I arrived an hour early, the website reported that they opened at 11:30, but the sign on the door showed 12:00. As it turns out, they just haven't started the earlier seating yet, but will soon. The sign in the door says they are open until the dough runs out.
I would have starved to death had I not stopped up the street at
Sublime Doughnuts http://sublimedoughnuts.com/ and had a Cheddar Maple Bacon doughnut.
Just a few minutes before 12 the owner, Giovanni Di Palma, came to the front door and announced to the crowd of about 30 that the ovens were at 900 and he wanted another 30 degrees. He threw out 2 rolls of paper towels and said "Italian breakfast for all." Waitstaff brought out 3 or 4 pizzas cut in small pieces for everyone to snack on.
I ordered the Diavola. Spicy Sopressata, pepperonata and bufala. There were about 4 communal tables in the dining room, seating about 15 people each. The 3 Acunto ovens sat behind a hip height wall very close to the head of the tables. (The ovens had been blessed and named by a priest) The pizzas are served on parchment on restraurant size sheet pans. Some people knew that it was BYOB and had brought their own B. Between the heads of the tables and the ovens were the prep tables and the serve yourself "toppings" bar. Parmesan, peppers and crushed garlic were available. If there were ever an open kitchen this was it. Italian tomatoes (cans), flour and veggies. Everywhere. Guys washing veggies chopping them, making sauce, slicing meat. My brain was on pizza overload and I didn't take many pictures. Especially of the kitchen.
The sauce blew me away. The pizza leaned toward more char, especially on the bottom. The pizza was, as we know can be, slightly "wet". For the first time ever it wasn't offensive. Something magical had happed inside the oven in 60 - 70 seconds. It was very light, although thicker than what most would think. The restaurant is a member of the VPNA (read here:
http://www.anticopizza.it/kitchen.html) He uses San Felice flour because it is milled in his grandfathers village.
In the corner of my eye, twice I caught the owner watching me fold the pizza into a wallet, taking pictures of the crumb and doing pizza geek type stuff. I finished half of the pizza and was in the process of finding a box, when the owner handed it to me over my shoulder. We talked shop on the way to the door. I asked about the sauce. Fresh tomatoes from Italy. I said no sugar, no salt? He said sugar and salt were for tomatoes that are not fresh. Mine are fresh he said. My vote is that this place is authentic, steeped in family, it is fresh and is very highly recommended. By far the best pizza I have had to date.
