Best Pizza in Paris

[BradenP]

Okay, so I have been living in Paris for about a month now. In the last few days I have begun to feel pangs for something other than French food (which we have been eating non-stop). During the last month before we left Seattle we were eating at Serious Pie at least once a week. A couple years ago when I was back home in Boston I would make regular trips to Sally's or Pepe's. So pizza consumption has always been a part of my eating repertoir. The criteria I am looking for in the best Pizza is: 1)Wood fired. 2)Thin crust with a nice char around the edges. 3) Good distribution and ratio of sauce/cheese/ingredients. I will warn you that I am pretty much a traditionalist when it comes to Pizza, so places with Pineapple or BBQ sauce are usually crossed off my list. Here is my list so far: (I will update as I try more pies)

To Try:

Chez Carmine: I have heard good things, but have yet to try.

Da Mimmo: Ditto.

Sale E Pepe: Is this name an ode to New Haven? I have yet to try.

La Paninoteca: This is C&Z favorite, although it is in her neighborhood, so one eyebrow is raised.

I tried:

Amici Miei 44, rue St. Sabin (75011): Packed little Italian place on a tiny side road by the Bastille. We ordered a pie with Sausage and fresh Arugula. The crust was thin. Parts of the edges were charred, but still a little underdone. The sauce, the mozz, the sausage and the arugula were all tasty and distributed in a good ratio throughout the pie. The only real complaint I had was that the crust was a little bland, missing salt, pepper, and a bit of oil.

Pizza Positano 15, rue Canettes (75006): Germans, Americans and Italians oh my! Packed little tourist trap between St. Supice and St. Germain. We ordered a simple parma ham pizza. The edges were charred but tasted like bitter sulfur, the exact taste can be replicated if you burnt Wonder Bread and chewed the black part. The sauce was used to sparingly to taste, the cheese was waxy and flavorless. I would never go back.

[John Talbott]

Okay, so I have been living in Paris for about a month now. In the last few days I have begun to feel pangs for something other than French food (which we have been eating non-stop).

Sale E Pepe: Is this name an ode to New Haven? I have yet to try.

Amici Miei 44, rue St. Sabin (75011): Packed little Italian place on a tiny side road by the Bastille. We ordered a pie with Sausage and fresh Arugula. The crust was thin. Parts of the edges were charred, but still a little underdone. The sauce, the mozz, the sausage and the arugula were all tasty and distributed in a good ratio throughout the pie. The only real complaint I had was that the crust was a little bland, missing salt, pepper, and a bit of oil.

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Welcome to the France Forum and to Paris. We need more folks on the ground.

This from the Digest:

“Jan 19 in Liberation Anne Deguy looked at upscale pizzas (eg with caviar or black wheat) and wrote about those at La Pizzetta, Maria Luisa, Amici Miei + San.

Feb 21 Figaroscope’s “Dossier” covered and ranked pizzas:

9/10 La Pizzetta + Amici Mei

8.5 Maria Luisa

8 Cantina Clandestina, Pizza Positano + Enzo

7.5 Il Tre, Paparazzi + San

7 Da Pieto

6 l’Etape

Also rans: Pizzería Da Carmine, Bartola, Da Mimmo + Le Mercure.

Francois Simon in his Haché menu went to another place – the Bistrot Napolitain, 18, avenue Franklin-Roosevelt in the 8th, 01 45 62 08 37, closed weekends where for 100 € he had good pizza, sodas, an “execrable” liqueur of coffee, miserable tiramisu and a ½ bottle of Chianti, saying you should go.”

I have two local pizza joints, aside from Speed Rabbit + Pizza Hut, one highly rated (4th if I recall correctly in Figaro a few years ago) no-smoking, sit down place Sale e Pepe but the Neapolitan singing patron seems to have moved back home and its quality and ambiance are diminished so I’ve shifted to a take-out place about 145 Rue Ordener that makes a quite good Reine pizza. I believe the aforementioned Figaro ratings were preceded by an article authored or coauthored by M. Simon who bemoaned the poor quality overall of pizza in Paris compared to any street corner in the US (perhaps he was referring to New Haven or Greenwich Village) or Italy (this was before he published his book "Toscane").

I'd be interested in your take on Sale e Pepe these days. Please keep us updated because after a hard days work (eating of course) there's nothing like a good pizza, even in Paris. Someone told me that the pizza from Picard wasn't half-bad for the price.

Edited April 6, 2007 by John Talbott (log)

[Chocolate & Zucchini]

Braden: I don't know if there are several "Chez Carmine" in the city, but La Paninoteca goes by the name of Pizzeria da Carmine now that it has expanded into a larger space -- I just thought I'd alert you to the fact that two items on your list may be one and the same.

In any case, I stand by my good opinion of La Paninoteca / Pizzeria da Carmine -- for the generous and excellent pizzas, the friendly, family atmosphere, and the mini sidewalk terrace -- and not just because it's in my neighborhood, though it certainly makes it easier for me to go there often and vouch for its consistency. Their panini, made on home-baked bread, are great, too.

I also recommend La Pizzetta (a block east from the above). The pizzas are less heavily loaded, which makes for a (marginally) lighter fare. They have a few that are made on a whole wheat crust, and I like that twist. The room is beautiful, the ambiance more upscale, and there is also a terrace.

I've also tried Cantina Clandestina (a few blocks south from the above) and their pizzas were very good -- same style of pizza as the Paninoteca -- but the service was very sketchy that night. They had only been opened a couple of weeks then, so things may be better now, but it hasn't made me want to run back.

Re: Sale e Pepe, I thought I'd note that the dinner service is a daily set menu (no choices) in which pizza is featured as a first course only (as I understand it is in Italy?) that one shares with one's dining companions (after a small appetizer and before the pasta and dessert). I've been there on a few occasions and everything I've ever been served was very good -- simple, but beautifully done -- and it's a warm and friendly little place. I don't think I would cross more than one arrondissement to visit, though.

I don't know what it is about my neighborhood that seems to attract good pizza makers, but I thank my lucky stars that it does!

Clotilde.

[Edited to correct a grammatical error.]

Edited April 6, 2007 by Chocolate & Zucchini (log)

[John Talbott]

Re: Sale e Pepe, I thought I'd note that the dinner service is a daily set menu (no choices) in which pizza is featured as a first course only (as I understand it is in Italy?) that one shares with one's dining companions (after a small appetizer and before the pasta and dessert).

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Ohhh, I was always able to argue for an argula salad and pizza at dinner with a bit of wine and a grappa. Maybe things have changed.

[Marianne]

You might also like to try "San" on the Boulevard du Temple. We had some delicious pizza's there.

Edited April 12, 2007 by Marianne (log)