33 Havemeyer, Brooklyn

With a name like Best Pizza, you’ve got a lot to live up to..but more importantly, you are impossible to find online. Do you have any idea how many Best Pizza in Brooklyn blog entries, magazine articles, etc there are? So, most importantly, I am giving you readers the website for the new Williamsburg pizza joint here.

Anyone locally, particularly Greenpoint people will want to have the number handy. Not that there aren’t pizza places that rival it – the gourmet options of Paulie Gee’s and Forninos for example – but Best, which falls someplace in between gourmet and classic thin New York slices, delivers! Yes, even to Greenpoint! And while the pie we got was a touch cold, I am thankful. The crust and cheese on our plain pie was delicious with my only complaint being that there was a bit too much of an oregano taste for me. Next time I’ll add some anchovies.

Recently opened in the old Brooklyn Star space (which I never got a chance to try) and opened by Brooklyn Star and Roberta’s owners, the new place is sure to be a hit with anyone with an urge for a thin crust wood fired alternative to the yummy but greasy Anna Maria’s. Is it truly the “best pizza”? Well,  I am not sure I’d go that far – but I am willing to give it some time.

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Posted on November 14, 2010

278 Bleecker St

Don’t get me wrong, I am a fervent lover of the high end pizza craze that’s given us the likes of Fornino, L’asso and Paulie Gee’s but lately – let’s just blame pregnancy hormones like I do for everything else – I’ve been craving the classic, greasy, thin crust type that one can count on finding in nearly any NYC neighborhood.

John’s Pizzeria of Bleecker Street fit the bill perfectly. One of many that claim to be famous and considered the ultimate in classic New York Style pizza, it’s probably the only one that has Louie Anderson on its wall (when I saw that in our booth, I knew things were going to be great) and has its praises sung by pizza connoisseur, Vanilla Ice (“Keep makin the ‘dope’ pizza”).

The ambiance is wood paneled family style perfection and the serve one really, really satisfying pie – just greasy enough, with the perfect balance of sauce to cheese and a slightly charred but never crunchy crust. There are no slices here, just full pies, so bring your appetite like we did when we split a medium – half sausage for Jim, half anchovy for me. Such an excellent way to indulge on a budget when you are ravenous. Plus, you don’t have to compromise on toppings.

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Posted on September 5, 2010

6602 Melrose Avenue

At about ten to noon (on weekends) the line starts forming outside the Mario Batali pizzeria, Mozza; this is exactly where you should hope to find yourself if you haven’t booked ahead as all the reservable tables will be booked. Ideally it’s where you should find yourself with a small party since the limited stool seats offer an amazing up close and personal view of the pizza-making which runs like a well oiled machine from the dough forming, to the topping adding, to the baking and slicing.

The menu was extensive and we decided to split the famous squash blossom with tomatoes and burrata, the classic Margherita and the Stracchino which had artichokes, lemons and olives and was – by a slim margin in a tough contest – my favorite of the bunch.

Of course, I couldn’t resist starting off the pizza feast with the brussel sprouts. I just can’t get enough of those little greens lately, especially now that restaurants are frequently serving them in so many delicious ways (locally, try Anella’s lemony delights). At Mozza they’re coated in prosciutto breadcrumbs… yum!

We also managed, due to the surprising lightness of the dough (or just because we’re gluttons), to enjoy a dessert of butterscotch pudding with salt and a pinenut cookie. Batali has done good again, this time in sunny California.

Click here for the rest of Mozza

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Posted on March 14, 2010

This is a truly heartbreaking story. Once, not too long ago, a miraculous thing happened – an ugly menu for a pizza joint called Vinnie Vella's (adorned with an illustration that practically begged for low expectations) arrived on our doorstep and, surprisingly enough, their 'Grandma's Pie' (fresh ingredients atop a perfectly thin/thick crust) turned out to be absolutely delicious. Furthermore, VV's actually delivered to our neighborhood (I'll never forgive you for forsaking Greenpoint, Fornino).

Then one day we called up (the number was actually in Jim's phone – no longer) and ordered the usual. The place had a different name, but they assured us the menu was the same; we had no idea to what degree our lives were about the change for the worse. The delivery was late, we were starving, but what was in the box – ugh – we couldn't even bring ourselves to try more than half a slice each.

Nice job La Bella Mariella II, you ruined a beautiful thing with your gloppy cheap cheese and overly sweet canned tomato sauce you try to pass off as belonging on a pizza (PS: the photos on their site are totally inaccurate). I'm truly ashamed to admit it, but we actually threw away almost an entire pizza.

You will never be forgiven and I hope you perish the way of Better Fellas (the short lived shop that set up in the same location between Vinnie Vella's and Bella Mariella II).

Souen is really lucky, by the way, that I was so crushed by this pizza shop debacle and spared them the wrath of a lengthy tirade because their vegan dirt food made me sad while I was eating it and mad to be paying obscene amounts for it.

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Posted on November 9, 2009