2007, which was about ten years after I moved away, and many years before we became truly pizza-obsessed. The pizza at A Mano has always been real, authentic, Neapolitan pizza. We took a trip up to Ridgewood a few weeks ago to try it with James, before this year’s list was even announced.

As I said, this is true Neapolitan pizza. When it opened, it was one of only three pizza places in the US that is certified by the VPN AND the APN. The pizzaiolo here back in 2007 was Robert Caporuscio, which, if you are familiar with the pizza world, should mean something to you. (If it doesn’t, he’s the man behind one of our other favorite Neapolitan pizzas in NYC, Kesté). He’s also the president of the APN. I’m taking a wild guess that the other pizzerias currently holding both certifications are his more recent ventures: Kesté and Don Antonio, although I couldn’t find stats on this.

If you are interested in reading about the difference between the VPN and the APN, this is a good article. Basically, to become APN certified, you have to spend many days at Robert’s side (or at the side of another APN board member), learning the “true Italian” standards of making pizza. He’s basically said that he makes the best pizza in the US, and so this is the only way to ensure quality. I mean, I agree that his pizzas are amazing, but having a special certification to say that you’ve learned from him and worked along side him seems a little ego-centric, to me.

But anyway, back to A Mano. We ordered a Margherita pizza, and one with pistachio and pesto. They were both bigger than a usual Neapolitan pie, but we were not complaining. The pizzas were excellent. We wondered how this place hadn’t made it on to the list. Just look at how James stares at it!

We were very pleased to see A Mano make the new 2018 list. It ranks in at #81, probably because it is located in the NYC ‘burbs of North Jersey, and a lot of people probably haven’t made the trip out to try it. We think it should climb the ranks next year.

Now that it’s officially on the list, we will have to go back! We love it when a new place in NJ makes the list – we don’t have to travel so far to enjoy it.

To visit:

A Mano
24 Franklin Ave
Ridgewood, NJ 07450
 

BarbaraLeave a comment

The Best Pizza in London

  October 17th, 2018

London, UK

I’m lucky to travel to London twice a year for work (and some fun, too). Since my colleagues have discovered my love of pizza, they’ve made a point to bring me around to some of the best places in London.  Here are my top 6, ranked.

6. Delfino

This was a last minute stop on my most recent trip to London. Eric had just arrived with James (their first times in London!), and we were looking for a good restaurant to try for dinner. Delfino was a recommendation on our instagram and we liked that it didn’t just have pizza. Also, it looked to have a good wine list. We were not disappointed. Delfino is located in Mayfair, and makes a great thin crust pizza. We split the Caprina pizza, which had sun-dried tomatoes, pesto, pine nuts, and goat’s cheese. It was delicious. The staff was so friendly and accommodating of us and our baby.

You probably won’t find this pizza on any “best of” London lists, but we really liked the variety of pizzas on the menu, and the restaurant in general.

5. Sacro Cuore

I visited Sacro Cuore last October with some friends. It was a bit outside of the city, but I never mind getting out of town a little bit, especially for good pizza. They serve authentic Neapolitan pizzas – and good ones. I got a Bufalina (as usual, are you surprised?). Unfortunately, I couldn’t partake in the wine drinking here, as I was about 2 1/2 months pregnant with James, but my friends said it was decent. I don’t think they care too much about wine quality, though.

They also do serve some starters and salads, but we went right for the pizzas. The one in the back that my friend got had fresh Parmesan on top – which is always a welcome addition to any pie.

4. Homeslice

Homeslice comes in at #4, mainly because it’s been a few years since I’ve been there. From what I can remember, the pizza was really good. I also remember that I went there after a pub night, where we hadn’t had dinner, and so we were all very, very hungry. I should really go back again. Since it was so late when we got there, we got the pizzas to go and we ate them in the courtyard outside the restaurant.

These pizzas are large – 20″. There are a few locations around London. This one had salami, rocket (arugula, for Americans) and parm. We also had one with mushrooms, ricotta, pumpkin seed, and chili flakes. That one was awesome.

3. Franco Manca

Franco Manca is probably my most frequented pizzeria around London. There are several reasons for this. First, there was one right on my walk back from the office to my hotel. Second, there is now one right across the street from my new office. On past trips, I would get it takeaway and eat it in my hotel room. Unfortunately, that meant never getting a good picture. This most recent trip, my colleagues and I went for lunch to the location right near Kings Cross.

I almost got my usual tomato, mozz, and basil pie, but I decided to branch out and get the Veg special, which was a white pizza. These are sourdough pizzas, and the crust is amazing. The ingredients are all specially sourced from Italy and are usually seasonal.

2. Yard Sale Pizza

It’s not a Neapolitan pizza, and it’s not a fancy sourdough crust. But Yard Sale Pizza comes in at #2 on my list. It reminds me the most of a NY-style, although not quite the same. They now have a few locations around London.  My friends brought me here for lunch the day that I landed, and I honestly can’t think of a better way to tackle impending jetlag.

This one is half a margherita and half a TSB (tender stem broccoli, manchego, pine nuts, and garlic). The TSB is possibly one of the best flavor-combo pizzas in London that I’ve had. My friends also liked it here because they have pizzas with vegan cheese. I didn’t try that one, because I couldn’t turn down the regular mozzarella and manchego on these two.

1. L’Antica Pizzeria Da Michele

Finally, we’re ending with my favorite pizza in London. My friends had told me about this place for over a year before I finally made it on this most recent trip. L’Antica Pizzeria Da Michele is originally from Naples. It’s a famous pizzeria in Italy, and it’s getting the same reputation in London. While I’m usually not a huge fan of traditional Neapolitan pizza, this pizza is phenomenal. The pies are large, and the ingredients are fresh. There is the perfect amount of cheese and the perfect amount of sauce to make the pizza droopy but not soupy.

My friend also tried the traditional fried pizza here – it’s like a calzone. Worth trying.

Let me know if I missed any! I’ll be heading back to the UK in a few months and I may have more to add to this list!

Barbara1 Comment

#93 The Backspace

August 14th, 2016

Austin, TX

After our quick drive up to Dallas, we drove back down to Austin to try another pizza place on the list. The Backspace was listed on the 2015 list one spot after Cane Rosso, at #93, so we were excited to directly compare the two pizzas.

The Backspace is Austin’s first Neapolitan-style pizzeria. It opened in 2010, and it also adheres to the VPN guidelines for Neapolitan pizzas with imported “OO” flour and San Marzano tomatoes. Even with all the similarities to Cane Rosso, the two pizzas tasted very different to us.  The difference was mostly in the crust. The crust at the Backspace was more charred from the wood-fired oven, and if you’ve been reading our blog for any length of time, you know that we like a good char on our crust. It was also a little bit less doughy. Both restaurants served pizzas with really unique and fresh toppings, although the selection is more expansive at Cane Rosso.

We ordered one of the roasted mushroom pizzas here, which was topped with ricotta, capers, and thyme. We loved the generous gobs of ricotta, which paired so nicely with the roasted mushrooms. While we generally aren’t huge fans of salty capers, they complemented the pizza well. We wished that we had room to try more of the pizzas here – the white pizza Bianca looked especially good and also got rave reviews online.

We also noticed (after the fact) that the Backspace was rated on the Daily Meal’s “10 Best Pepperoni Pies in America” list, at #7. So we’ll have to try one of those as well.

The Backspace is a really small, rustic, restaurant. It only seats 30 people and can get pretty crowded on the weekends. We got there early on Sunday when they opened for dinner service, so we didn’t have any issues, but they recommend making a reservation. They also have daily happy hours on the weeknights, which would be good to make note of if you’re in the area. It would be a great place to take a date because it is nice and cozy, with a good wine list. It is also right around the corner from 6th Street, where all the happenings are.

To visit:

The Backspace
507 San Jacinto Blvd
Austin, TX 78701

BarbaraLeave a comment

#92 Cane Rosso

August 14th, 2016

Dallas, TX

I was lucky enough to be invited to a bachelorette party down in Austin, TX, for a long weekend in August. Since there were a few pizza places in Texas on the 101, Eric decided to fly down on Sunday and meet me, after we were all partied-out. We rented a car and drove up to Dallas for lunch to the first place on the list, Cane Rosso.

Cane Rosso has a few locations around Texas. They actually have one in Austin, also, but the one on the list said Dallas, so that’s where we went. It started out as a mobile pizza truck and it claims to be the most authentic wood-fired Neapolitan pizza in Texas. The owner and founder decided to change the mobile catering oven into a full-time pizzeria in 2011.

Like all true Neapolitan pizzas, Cane Rosso uses the “OO” flour imported from Italy and makes its dough fresh daily. They use the San Marzano tomatoes and also make their own in-house mozzarella, adhering to all of the VPN guidelines.

We ordered the burrata appetizer to start, and then two pizzas: the Margherita and the Cane Rosso, which was topped with sausage, roasted onions & peppers, san marzanos, homemade mozzarella and parmigiano cheese. We figured that the signature named pizza had to be pretty good.

These were definitely true Neapolitan pizzas. We really liked the variety of pizzas that they served as well. Pizza Today named the restaurant the 2017 Independent Pizzeria of the year, and I found the article about the restaurant’s expansion and development really interesting. Particularly, the fact that they import the ovens to each location from Italy and no two ovens are exactly the same. Also, they say that their dough is notoriously difficult to work with because they don’t refrigerate it and so it stays very sticky and soft.

Also interesting is that the founder of Cane Rosso recently opened another pizzeria in Dallas that makes NY-style pizzas, Zoli’s. They serve round and square pies in different styles, for the people who don’t like Neapolitan pizzas. He seems determined to take over the Texas pizza scene!

Zoli’s wasn’t on any of our lists, but the pizza there looks good too and would probably be worth checking out if we are back in the area.

To visit:

Cane Rosso
2612 Commerce St
Dallas, TX 75226

BarbaraLeave a comment

Sorbillo

January 18th, 2018

Manhattan, NYC

One of the biggest pizzeria openings of this past year was the opening of Gino Sorbillo Pizzeria in NoHo in late November. Gino Sorbillo came to NYC straight from Naples, where his family has owned and operated the original Sorbillo in Napoli via Dei Tribunali since 1935. We knew that New York certainly has its share of good Neapolitan-style pizzerias, and also boasts a fair number of pizzerias that are run by pizzaiolis who worked in Naples, but we were excited because this is the first opening of a restaurant we could go to with a TRUE Napolitan Pizzaioli at the helm.

We finally had a chance to go to Sorbillo this afternoon for lunch. We also had the pleasure of being joined for lunch by Arthur Bovino, one of our “pizza heros” as the creator of the Daily Meal lists. So not only did we get to enjoy great pizza, but we got to pick his brain about pizza around the country and the fine details of how the list was created. We were especially excited to meet him so that we could ask him about his recommendations for pizza (among other food) in Buffalo, since we are currently planning a quick road trip up there in the next few weeks. He is the expert on restaurants in that area, and even has a book coming out in May, which will sadly be after our trip. In any case, it sounds like we will be eating a lot that weekend.

Now, let’s chat about this pizza. We tried three pizzas here. First, the traditional Margherita con bufala, because it is a classic and we always seem to order one margherita. We also tried the Calzone Napoletano, which was recommended to us by our server, and the Vecchia Roma. The calzone seems to have a growing following, so we needed to check it out.

Overall, we thought the pizzas were great.They definitely had a bit of soup in the middle, and were a bit heavier on the cheese than some other Neapolitan pizzas that we’ve had. They are also slightly bigger in diameter, which didn’t stop us from finishing all three pizzas (well, the two pizzas and the calzone, if we are being technical). And honestly, it was mostly me and Eric doing the eating. The only non-traditional thing about them was that they cut the pizzas for you. The calzone was good too, although we were a bit underwhelmed since we had heard the hype about it. We are always fans of ricotta stuffed dough, and we did like the char that was on the crust.

At the end of the day, though, we couldn’t say that we liked it any better than Kesté, or some of the other Neapolitan-style pies we’ve had around the city. It does have a good location, though, being close to Eric’s office, so we’d probably go again. It also wasn’t too busy for lunch and is pretty spacious inside, which was great.

We will have to come back again anyways to try some of the rest of the extensive menu. We probably didn’t give the pizza all of the attention that it deserved, as we were caught up in telling Arthur our (super exciting) stories from our pizza travels (we hope he didn’t get too bored) and getting some feedback on our future pizza adventure plans.  It’s pretty clear that we will have to get over to Italy at some point…and Alaska…

To visit:

Sorbillo Pizzeria
334 Bowery
New York, NY 10012

Barbara1 Comment

#33 2Amys

July 23rd, 2016

Washington, D.C.

After our lunch at Pizzeria Paradiso, we headed around town for a bit of sightseeing and LOTS of walking. So much to do in D.C.! We were hungry again by the time dinner rolled around (SO MUCH walking), which was good because our second pizza stop of the day was at 2Amys, which was opened back in 2001 as the first D.O.C. pizzeria in Washington, D.C.

We may have mentioned D.O.C. certification in our previous posts, but in case you missed it, D.O.C. (Denominazione di Origine Controllata) status is the highest standard for Neapolitan pizza making. Pizzerias that have obtained D.O.C. designation have met strict requirements established in Italy. These include, but are notlimited to, the following:

  • Pizza must be cooked in a wood-burning dome oven that operates at about 800ºF.
  • Specific ingredients need to be imported – San Marzano tomatoes, all natural Fior de Latte or Bufala mozzarella cheese, fresh basil, high quality olive oil. No shortcuts here.
  • The dough needs to be made by hand or on low speed with a mixer. No mechanical shaping of the dough!
  • The border (crust) can’t be higher than 1.5 cm. The diameter can’t exceed 28 cm and the total weight needs to be under 200 grams.
  • Pizzas shouldn’t bake for more than 90 seconds.

Pizzerias that want D.O.C. status need to be approved by a special association, which was established to protect this style of pizza and its traditions. It is basically a lot of extra work for the “star of approval”. 2Amys has gone through all of this and has had its D.O.C. status upon opening, one of about 100 approved pizzerias in the US currently.

So, the big question is obviously: does this make for better pizza? It certainly means that Neapolitan pizzas are more standardized, so you know that you are getting a consistent taste. In our experience, this doesn’t always mean better. Sometimes you like to know what you are getting into when you visit a pizzeria, but other times you are looking for a sourdough crust, or a Neapolitan style pie that has a bit more stability. Sometimes we just don’t want a soupy center.

That being said, 2Amys does serve great pizza. It was probably our favorite pizzeria in the D.C. area. We enjoyed a few beers, and two of their pizzas. The first was a traditional marinara pizza, which had thinly sliced garlic on top of the sauce and is one of the three D.O.C. pizzas on the menu. We had one of the prosciutto pizzas as well, which was also very good with a nice, perfectly charred crust. Finally, we tried one of the “stuffed pizzas”, stuffed with ricotta and fresh mozzarella. That one was filling, but delicious. If you want good (certified) Neapolitan pizza, you’ll love it here.

Unfortunately, we didn’t have room to try any of the other delicious-looking appetizers, or the homemade ice cream. For another day.

To visit:

2Amys
3715 Macomb Street NW
Washington DC 20016

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#50 Pizzeria Paradiso

July 23rd, 2016

Washington, D.C.

Last summer we had friends who were living in D.C. who kindly offered to let us stay in their spare room for a weekend so that we could eat pizza. And also, so that we could hang out with them. But, mainly to eat pizza. We drove down to Washington, D.C. on a Saturday morning. As usual, Eric missed our exit getting into town. Let’s just say that we were both very hungry (hangry?) by the time we got to our first pizza stop, Pizzeria Paradiso.

You may not think of D.C. as a pizza town. We didn’t. Neither, apparently, did the owners of Pizzeria Paradiso, who opened this restaurant in 1991 because there was a lack of Neapolitan pizzerias in the city. The restaurant has expanded over the years and now has three locations around the D.C. area. They’ve also added in birrerias (“beer halls” in English) to keep up with the microbrewing scene that is growing around the D.C.area. These beer halls can be found at the Dupont and Georgetown locations. We’d recommend going for happy hour, because they have a lot of great options. And everyone knows that pizza and beer go great together.

It was hard to choose pizzas here to share. We ended up ordering one of the Siciliana pizzas, which was just a veggie pie, and then one of the specials which came with heirloom tomatoes and fresh mozzarella and thinly sliced red onion. They also had a large selection of salads and paninis here. Pizzas also come in two sizes, so you can pick small or large depending on if you feel like sharing and also how many other pizzas you are going to be trying that day (we obviously went with smalls – this was not our only pizza stop for the day).

The pizzas here are wood-fired. As with many Neapolitan-style pizzas, the crust here is the focus. It was crispy around the edges, but not too well done.This isn’t the place to come if you want a good char on your crust. It was also a little droopy in the center with the weight of the toppings, but that’s just Neapolitan-style for you. We wouldn’t say it was the best Neapolitan in D.C., but it certainly gets props for being the first!

To visit:

Pizzeria Paradiso
2003 P Street NW
Washington DC

BarbaraLeave a comment