dear pizza enthusiasts, i want to thank all of you for a wonderful evening! that was the most comfortable i have ever felt with a group of people i have never met in my life. i guess our passion for pizza makes us family because that is what i got from every one.
i felt that Roberto ,Paulie, and the young man at best pizza{ i know he is the founder just do not know his name}, are passionate at what they do.that is why they connected with all of us and made us welcome.the interesting connection especially with paulie is that what they are doing is something any one of us could do. we all have passion, good product,and a story. Craig's garage, Johns,fully equipped garage with portable covered wagon,sorry i know that is a sore subject ,but had to throw that in
. this goes for many of the members on the site.i know there are a lot that have graduated from hobby to business. lets face it there are subtle differences in the pies we tasted both NY style, and Neapolitan style what we do is not far off . turning the home recipient into a business is not easy and it is a big risk, it has been done by many here!
my thoughts on the pizza, didn't partake in joes i was a little late, had it before thought it was good. keste's pizza was outstanding ,baked to perfection. i believe this is what you get in Naples. will know more in March as that is when i will taste first hand pizza from Naples. that is another subject as i need recommendations on Naples as well as Rome. i though Roberto was a very gracious host and his passion is from the heart!! he is a really good man and takes his pizza very serious. his philosophy is to make adjustments in you raw product to fit your environment. forget the water, altitude temperatures . a good pizza maker will know how to adjust for all factors. may be old school,but i like it. thank you Roberto!
Paulie, this guy is a character in a great way, this personality is what it takes, i Kidd john because he has that same aggressive trait. he says it like it is. and that is the kind of person that is fun to talk to, ask a questions of, don't worry if you offend ,he will answer or will tell you not your business. for instance his tomatoes,he would not tell us what they were ,but gave us his recommendation on a worthy substitute.now why the hell would he not feed us a tomato, mozzarella and basil pizza. probably the best way to compare his tomatoes to those of other wood fired pizzerias. he is into very creative toppings and pizzas and they were all very good,i am steeling his cherry jones, sorry but it knocked m socks off!!! yes you guys were right i had tears in my eyes because there was no margherita. last ,Pauli thanks for the lemon aid it was delicious.
best pizza, wow really delicious slice don't know how to categorize it, as wood is not normal for a Ny slice it seemed to soften the dough and flavor it with a bit of similarity to neapolitan, it was delicious.the owner went out of his way to show us his local ingredients, coal transformed to wood oven.and was very open with questions. a great pizza.
last is motorinos this was very good as well,not much interaction with management,but we were able to view the oven .our waiter was able to tell us the dough is now made for them at a bakery using motorinos formula and mixer. it used to be made a the Brooklyn store until it was closed.i like motorinos a lot. there dough is a little different than most less salt and i think they under seasoned the tomato sauce because they add sea salt as a final step.just my impression i may be way off.
i was able to sample two other pizzas this week zerro ott novo on Aurthur ave. in the bronx good pizza thinner than most, crisp crust very lite on tomato sauce, great cheese made by a cheese shop somewhere on the street.
Aurthur ave. is a scary place at night the street is safe, you have to ask the restaurant to call a cab as they are scarce.in the day time Aurthur ave is a must visit. a great little Italy street with a lot of high quality stores of all types.
on my way to NY i stopped at il pizziolo in Pittsburgh, i have pictures and will put them up soon. this place makes a killer pizza. ron leaves nothing to chance every ingredient is chosen by how it contributes to the final product. it was delicious, his restaurant would do a big business in NY,it is that good.
in closing thanks to all of you,i hope this was the first of many meetings!! Craig thanks for putting this together.thanks to Scott for the itinerary,also Scott,and john for driving! one more thing Scott i will be calling you you were just getting gone on slice style tips and we had to breakup the meeting,so you are warned.
