While New Yorkers can certainly be parochial and protective of their
home slice, they can also be open and accepting of different pizza
points of view. Here is a look at the predominant forms of pizza found in New York City
with information about how they developed over the years, and a glimpse
at some of the more eclectic and disparate variations on the theme.
Neapolitan-American Pizza: The Original NY Pie
The story of pizza in America begins in New York City in 1905 with Gennaro Lombardi, who began selling pizza
out of his grocery store on Spring Street for the princely sum of a
nickel per pie. The recipe had likely been handed down through the
generations of the Lombardi family and adapted using local ingredients
and cooking methods resulting in a form of pizza inspired, but distinct,
from the original pizza of Naples. Pizza had unquestionably existed in
America prior to 1905, but it did so in the domestic environment of the
kitchens of Italian immigrants. Lombardi scaled this up to meet
commercial demands.
The result was the most elemental form of NY pizza, often called
Neapolitan-American, that shares much in common with the original
Neapolitan type: a thin crust, a judicious covering of tomato sauce, and
a smattering of fresh mozzarella cheese. But they differ in cooking
technique, size, and texture. In Naples, the pies are cooked with wood
and the center of the pizza tends to be soft and amorphous. Neapolitan
pies are intended for one person and a knife and fork is required. The
original NY pies were larger, averaging a 14"-16" diameter, and were
cooked in coal fired ovens until crisp from edge to edge.
Lombardi's Lombardi's thrived
in Little Italy, feeding legions of factory workers and immigrants
longing for a taste of home. It was so popular that Lombardi soon
dispensed with the groceries entirely and started selling pizza
exclusively. Numerous employees struck out on their own, fanning out
across the city and spreading the distinctive style of pizza.
In 1924, Lombardi's employee Anthony "Totonno" Pero opened Totonno's in Coney Island. Five years later, John Sasso, also an employee of Lombardi's, opened John's Pizza
on Bleecker Street. 1933 saw Pasquale "Patsy" Lanceri, reputed to have
been a Lombardi's employee, open Patsy's in Harlem. Lombardi's, John's,
Totonno's, and Patsy's are all still around today and represent
cornerstones of the original NY style of pizza. (Lombardi's closed in
1984 and reopened a decade later in a different space on the same
block.) Others followed suit serving this particular form of pizza.
Arturo's on Houston Street opened in 1957 and remains a largely
unblemished example of the breed, not having caught on with the tourists
who these days flood nearby Lombardi's and John's. Lancieri's nephew
Patsy Grimaldi opened Grimaldi's in Brooklyn in 1990. He had hoped to
open in Manhattan, but by this time there was a ban on the use of the
coal fired ovens that produce the intense heat and characteristically
sooty crust of the Neapolitan-American style. He was forced to look for a
grandfathered space in Brooklyn, which is the only way to use a coal
oven within city limits these days. Luzzo's
in the East Village was lucky enough to find such a space when it
opened in 2005, inspiring what the owners dubbed "coal oven Neapolitan,"
an amalgam of Neapolitan and Neapolitan-American styles.
A gas oven
The ban on coal ovens fundamentally changed the nature of pizza in
NYC by forcing pizzerias to use other methods, of which gas ovens proved
by far the most popular. This led to a democratization of the pizzeria
by virtue of the lower costs associated with using prefabricated gas
ovens, which by the post WWII years had become comparatively affordable
vis-Ã -vis building a dedicated brick structure. But the postwar years
also saw pizza breaking out of its "ethnic" designation, as returning
GI's sought to satisfy the taste they had acquired for Italian pizza
while liberating Europe. Soon, pizzerias were opening in neighborhoods
all over the city, not just Italian-American ones.
NY Style Pizza
A pie from Ray's
The most common and now quintessential form of NY pizza has thus
become the type that is cooked in gas ovens rather than the
Neapolitan-American type cooked with coal. NY style pizza is sold either
as whole pies or by the "slice" — a triangular wedge cut from a whole
pizza. Typically, an 18" NY pizza yields eight slices. With the
exception of Patsy's, none of the original coal oven pizzerias sell
pizza by the slice. The availability of slices of pizza fundamentally
changed the nature of pizza in NYC, liberating it from the restaurant
and substantially lowering the financial barrier of entry. NY style is
virtually defined by the low cost of entry, the immediacy of service,
and the portability of the product.
The NY style pizzas tend to have far more cheese than
Neapolitan-American coal oven pies. The cheese typically covers the
entire pie, with sauce only poking out along the circumference. A low
moisture mozzarella is used rather than fresh mozzarella, which is not
well suited to the lower temperature and longer cooking times of the gas
ovens. Gas fired pizza lacks the sooty exterior that is a hallmark of
coal fired ovens, but it still has plenty of crunch and snap to go along
with the pliancy and springiness of the dough.In their
purest form, NYC pizzerias will sell only pizza. Of course, many shops
long ago added hero sandwiches and pasta dishes to their existing pizza
menus, and later still wraps and even juices. These types of
establishments might not have the culinary bona fides of the dedicated
pizza joints, but they certainly serve a valuable function in many
neighborhoods and any independent, locally owned NY pizzeria stands as a
bulwark against a fast food joint or national chain store.
Dom DeMarco of DiFara Pizza
At its best, of course, a local pizzeria transcends the neighborhood
and becomes a destination for diners. There is perhaps no greater
example of this than Di Fara
in the Midwood section of Brooklyn. It is run by Dom DeMarco who is as
close to sainted as a pizzaiolo can be, and he has been slinging pies
since 1961. But there are numerous others classic NYC style pizzerias
that are worth a trip such as Joe's Pizza in Greenwich Village, Joe & Pat's
on Staten Island, Lou & Ernie's in the Bronx, Rose & Joe's in
Queens, and Sal & Carmine's on the Upper West Side, to name but a
few.
Square Pizza
Spumoni Gardens
In addition to the classic round pizza, most every pizzeria also sell square pies
in various styles such as Sicilian or grandma. Characterized by a
rectangular shape due to being pan cooked, with a crust that is
generally over an inch thick, this style of pizza originated in the
bakeries, not the pizzerias, of Sicily, where it is sold as Sfinciuni.
In Sicily, Sfinciuni is topped with a tomato sauce spiked with anchovies
and onions under a canopy of breadcrumbs rather than the tomato sauce
and cheese we see in NYC. That latter recipe is the result of the
American melting pot effect of throwing Neapolitans and Sicilians
together into lower Manhattan. You can find a version of Sfinciuni sold atPrince Street Pizzaas the Broadway Breadcrumb, and also atFamous Ben'sas the Palermo slice.The
Sicilian and grandma style pies that emerged in America differ from
each other principally in the proofing of the dough — Sicilian dough is
proofed until the dough rises and becomes noticeably airy, while grandma
dough, by comparison, goes through a shorter proofing phase.Some of NYC's most storied pizzerias specialize in square slices likeL & B Spumoni Gardensin Gravesend, Brooklyn, andRizzo'sin Astoria, Queens.
Local Chains
Inevitably, the culture of small local pizza parlors succumbed
to the expansionist impulse and someone decided to branch out and open a
second location and then a third and so on. The most famous chain is
probablyRay's, although here we are talking about several competing entities and a story which has atangled and confusing history.
The truly excellent, original, and now defunct Ray's — which was
located on 59 Prince Street and dated back to 1959 — spawned a slew of
imitators such as Ray Bari, Original Ray's, Famous Original Ray's, and
World Famous Ray's. It got to the point where there was practically "a
Ray's on every corner," as the old adage went, and the whole affair
devolved into self parody as they tried to top each other with lawsuits
and publicity stunts and by adding more cheese and thicker crusts to
their recipes.
Aside from the various Ray's, this city has a number of local chains
such as Bravo, Famous Famiglia, and Abitino's that sell pizza by the pie
and slice. They represent the middle ground of NYC pizza — workaday
pies that offer solid value for money, if not the most inspired
expressions of the art. Patsy's is probably the most storied name
associated with a chain, but you should know that it is the result of a
licensing deal and that the pizza sold at the East Harlem original is
quite different from the various Patsy's outposts that dot the city. The
most recent chain toexpand significantlyis
Artichoke Basille's, which introduced the artichoke slice from the
founders' native Staten Island to the denizens of Manhattan and beyond
with great success.
Food Trucks
Valducci's
Not surprisingly, pizza is well represented when it comes to food
trucks in New York City. One can find everything from a $1 slice all the
way up to a fancy Neapolitan pie. Pizza trucks actually anticipated the
current food truck fad by several years. Midtown regular Jiannetto's
got rolling in 1998, and Valducci's claims to have been in operation
since 1999. Both pizza trucks can still be found on city streets. One
mobile vendor, Neapolitan Express, recently opened a brick and mortar location and its trucks are still rolling, too.
The $1 Slice
The $1 slice has had an undeniable impact on the budget dining scene
in NYC, especially in recent years. It has certainly eclipsed the
beleaguered hot dog as the indigenous budget street food of choice. The
era when a hamburger could be found at such a low price outside of a
fast food chain is long gone and halal carts have become the dominant
form of street food actually sold on the street. The slice purist
will scoff at the quality of the pizza at the $1 joints, which is
inexorably compromised by virtue of their price point. Qualitative
issues aside, the pizza sold at these $1 slice joints is still in the NY
style. And sometimes it is hard to argue with the free market. The fact
is that a kid with a $1 to spend on food is choosing between $1 slice
and a dollar menu at a fast food joint, not necessarily the neighborhood
pizzeria offering a top notch slice for $3.Of course in some cases the $1 slice has forced higher priced competitors to lower their prices in order to compete. TakeVinny Vincenzon
First Avenue, for example. Before Artichoke opened around the corner,
it was the darling of food bloggers and pizza lovers in the area. The
overnight success of Artichoke and then the opening of a Two Bros.
pizzeria next door (now closed) and a Percy's Pizza across the street,
both offering $1 slices, forced Vinny Vincenz to follow suit. Even the
local Papa John's franchise situated down First Avenue now offers $1
slices.
Bar Pizza
Characterized by a thin, crisp crust and most often cooked in
gas ovens in the back kitchens of bars, this type of pizza is not
especially prolific in the city, at least compared to the slice joints.
It is similar in form and substance to Midwestern pizza (see below) and
it's more popular in other states. Lee's Tavern on Staten Island, which
dates back to 1940, serves a notable bar pie. More recently, pioneering
food blogger and founder of the seminal Slice pizza blog Adam Kuban has
started a pop-up pizzeria serving an exalted version of the bar style
pie, inspired by those of New York and New England. DubbedMargot Pizza, Kuban is currently working on a permanent location.
Neapolitan
Photo by: [Nick Solares]
The most significant trend in New York City pizza in recent years has
been the proliferation of the Neapolitan style. While the notion of
ascribing "authenticity" to food is a tenuous one at best, there is
ostensibly a standard that can be met in terms of Neapolitan pizza. The
Verace Pizza Napoletana Association (VPN) is an Italian organization
that certifies restaurants based on the employment of wood fired ovens
and the use of a list of standardized ingredients of Neapolitan origin,
such as 00 flour, San Marzano tomatoes, and buffalo mozzarella.
An uni pizza from Prova
The first VPN certified establishment in NYC was La Pizza Fresca, which opened 20 years ago and is still going strong. Additionally Ribalta and Naples 45
all hold VPN certification. But there are arguably higher expressions
of the form beyond these restaurants. Una Pizza Napoletana, which has since relocated to San Francisco,
really raised the stakes in terms of attention to detail, and some
would say militancy, in recreating the original pizza of Naples using an
imported oven and ingredients. Many Neapolitan pizzerias followed suit,
most notably Motorino,Keste, Don Antonio by Starita,RibaltaandProva.
Roman
Sullivan Street Bakery pizza pomodoro
When discussing Roman pizza, we are really talking about two distinct
forms — the vanishingly thin pies generally cooked in wood fired ovens
and served in sit down restaurants, and the pizza al metro (pizza by the
meter) also known as pizza al taglio (pizza by the cut), which is sold
both in bakeries and dedicated shops in the Italian capital. The former style has been represented byGruppo,Posto, andVezzo,
which comprise a mini-chain of pizzerias that offer very thin, crisp
crusts. They are similar structurally to Roman pizza, although many of
the toppings these pizzerias sell are distinctly American, such as ham
and pineapple. For more classically Italian toppings on a wood fired
pie, look to Danny Meyer's critical darlingMartaand the recently openedVia Della Pace Pizza. The pizza al metro is well represented around town as well, most notably atSullivan Street Bakery,
which serves versions of pizza bianca (a hand stretched bread) and
pizza pomodoro that would be the envy of most any Roman baker.
Cajun Pizza
The Bayou beast from Two Boots Pizza
Cajun pizza is actually a New York City creation courtesy of the Two Boots
chain, which started off in the East Village in 1987 as a full service
establishment. The conceit of the restaurant was that it was a fusion of
the cuisines of Louisiana and Italy, but what emerged was something
uniquely New York. By combining cornmeal crust, a spicy tomato sauce,
and unexpected toppings (crayfish anyone?), Two Boots built a chain that
now spans the nation but still retains some of the quirkiness of the
East Village original.
Deep Dish
If there is a style that sits in direct antithesis to the NYC street
slice, it is assuredly the deep dish pizza that originated in Chicago.
There is of course a famous rivalry between the two forms that often explodes into the popular zeitgeist,
on talk shows and across the Internet. Many New Yorkers do not even
consider the Chicago form to be pizza at all, dismissing it as a
casserole. It has not made significant inroads in New York City. This is
true even when factoring in Pizzeria Uno, the Chicago deep dish chain
(now called Uno Grill and headquartered in Boston), which has been
operating in NYC for a few decades. The now defunct Big Nick's on the
Upper West Side sold a version that wouldn't convince anyone to switch
allegiances and you sporadically see them pop up on random menus at
restaurants like L'asso, with Emmett's being the most recent entrant.
Midwestern Pizza
Distinct from Chicago deep dish, much of the pizza sold in the
Midwest, including in Chicago, is actually quite thin with a crisp crust
and a blanket of cheese and sauce. It is generally cut into squares,
rather than wedges, which is referred to as a "tavern cut" or "party
cut." Nicoletta in the
East Village is one of the few example of the style, although the pizza
is cut into wedges as is the local custom in NYC. The now shuttered Pulino's on the Bowery was notable in that it served a tavern style cut pizza.
St. Louis Style Pizza
This form differs from other Midwestern style pizza because it most
often uses Provel, a processed cheese made of cheddar, Swiss, and
provolone that was created in St. Louis decades ago. Speedy Romeo in Brooklyn serves just such a pie.
California / Flatbread / "Chef" Pizza
California style pizza was invented in 1980 by the late Ed LaDou, and
it was popularized by Wolfgang Puck. The form is essentially the
extension of the California cuisine ethos of using fresh, seasonal, and
local produce into the realm of pizza. Suddenly words like "seasonality"
and "local" and even "low fat" entered the pizza lexicon. The form
found mass appeal with the California Pizza Kitchen chain, that
currently operates two locations in NYC. But the notion of applying
market ingredients and culinary technique found higher expression in the
kitchens of restaurants like the now defunct Zoe and the
still-going-strong Mercer Kitchen,
which started selling this type of pizza in the 1990s. More recently,
we have seen an explosion of so called flatbreads on menus across town.
We are also seeing pizza coming from chefs such as Danny Bowien at Mission Chinese Food, Justin Smillie at Upland, and chefs Justin Slojkowski and Dave Gulino atBruno Pizza.
New Brooklyn Pizza
Emily Pizza
For lack of a better term, this category describes a particular
aesthetic that is not characterized by any one pizza style as much as a
dedication to inventiveness and using top quality, and often local,
ingredients. The most obvious contributors to the form are Franny's and Lucali. They were later joined by Roberta's and Paulie Gee's, and later still by Emily. One could also include less lofty, more traditional style pizzerias such asBest Pizza,Pete Zaaz,andWilliamsburg Pizzato the roster.
National Pizza Chains
Despite a wealth of vastly superior indigenous alternatives, chain
pizzerias still exist in NYC. Pizza Hut, Dominos, and Papa John's all
have numerous locations throughout the boroughs, although commendably
Staten Island, arguably the most suburban of the city's boroughs, has
the least number of chains. While there are indeed distinctions between
the pizza sold at the various chains, they can be conveniently lumped
together as a single style because they exist as much as a result of
market research and analysis as through any great love of craft.
What's missing?
As we have shown, New York City has a rich pizza culture, one that is
unparalleled in terms of diversity of form and proliferation of
pizzerias. Pizza may have started in Naples but NYC may just be the
epicenter of the art. There are, however, a few types of pizza that you
won't find in NYC:
Trenton Tomato Pie
Delorenzo's tomato pie
The longest continuously operating pizzeria in America is Papa's
in Trenton, NJ, which has been open since 1912. (Although Lombardi's
preceded it by several years, it closed for a decade in the 1980s,
ceding the title to Papa's.) A "tomato pie" is for all intents and
purposes a round pizza although one in which the cheese goes down first
and is then topped by the sauce. While you find this practice in NYC,
notably at L&B Spumoni Gardens in Brooklyn, and any place serving a
grandma slice, there is no establishment selling a round version of a
Trenton tomato pie.
New England Style Pizza
A New Engand sty;e pie
Often called Greek or "diner-style" because it proliferates in the
diners across New England, many of which are owned by Greek immigrants,
this style is sort of a reconciliation of the Chicago and NY forms. It
is cooked in oiled pans but is not as deep as Chicago pizza such that it
can be served in wedges and eaten by hand if necessary. The closest
version we know of is sold at the Mamaroneck Diner in Westchester.
New Haven Style
Frank Pepe
One of the most revered forms of American pizza
originates in New Haven, CT. The style shares much in common with the
Neapolitan-American style. The pies are cooked in coal fired ovens,
giving them the same char, and they are sold as whole pies rather than
by the slice. They differ in that they tend to be more irregularly
shaped, more oblong than round, and they are drier, with far less
cheese. The closest restaurant that serves this type of pizza is Frank
Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana in Yonkers, NY.
GRILLED PIZZA
Grilled pizza was invented at Al Forno in Providence, Rhode Island,
in 1980. There have been some limited explorations of the form in NYC.
The late Vincent Scotto sold a version at the now shuttered Gonzo in
Greenwich Village and before that at Fresco by Scotto, which continues
to offer it on the menu. Coals, a dedicated grilled pizza restaurant,
had an outpost in the Bronx that is now shuttered, but another location
is still open in Westchester. More recently Pizza Vinoteca opened briefly in Union Square offering grilled pizza but shuttered soon thereafter.
Detroit Style
Similar architecturally to the square pies that proliferate around
NYC Detroit style pies are cooked in pans that are said to have
originally been repurposed from factories, rather than being dedicated
cooking apparatus. The dough is twice baked giving the resulting pizza a
crisp exterior and a chewy crumb which is sometimes buttressed with
butter. Like grandma pies around NYC the sauce is served atop the
cheese.
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