The area around MSG and Penn Station is pretty miserable, with a few exceptions. The most obvious one is the James A. Farley Post Office Building, the Beaux-Arts behemoth on Eighth Ave. between 31st & 33rd streets. If you’re a New Yorker who’s become jaded to the amazing architecture that surrounds us, go have a … Read more
New Yorkers are known for leaving the city in summer to visit the Hamptons. Here is a case of a Hamptonite visiting, and settling in, New York City.
Pizzetteria Brunetti NYC is the Greenwich Village outpost of the original Westhampton Beach–based Neapolitan pizzeria that my wife and I visited in May 2011.
Franny’s was an immediate success when it first opened on Brooklyn’s Flatbush Avenue in April 2004. So much so that there were notoriously long waits for its then dinner-only service. The restaurant eventually started lunch service and at some point expanded seating by opening its garden. Not even all those moves did the trick, and the place moved to more spacious digs earlier this year.
I haven’t been to Don Antonio by Starita in a few months and certainly not since I’ve been working at Paulie Gee’s. So when I had the chance to meet a longtime friend/former coworker there, I jumped at it like Evel Knievel jumps rope. I wanted to see if I had developed a keener palate or had more finely tuned my pizza sensors.
Pizza By Cer Té is about a block away from my doctor’s office. So while I don’t like having occasion to visit my GP, I do like the consolation prize of a pizza lunch here. On Friday I arrived late at Pizza By Cer Té and the selection was limited so I was forced to finally try the Margherita pizza. I generally avoid “Margherita” pizza at New York–style pizzerias, since a typical slice joint rarely does them justice. But PBCT’s Margherita slice this day was palatable. It was quite good, and the cheese was still a bit creamy rather than rubbery and tough as is usually the case.
The “upside-down” slice at NY Pizza Suprema is not to be missed. So called because the cheese goes on before the sauce, it is a slice whose crust is light and crisp. The sauce is thick, rich and savory-sweet, and the mozzarella practically melds with the dough, giving it a unique texture.
I ate at Rossopomodoro at Eataly on Wednesday with Sharon and Alisha Aridiana. Sharon is the chef-owner of Gialina and Ragazza in SF, and Alisha is Sharon’s wife and the one who set up the lunch meet-up while they were on a pizza recon mission in NYC. I can’t even tell you what’s on these pies, because the thing I remember most about that lunch is just how genuinely nice those two were. Meeting them was a highlight of my summer. I hope to see them in SF next time I visit my in-laws with my wife and daughter.
From top, the Farmer’s slice (corn, potato, green onion, cheddar) and the Lafayette (caramelized onion, gruyere, grana Padano, mozzarella, thyme). The Lafayette was very good. The Farmer’s needed more of a flavor punch (especially where the potato was concerned), but points for use of corn. I am inspired.