Pizza Review
Like Dave and many of you, I love pizza! For many years, I eat it at least 3x a week. Having watched literally all of Dave's reviews over the years, and living in New York, I will travel to all of his 8.0+ scores in the tri state area. FYI, Dave and I probably share similar opinions between 55 and 60% of the time.. I am definitely a much tougher critic, as I don't get caught up in the personalities of the owners, which, particularly as of late (I'm sorry to say), impacts Dave's scores substantially, Let's face it, none of us are traveling long distances to make friends. We're traveling to eat good pizza! As far as Polpettina, the owner is a former pizza maker at John's in Mount Vernon, which I really enjoy (8.4), but whatever he learned working there, he clearly left it behind. Unlike John's of Bleecker, Papa's Tomato Pie, and Defara's, (just to name a few) where eating the crust, is of itself a treat. Polpettina, fails miserably. While thin with a decent crisp, it is far from tasty. The sauce, which for me is the key to any great pizza, is about as bland as it gets. In fact, it has no taste whatsoever. If you live locally, I can understand coming here as it is definitely people friendly, and has a cool trendy vibe to it,...but if it's good pizza you want and are traveling for ...don't bother coming here. New Haven isn't that much further away. My "TAKES MORE THAN 1 BITE SCORE"...I struggle to even give Polpettina a 6.9!
Pizza Review
Opened in 2011 by chef Michael Abruzese, who brings a ton of experience from the restaurant business, including stints at Westchester pizzerias Catania’s in Yonkers & the legendary Johnny’s of Mount Vernon, one of my all-time favorites. Paying homage to Johnny’s thin & crispy pies, Polpettina (which is Italian for little meatballs), created their own razor thin signature style which is a cross between Neapolitan pizza & a bar pie. Truly one of the thinnest pizzas I have ever seen that isn’t 100% thin crust bar pie, this pizza is uniquely textured, unbelievably firm & sturdy designated in a no flop zone. Ultra crispy & crunchy from the tip of each slice all the way down to the light & airy crust. Beautifully blackened with a remarkably charred undercarriage & smokey flavor that dominates the overall taste of the pie. The entire pizza is feather-light with the Neapolitan football style crust being the thickest component. A thinner crust would lean more towards a bar pie instead of this uniquely crisped Neapolitan pizza composition…a wood-fired appearance with coal-fired consistency & taste. Because the dough is so incredibly thin, the other ingredients are also light & thin to match, which I could see being an issue for those looking for a heartier & more filling pizza. The cheese is a paper thin smattering of mozzarella coating the dough tightly, rigidly textured like bar pie cheese but also quite tasty despite the lack of creaminess. Also in line with the thin layers of cheese & dough is the uber light dispersion of sauce. Rather simple & not a particularly sweet blend, the sauce is mildly seasoned & seemingly brushed atop the cheese in upside down fashion. While melding well with the mozz, the sauce is overshadowed a tad by the blackened smokey char flavor from the dough. The cheese-to-sauce ratio is on-point for a pizza of this thickness; but the flavors need a bit of a boost to overpower the pungent char taste. For those who prefer more mozzarella & sauce, I can see why this is a polarizing pizza; but for crisp-lovers like myself, the thinness & texture of this pie is an absolute dream. The crisp & crunch is so outstanding, the cheese & sauce are essentially ancillary, as this pizza combines the best attributes of Neapolitan & bar pie styles. This uniquely delicious creation is very rare; most Neapolitan pies are too soft, while the average football pizza is too heavy. This hybrid signature style is like a fancier bar pie with travel-worthy taste & texture. One caveat: this pizza doesn’t travel or reheat too well; best eaten on sight or within a few minutes of being placed in the box.
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