Gioia Pizza in Berkeley

[Pizza De Puta]

Traveled on business today to the Bay Area and ventured into Gioia's New York Pizza.

 http://gioiapizzeria.com/

Hole in the wall place with about 8 seats but WOW outstanding pizza made by a guy who grew up in Brooklyn.  I had a slice of pepperoni and spouse had home-made sausage, both were excellent.  Ended up buying a whole sausage pie to take home to the kids.

I loved the simplicity of the menu that was only posted on the wall.  $3.00 per slice for cheese.  $3.50 for custom slice.  $21 for a whole 18" pizza cheese, $25 for a custom.  That's it.  No tax, no change, no small, medium or large.  Easy, quick, and outstanding.

When I arrived home and reheated the whole pie and fed it to the kids, I asked my teenage boys what would happen to Mountain Mike's and Round Table if a restaurant like this opened in our town.  They said in unison x3. "they'd go out of business".  Those three devoured that 18" pie seemingly in seconds.

Definitely the best NY pizza I've had in many years.

[pizzaneer]

Then you'd better get started on perfecting your NY pie setup.  Did you notice what kind of oven, duration of bake time, any clues to bake temp?   Ingredients?  Dumpster-dive for containers?   Not to get pushy, but you need this info.  This could be your yellow brick road.

[Pizza De Puta]

Then you'd better get started on perfecting your NY pie setup.  Did you notice what kind of oven, duration of bake time, any clues to bake temp?   Ingredients?  Dumpster-dive for containers?   Not to get pushy, but you need this info.  This could be your yellow brick road.

Well yes I did!  They used a Marsal triple deck pizza oven with stone decks.  I measured the cook time at 8 minutes, they said the oven was at 700 degrees (which seems high based on the cook time). After four minutes, the pizzaiolo would move the pizza from the top oven to a lower one in the stack.  60 quart Hobart mixer was grinding cheese while I was there.  Their sausage was home made and put on raw on the pie.  They used dry mozz for cheese with about 8 cubes of wet mozz.  Mexican pizzaiolo didn't speak hardly any English but was obviously skilled.  Didn't dumpster dive for brands but that's an idea for next time.  

[pizzaneer]

duplicate

Word!

So this looks like a reverse-engineering problem now.  You'll need to get some pictures of the pie, and try to pump them for info.  Brands used, fermentation process, etc.

8 minutes with a split high / low temp seems odd to me. Unless it's because of the raw toppings?

See this link for an exciting walkthrough of how to be a pizza sleuth: http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,20093.msg197375.html#msg197375

[scott123]

It sounds like they might have one oven set to 700 and another at a lower temp. Did both pizzas get the two oven treatment? 8 minutes at 700 would incinerate pizza.

How floppy were the slices? Any char on the undercrust?

How does the thickness factor compare to the photo on the website?  I'm hoping it's a bit thinner, because, for NY style, a rim of that size is pushing it.

Reverse engineering can be exciting, but, in this instance, I think you might be able to quickly surpass this pizza on your own with a solid recipe and the right oven setup.

If you really are dead set on reverse engineering this, then, the next time you go, bring a camera. Get an upskirt.  Take a shot of the guy making pizza, and, if possible, the kitchen.  Look, obviously, for tomato cans and bags of flour. Use the bathroom- sometimes they'll stack flour in a hallway.  Look for a walk-in.  See if they'll sell you a dough ball, and if they do, ask when it was made, and, while you're talking about the age of that dough, ask how long they refrigerate the dough in the store ("I'm trying to match your results exactly"). 

Watch the guy stretching the skin carefully and see how much force he has to use. See how much bench flour he's using. This will go a long way in telling you hydration and kneading time.

If you do dumpster dive, be careful. Don't get caught.