Pizza Review
I'm basing this review solely on the Giusepp', which is their NY Style slice. I also got the Nonna with roni cups, which is their grandma slice. Giusepp' is an excellent slice. I think one of the best in NY. The sauce is tangy with a touch of sweetness. The cheese is flavorful and the undercarriage is crisp with the right amount of chew. It's well seasoned and has great balance. The crust gives a mouthful with good chew, goo's flavor and nice finish. Little to complain about this slice. Unfortunately, I Nonna with roni was less impressive and enjoyable. I prefer grandma slices thinner. The dough was too thick, halfway to a Sicilian. Because of that, there was an imbalance. I couldn't taste the sauce and cheese as much as on the Giusepp'. The roni cups were nice, had subtle heat and right amount of saltiness. But it was lost in the dough. It's not bad, by any stretch. But I had the Giusepp' first and had higher expectations. I would give the Nonna with roni cups a 7.
Pizza Review
There's a genre of pizza I call artisan New York (or new school New York style) where they take the format of a New York slice but use higher quality of ingredients. They ferment the dough longer, use better quality tomatoes, finish pies with micrograted parmigiana, olive oil, and basil. They all seem to be inspired by L'Industrie. Brooklyn DOP is very much in that vein. If you had pizza at spots like Mama's Too, Philomena's, Mano's, Lucia', Fini, Leo's, Wheated, Sauce and others, all will have a somewhat different flair on where they take the New York slice. I liked this. It's well done and fermented, is not doughy and chewy like a typical slice joint, it's thinner, and it's more flavorful with the three cheese on it. Man, I wish I had gotten a pie. Because I feel like one of the flaws common on this style is how the sauce dries up on the reheat, when they really should step out more and add more sauce. That's also true of traditional slices, but I feel like since they're not in that exact style there's no reason good not to add more, especially considering this was a margherita slice. Also not a fan of chiffonaded basil. It tells to dry out and flake and lose all of it's aroma to the point it doesn't make a difference. I think leaf basil can also be overloaded. But I'd far rather the later than the former. All that said, it'd be great to see this style takeover these slice joint that have zero passion for their product, who don't care about pizza. This place clearly does.
2 likes