Cool another pizza trip 9th is a definite no problem 10 th is probably also good if I don't go to Hilton head? If I do pizza expo it's deo on the 11 th
John, as of now, what do you think your chances are of going to Hilton Head? When do you think you might know for certain? It looks like we have just about everyone that can make it available from 11:00 to 5:00ish on Saturday the 10th. If we go with Friday, the 9th, we lose Adam during the day, and, as I said before, I'm trying not to get too evening-y. I'm not saying we can't go into the evening- it may just be a matter of planning- right now, we're 7 and I think we're going to be at least 8 by the time the dust settles, so, with 8+ we might be able to swing reservations. But, still, Friday night, at a pizzeria (during Lent), if we can avoid it, I'd like to.
Maybe I'm planning a bit too aggressively here, but I'd really like a NJ day so Chau can try Vesta, and, if we do Vesta, it would be really nice if you could join us. In fact, I'm thinking Chau (and Craig, if he wants, and anyone else) can hop on the path train, I'll pick him/them up in Harrison and if time is tight for anyone, we'll only do Vesta, but, if we can squeeze it in, we'll do Vesta, Pizza Town and Amano. Amano would be especially nice if we don't make it to Keste, as we could assure that Chau's Neapolitan requirement would be covered.
I've mentioned Don Antonio a couple times, but the list is getting a bit long. I really want to try a fried pizza, but I'm not sure how highly it ranks in this tour and whether or not it works within the framework of Chau's desire to cover the basics. Now, if we can confirm that the questionable margherita you received was just a fluke and we can cover fried pizza AND traditional Keste quality Neapolitan there, then that makes Don Antonio a lot more tempting.
If we did a Manhattan day AND a Brooklyn day, we could really hit just about everywhere, but the problem is, neither Manhattan nor Brooklyn offer a Vesta type pie (or, for that matter, Pizza Town), while we can pretty much cover the pies available in Manhattan with places in Brooklyn- with the exception of confirmed authentic Neapolitan.
If I'm hearing everyone correctly, here's the short list so far:
Franny's
Barboncino
Best
I also think I'm hearing (much to my chagrin
) a general agreement on Totonno's. After seeing Craig's review, I'm not stepping foot in Lombardi's and I wouldn't trust Grimaldi's as far as I can throw them, so, I guess, since we're in Brooklyn, we might as well cover coal with a trip to Totonno's. I will say, though, that I don't want to end up at Totonno's on Friday night, even with reservations- I think it's going to be really crowded and noisy.
Speaking of noise, one thing that I noticed about these last few trips is that certain places, during certain times of the day, are conducive to conversation and some places are not. Even if we do score reservations for Friday night at a few of these places, are we going to end up having a hard time hearing each other because of the noise? Paulie Gee's was pretty noisy when we went on a weekday night.
Speaking of Paulie Gees... I really want Chau to have the Paulie Gee 'experience,' but, the bench flour and the high level of undercrust char are kind of dealbreakers to me. But, then, I'm a bit of a wimp when it comes to char, so I might be in the minority opinion. If Chau is coming to Brooklyn, though, I can't really see him missing out on Paulie's.
Thoughts?
