295 replies to this topic

[Deborah]

I just returned from attending a wedding in NYC and hand many slices of amazing pizza while I was there(thin crust, amazing flavor, yum). Before we went, my husband who grew up back east, told me that New York pizza was the best. I had some and was in heaven. Well now that I've returned home I am having serious cravings for New York Style Pizza (goodness I'm starting to drool again just thinking about it). Please oh please tell me there is somewhere here that does a great NY style pizza. Thanks!

[tighe]

I like Piecora's on Capital Hill, but I've heard varying accounts of how it measures up to the real thing.

[Deborah]

Thanks for the tip---I'm on a mission!

[adanzig]

New York Pizza Place on 5th in the Maple Leaf neighborhood is decent...I think its better than just about everything else in Seattle but that's really not saying a whole lot, in my opinion. Sadly, you won't find true NY-style pizza here although its still quite fun making the rounds in a valiant attempt!

[Deborah]

Thanks I'll try them too. Ha--maybe there is something in the water in NYC that makes their pizzas so good! I told my husband we need to move to NYC for a few months so I can work in a pizzeria and learn the secret to making fabulous NY style pizza! Although, I'd probably get fired for eating too much on the job!

[kieran]

Piecora's is the best NY-style pizza I've found in the area; it's good, but not great. Pizza is one of those foods I gorge on every time I visit my family. Maybe it's the water, maybe it's the visit home, maybe it's something else, but even mediocre pizza there tastes like heaven to me.

[Deborah]

Thanks everyone! My husband goes to school at night on Capital Hill so perhaps tomorrow I'll have him stop at Piecora's on his way home and bring home a few slices. Tomorrow Piecora's and next week New York Pizza Place....the quest begins!

[ScorchedPalate]

Thanks everyone! My husband goes to school at night on Capital Hill so perhaps tomorrow I'll have him stop at Piecora's on his way home and bring home a few slices.

Noooooo! The slices at Piecora's are terrible. You have to get a whole pie (which they will happily divide among two sets of toppings) to get the real deal.

~Anita

[reesek]

i agree with anita that the slices at piecoras are not the way to go...but i think their crust is too thick for NY/EC style. however - at piecora's the simpler you go, the better - otherwise the crust seems too doughy. deborah - please post back here on your findings!

[Deborah]

We decided yesterday to order a whole pie but thanks for the tip that the slices aren't as good. I'll let you know what I think.

And if anyone else has some suggestions on other places to try I'm all ears!

Edited by Deborah, 21 October 2004 - 12:03 PM.

[chefpeon]

So what exactly IS "New York Style" Pizza anyway? Can you describe what made it so good?
What's different about it as compared to uh......."regular" pizza?
Is it more tomatoey? Cheesy? Thicker crust? Spicy?
I'm a a dyed-in-the-wool West Coaster. The farthest east I've ever gotten is Minnesota, and that's far enough......

Edited by chefpeon, 21 October 2004 - 03:21 PM.

[Deborah]

The pizza I ate was simply sublime---it was the epitomy of less is more. It had a thin and chewy crust that had almost a faint smokey flavor to it (perhaps from the slight char on the bottom), a thin layer of really flavorful fresh mozarella cheese and a very thin layer of sauce that was neither spicy nor sweet. The sauce just had a very fresh flavor to it. It was really incredible how with so few toppings the taste was so striking. It really was unlike any pizza I've ever had. It was so good that one night we had a slice about an hour before we ate dinner at Roy's! Can ya tell I'm hooked.

My description is probably lacking(hard to find the right words to describe) but here’s a website that had a nice breakdown of pizza types that I found on line and the description for New York Style pizza fits what we atePizza Types Defined

Just a few hours away from trying Piecora's tonight!

Edited by Deborah, 21 October 2004 - 04:43 PM.

[crouching tyler]

I, too, returned from a trip to NYC with cravings for perfect, thin-crust NY style pizza. I think we picked up a slice from Joe's at least 3 times during our 6 night stay in Greenwich Village.

As for Seattle, there's a place in Columbia City that brags that they have "certified Neopolitan" pizza - which is a whole lot closer to NY style pizza than anything else I have found in Seattle. So - perhaps you should investigate Tutta Bella - 4918 Rainier Ave S., (206) 721-3501.

And, by all means, report back.

[Deborah]

Great! Thank you for the suggestion. I'll add Tutta Bella to my list! Looks like I'm going to be eating a lot of pizza!

Edited by Deborah, 21 October 2004 - 05:46 PM.

[tighe]

FWIW, there was a pretty good discussion of Tutta Bella here, some of it not positive.

[ScorchedPalate]

If we're opening this up to the whole thin-crust wood-fired genre, don't miss Cafe Lago.

Edited by ScorchedPalate, 21 October 2004 - 06:00 PM.

[Sleepy_Dragon]

I miss NY pizza too, having been born and raised there. And no, there isn't anything that's really comparable. With that in mind, I think Hot Mama's Pizza on Capitol Hill is pretty good, especially if the slices are right out of the oven.

This is the only pizza place I get meatless slices, and I'm really fond of meat on pizza; it's just their simple yet seasonal veggie toppings (not overloaded, thinly sliced) are so good, I never want any meat interfering with them, if such a thing could be imagined.

Pat

[Deborah]

I've been doing some internet searching and saw someone else recommended Hot Mama's too. Great--can't wait to try theirs too. Thanks for the tip!

So does anyone know what the secret is to NYC pizza? Anyone try making it at home?

[Sleepy_Dragon]

So what exactly IS "New York Style" Pizza anyway? Can you describe what made it so good?
What's different about it as compared to uh......."regular" pizza?
...

IMO, thin crispy and chewy crust is important, and so is a balanced tomato sauce and quantity of cheese. For the crust, it's something about the satisfaction of chew, and having just the right amount of tomato sauce and cheese so that you can fold a slice right down the middle and shove it in your mouth, and after taking a bite out of it, the taste and chew is still great. Whereas doing that with local pizza, it's not so great because the sauce is too seasoned, there is too much gloppy cheese, or there isn't enough sauce, and yucky thick bready yeasty crust, etc. For some reason, folding a slice and sinking one's teeth in really tells the tale wrt balanced components.

I also wonder if it's the baking process as well. Much like one could try making Indian naan bread at home, but the result is never anywhere near as good as an 800F clay tandoori oven cooking it in 30 seconds.

And lastly, those sausage topping that are shaped like animal pellets are the devil. Ick, thrrrpt. I hate it when places use them, they should all be serving us sausage sliced up from its original cased tube form, redolent with fennel and Italian seasonings! Pagliacci thankfully does this, don't recall if Hot Mama's does or not.

edited to add: chefpeon, I see you are of that other species, could you tell us what's going on if anything with regard to firing dough at different temperatures?

Pat

Edited by Sleepy_Dragon, 21 October 2004 - 06:51 PM.

[Deborah]

Piecora's Report:

Well last night my husband brought home a large Piecora's pizza with pepperoni. The spell was fabulous and overall I'd say it was pretty good. NOT the same as the pizza we had in NY but still nonetheless good.

Cheese and Toppings: Cheese had a good flavor to it. And the pepperoni was nice and crisp on the edges

Sauce: Nice and thin and flavor was pretty good.

Crust: The main problem was the crust. It was too thick and airy towards the edges. The inner 1/3 of the pizza was great but then the crust just got too thick. Also, it lacked some of the flavor of the one we had in NYC.

Here's a picture of the whole pie


Here's a picture of the slice


And finally the bottom crust


So I'd eat there again but my quest continues. Next week we will try either Hot Mama's or New York Pizza Place and will give you my thoughts and photo's if you like.

This was my first photo posting so hopefully it worked.

Edited by Deborah, 22 October 2004 - 08:18 AM.

[kiliki]

I've never had pizza in NYC, but the descriptions make it sound like "real" Italian pizza (thin crust, fresh mozzerella, light on the cheese)...so are we basically just looking for great Italian/Neopolitan pizza or is there another key difference to NY pizza?

Not that I would be too helpful if is it the same as I've never had pizza in the US that was even as good as pizza from the Naples train station, for god's sake. Though there is a mobile wood fired oven pizza business at the Ballard Sunday Market that makes a delicious pie (too heavy on the oregano, but I imagine you can ask them to leave it off). But I think they might be taking winter off.

Edited by kiliki, 22 October 2004 - 12:17 PM.

[elswinger]

I like Tutta Bella and have yet to visit Cafe Lago, but I'd also add Pazzo's on Eastlake as good wood-fired pizza (I like to buy a couple 6-inch 2-topping personal pizzas for lunch.

Seattle hasn't had an authentic, hand-tossed NY pizza since Abruzi's was torn down to build Nike Town.

[Really Nice!]

There's only one place in Seattle that has truly authentic New York pizza. Trust me, I know.

If you're coming from north of Seattle take I-5 to the Union Street exit; head west. If you're coming from south of Seattle take I-5 to the Madison St. exit; turn left. Go through the stop light until you hit 6th; turn right and go to Union. Make a left (head west). The following instructions apply no mattër which direction you came from.

ProŒed until you get to <ÁëaŒnţdьۃۊ and make a ڻطỬ┘◄ףּ. Go until you see thỆetىheУдďs¶ ign. It's between ¼7¢ڴ۩s├treet and P₫↨└™שּׁ. ♫♥ You'll know it when you see it. By now you should be smelling that indistiguishable aroma that can only mean New York p↨zza! There's a Уarking lot right next door, but ├ don't have to tellУ you that because it's so obvious when you pull up.

Tell ﮀﻚ◄●░☼ that Really Nice! sent you. He'll take good care of you.



Edited for a typo.

Edited by Really Nice!, 22 October 2004 - 05:09 PM.

[chefpeon]

Really Nice

I don't know if it's my browser or what, but your directions to the top secret NY pizza place shows up as kind of......gobbledygook. And I must ask, why didn't you include the name of the establishment? That's kind of important.....especially for those of us that aren't good with directions.......

Sleepy Dragon

edited to add: chefpeon, I see you are of that other species, could you tell us what's going on if anything with regard to firing dough at different temperatures?

Yes, it's true....I am not only the "other species" but from a different planet.....
Anyway, the science of bread/pizza dough etc, is a complicated one. The temperature
at which you "fire your dough" is but only one component. You have so many other factors
to consider. Moisture content in the dough, the presence of fat, sugars, protein, yeast,
fermentation times, shop conditions, how much the dough is developed.....whether you
use a starter......what kind of oven you have.....proofboxes......it goes on....and on.
Eventually you get a feel for how your dough should be and how you should bake it,
but all doughs are different, and you just gotta "get to know them". I suggest dinner and
a movie first...
One thing is for certain in my book.....nothing beats brick or stone for pizza crust. I swear
by my baking stone at home! It's a key thing to achieve "crisp and chew".

I am now curious about this NY Pizza phenom. I've had Piecora's and didn't like it, so I don't know if NY Pizza is for me, or if Piecora's didn't get it right at the time. The way Deborah
describes it sounds like heaven to me, so I'm inclined to think it's the latter.

[Really Nice!]

Really Nice

I don't know if it's my browser or what, but your directions to the top secret NY pizza place shows up as kind of......gobbledygook. And I must ask, why didn't you include the name of the establishment? That's kind of important.....especially for those of us that aren't good with directions.......

Geez, h☼w could ├ f☼rget that! The name ☼f the place is P. ♫♥₫↨└™שּׁeУд. ↨f course, the locals know it as ™. Just look for the Neon sign flashing in the Уarking lot.

[Deborah]

Oh yeah, I've heard of that place Really Nice!

I'll keep you guys posted on my quest although I'm not very optimistic that I'll find anything close to what we had in NYC. Sigh.

[chefpeon]

Geez, h?w could ? f?rget that! The name ?f the place is P. ?????™?e??. ?f course, the locals know it as ™. Just look for the Neon sign flashing in the ?arking lot.

Ok, I get it.....you're messin' wit' me.
Right?

[elicia]

Ok, I get it.....you're messin' wit' me.

im not able to read your post either, well, the important part, like the name and street of the pizza joint. i get a bunch of symbols.. could you try again, please?

[vengroff]

I am now curious about this NY Pizza phenom. I've had Piecora's and didn't like it, so I don't know if NY Pizza is for me, or if Piecora's didn't get it right at the time. The way Deborah
describes it sounds like heaven to me, so I'm inclined to think it's the latter.

The pies I've had from Piecora's were more like NY pies than anything I've had in Seattle, in much the same way the weather in Seattle more like the weather in San Diego than anyplace I've been in Alaska. It's closer, but that doesn't make it close.

The real problem is the crust. It's just too thick and doughy.

For what it's worth, the number of places in New York that do it right is dwindling. There used to be good pizza all over town. Now most of it is mass produced using a standard recipe of cardboard, ketchup, and elmer's glue.

[Deborah]

The real problem is the crust.  It's just too thick and doughy.

Yep I agree entirely--the crust at Piecora's was too thick. UGH! A few more places to try and then perhaps I will just resign myself to satisfying my craving when I travel to NYC. Although, that will be a few years. For those that are interested I will post my pictures and impressions over the next few weeks.

Edited by Deborah, 23 October 2004 - 10:05 PM.