What began as a pandemic popup is now a fully functional Park Slope pizzeria. If you’re wondering what DOP means, it’s an Italian acronym: Denominazione di Origine Protetta, which translates to “Protected Designation of Origin.” Essentially it means the products are locally grown, processed, produced & packaged in Italy. With several different pizza styles to choose from, I went with the Giuseppe’…a traditional, round, NY style, artisan, fancier football pizza. They construct their pies with 4-day fermented dough, which is thinnish and soft with more chew than crisp. Very similar to a wood-fired pie in taste and texture, the dough has good char on the undercarriage but a chewy consistency; the only true crunch comes from the crust which is also slightly tough and a little less chewy. I believe they source their cheeses from Pecoraro Latteria, a local Brooklyn dairy market, creating an interesting blend that appears to be more than shredded mozzarella. Topped with a 24-month aged Parmigiano Reggiano, the cheese has a very sharp and distinct aroma and flavor. Some shredded confetti basil is baked into the cheese instead of underneath or fresh atop the pie, providing some color and a smidge of extra flavor. I prefer removable fresh basil atop the pizza so I can regulate the taste. The pungent cheese and baked basil flavors override the taste of the sauce more than they compliment it. The sauce seems somewhat light in both quantity and flavor. Made with Stanislaus tomatoes from California, the sauce doesn’t come across as too sweet, possibly dulled by the added parm. While the flavor isn’t bad, it’s very subdued; a little more volume could certainly help the taste punch through. They also use Sicilian sea salt and extra virgin olive oil, which boosts flavor and minimizes excess grease. Overall, they use top-quality ingredients and some of their other pizza styles like Grandma, Sicilian and Margherita might be worth exploring more so than the Giusepp’ pie. Even though I prefer a more distinctly flavored sauce and crispier dough, this is still terrific pizza. Despite being a rather trendy, somewhat overpriced, borderline fancy pants, Hipster BK spot, their pizza just makes the cut as travel-worthy and should be a part of any Brooklyn pizza tour.
