Luzzo's

[weinoo]

Last night my wife and I, along with Mr. and Mrs. slkinsey, finally tried Luzzo's on 1st Avenue. We had two pies , the "bufala" and the "quattro stagioni." We also tried a Caesar salad and a pasta special - both of which were fine in their own right - but, the pizza could easily vault to the best pie in NYC, at least in my book. Great crust with just the right amount of char along with delicious cheese applied in the perfect amount.

Also, a great, fun room - convivial atmosphere, nice service, and lucky for us, no wait when we arrived, though yammv - I've tried previously but was turned off by the expected long wait. As an aside, a thanks to eG member Daniel, who has been lauding this place ever since he first tried it - that, and my experience the previous night at Una Pizza Nap. made me want to try Luzzo's even more - and I'm sure glad we did.

[slkinsey]

After a half-dozen cocktails at Death and Company on Friday, weinoo and myself, along with Mrs. slkinsey and Mrs. weinoo, were in dire need of some food. A short walk found us at Luzzo's, where by some miracle a table was available right by the oven.

To make a long story short: Based on this one visit -- and I will have to make many, many more visits to, er, "confirm my first impression" -- I'm ready to call Luzzo's one of the top 2 or 3 pizzerie in the City.

I guess I'd characterize Luzzo's pizza as "Patsy's East Harlem with much better ingredients." The char perhaps isn't quite at the same level as Patsy's, but the quality of the mozzarella in particular (which is as good as I've had at any American pizzeria) more than compensates for this difference.

Luzzo's pizza is available in two sizes. The smaller is right around the standard Neapolitan size, and the larger is the standard NYC pizzeria "large." We tried a few large ones, and I am anxious to return and try the smaller size. The oven, which appears to be fired by a combination of wood and coal (coal in the firebox below and a pile of wood in the oven itself) is kicking out serious heat. The pizzaiolo said it should be running between 900 and 1000 degrees F, and the fierce heat was readily apparent in the copious steam we observed rising from each pie as it was conveyed from the oven to a table. To my eye, the Neapolitan-sized pizze seemed a little more "well done" compared to the large ones, which makes some sense considering that a 17 inch pizza has double the surface area of a 12 inch pizza.

The fierce heat is especially important, because the toppings are quite wet when they go onto the pizza. The sauce is loose, wet, tangy and coarsely ground mixture of tomatoes and a few herbs compared to the reduced, cooked, garlic- and herb-laden sauces typical to stainless deck oven pizzerie from Di Fara on down to Ray Bari. The wetness of the sauce I feel is important because it keeps the top of the crust well moisturized and prevents it from "setting" too early, which allows for better oven spring. Meanwile, the wood fire provides a tiny hint of smokiness and copious reflected radiant heat to cook off most of the moisture in the short time it takes to cook the pizza.

The mozzarella! Little pillowey dots were scattered over the surface of the crust in just the right amount so that they still retained a delicious wet, creamy goodness but didn't overwhelm the pizza with too much moisture or the rubbery cheesyness that can come from fresh mozzarella applied with too liberal a hand. Each bite of pizza that included a piece of mozarella was like a little prize. Luzzo's uses mozzarella di bufala, and the difference is striking.

We tried two options, both in the large size. The bufala consisted of nothing more than a thin slick of sauce, a judicious application of fresh mozzarella di bufala, and a few pieces of basil. Once weinoo and I had finished shoveling back the first slice, we loudly agreed that it was revelatory -- er, albeit in much more colorful language commensurate with our post-cocktail degree of pickling. This is the reference pizza, and I can hardly imagine a visit to Luzzo's that did not include one of these. For me, only Franny's can compete at this level, and their version of this pizza is distinctively different enough that they're not directly comparable.

Next we tried the quatro stagioni, and Italian classic consisting in Luzzo's incarnation of tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella di bufala, mushrooms, ham, olives and artichoke hearts. In its usual Italian form, the mushrooms, etc. would each occupy a quadrant of a 12 inch pizza. I don't know whether Luzzo's does this on the smaller size, but on the pizza we got the four ingredients were intermingled throughout. This pizza, while delicious, suffered in comparison to the bufala: The crust wasn't able to rise as well due to the abundance of toppings, and the artichoke hearts were not fresh. I might try this one again in a small pizza, but probably not as a large one -- it detracted too much from the crust and cheese. In general (and as usual, for me) I'd suggest sticking to the ones that seem to have a lower number of ingredients.

In addition to the foregoing, we had two appetizers: Mozzarella imbottita ("stuffed mozzarella), which is a breaded and fried ball of mozzarella di bufala with some mushrooms in the center. This I would definitely recommend. We also had the fritto Napoletano, which they describe as "mixed fried specialties from Naples." It consisted of fried dough, fried rice balls and some fried potato croquettes. These were okay, but I probably won't order them again. Also okay was a special pasta dish with linquine, nicely cooked seafood (octopus, squid, mussels, clams, etc.) tomato and a ton of olive oil. Not sure I'd bother with the pasta again either. We also had a forgetable caesar salad. Definitely won't order that again.

Luzzo's

211-213 First Avenue

(near 13th Street)

212-473-7447

http://luzzomania.com/

(ETA: Website)

Edited February 26, 2008 by slkinsey (log)

[Daniel]

I have been to Luzzo's a few times and its always great.. Here is a portion of my write up from over at Mouthfulsfood.com..

On to the pizza.. Some of the best pizza I have had.. The dough is airy, chewy, and crispy.. Fantastic.. Topped with the beautiful buffalo mozzarella..

We also ordered a small Diavla pizza.. With spicy salami.. I think it was Sopressatta but I could be mistaken..

Here is the crust.. On any other pizza it would have been stiff as a board and crunchy.. The pizza dough was just amazing..

Luzzo's is a must try pizza spot.. Seriously, anyone interested in trying what I think could be Manhattan's best pizza place should give it a try..

Edited February 25, 2008 by Daniel (log)

[weinoo]

Maybe it was the cocktails, but I guess I liked the Caesar more than slkinsey did. And liked the pasta less. But, bottom line is, it's all about the pizza...I've never been a fan of the over-laden slice, so stick with the "plain" pies or one or two toppings and I don't think you can go wrong here.

Interestingly enough, my wife claimed she likes the crust at Arturo's better - but it is a different style of crust - more NY style as opposed to Luzzo's, which is much more like a pizza that you'd get in certain places on Italy - certainly like the pies we've had in Rome. ..thinner, crisper, etc., but certainly foldable in its own right. Smoky and charred from the oven, what could be better?

[slkinsey]

Here is the crust.. On any other pizza it would have been stiff as a board and crunchy.. The pizza dough was just amazing.

Yea. . . That's the benefit of a superhot oven with a wet dough and wet toppings. We loved the amount of steam coming off those babies when they pulled them out of the oven. The sauce was practically boiling on the crust.

Luzzo's is a must try pizza spot.. Seriously, anyone interested in trying what I think could be Manhattan's best pizza place should give it a try..

I absolutely agree. It's clearly an elite pizzeria, and even based on only one visit I'd say it's my #1 Manhattan destination now. I haven't been this enthusiastic about a pizzeria since Franny's opened -- and this is a hell of a lot easier to get to for me.

Maybe it was the cocktails, but I guess I liked the Caesar more than slkinsey did. And liked the pasta less.

You liked the pasta less than "okay"? I thought the seafood was well-cooked (the octopus was tender, which is never easy) but the overall effect just North of "bad" into "okay." Nothing I'd order again.

But, bottom line is, it's all about the pizza...I've never been a fan of the over-laden slice, so stick with the "plain" pies or one or two toppings and I don't think you can go wrong here.

Exactly. It's great to finally have a place in Manhattan that accords with my pizza priorities and uses top-notch ingredients, has more than 3 offerings (or more than 3 worth eating), and costs $15 for an individual-sized pizza instead of $21.

[daisy17]

Now, Rai Rai Ken was good, but it sounds like I should have stuck around! (Really great to see/meet you all . . . . )

[Daniel]

I had the fried fish appetizer which was pretty good.. Mainly calamari but, there was some shrimp in there.. It was good, not earth shattering but, something to break up the pizza..

The gnocci there is pretty good too.. But, you go for the pizza..

[weinoo]

Maybe it was the cocktails, but I guess I liked the Caesar more than slkinsey did. And liked the pasta less.

You liked the pasta less than "okay"? I thought the seafood was well-cooked (the octopus was tender, which is never easy) but the overall effect just North of "bad" into "okay."

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No, no, no - I didn't like the pasta less than okay, and true the octopus was nice and tender - but it all paled in comparison to the 'za.

Nice to meet you as well, daisy17 .

[Pan]

Severe downhill alert on Luzzo's! I have previously found Luzzo's pizza great and their appetizers and salads creditable. I was in for a bad shock when I went there for lunch with a friend on Saturday. Our salad was literally rotten! I mean, all the lettuce was brown-edged. Needless to say, we didn't eat it and sent it back. As for the pizza, it was good but should have come hotter with more melty cheese. I will never return unless the management changes, and my guess is that's the problem: The management must have been replaced by people who don't give a damn.

[weinoo]

Severe downhill alert on Luzzo's! I have previously found Luzzo's pizza great and their appetizers and salads creditable. I was in for a bad shock when I went there for lunch with a friend on Saturday. Our salad was literally rotten! I mean, all the lettuce was brown-edged. Needless to say, we didn't eat it and sent it back. As for the pizza, it was good but should have come hotter with more melty cheese. I will never return unless the management changes, and my guess is that's the problem: The management must have been replaced by people who don't give a damn.

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That's truly a shame, but I will say that we've been back a few times, and on a number of occasions the pizza didn't come close to what we had the first time we posted.

So now we just head to Arturo's.

FWIW, i"m wondering if the oven has had a chance to get really hot enough to be making pies for lunch service.

[raji]

Severe downhill alert on Luzzo's! I have previously found Luzzo's pizza great and their appetizers and salads creditable. I was in for a bad shock when I went there for lunch with a friend on Saturday. Our salad was literally rotten! I mean, all the lettuce was brown-edged. Needless to say, we didn't eat it and sent it back. As for the pizza, it was good but should have come hotter with more melty cheese. I will never return unless the management changes, and my guess is that's the problem: The management must have been replaced by people who don't give a damn.

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I don't know what happened to my post, but I recall posting, about 6 months ago, that I went to Luzzo's for lunch, that it was a mediocre pie with a about 3 or 4 of those little buffalo mozzarellla balls sliced on it, not spiced, no basil or anything, and an OK crust. Definitely not worth going back for. The antipasto platter also was underwhelming. Then I remember getting reprimended by slkinsky, lps or weinoo, one of these guys, about how it was the best pie in NY right now. I can't find the post, but that's what happened....

[slkinsey]

Looks like they have some serious consistency problems.

[Pan]

Looks like they have some serious consistency problems.

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Serving rotten salad is worse than a consistency problem. It means that all the layers of attention to detail fell down on the job or didn't give a damn.