Pizza Review
Right around the corner from Roma in Tuckahoe, Polpettina is a much newer pizzeria/restaurant opening about 10 years ago and it's obviously influenced by Johnny's (Mount Vernon). It's a sauce on top, cheese on the bottom pizza. It's fairly expensive. Probably $23 for this small with added pecorino and basil (Get it Brooklyn option). Crust was well done without asking, no flop on sight, and yet saucey, with deli slices of mozzarella on the bottom. I had no real criticisms of this outside of the sauce not being that flavorful. It's really a good crust. Crispy but not to the point of being dry crunchy. Well done but not burnt. Flavor added with the basil and mocroplaned pecorino on top. Dave later said he underscored them a bit. But for me without the the added basil and pec I think his score is about right. This is a high 7, low 8. My favorite two spots in Westchester are Baci's in Montrose and Pizza Fenice in Pelham, and they're both somewhat better than this. I've still got several higher profile Westchester spots to hit up, but this will likely make my Top 15 or 20 in the county.
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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