🌉BEST OF BROOKLYN ALERT🌉
🚨BEST SOURDOUGH ALERT🚨
Opened in 2013, owner & veritable pizza genius David Sheridan survived the obstacles of Hurricane Sandy & a global pandemic to keep his business afloat. After interning at Paulie Gee’s in Brooklyn, Sheridan established Wheated, which is a reference to making both bourbon & sourdough. Essentially a takeout business during the pandemic, this joint is now a bakery, bar & pizzeria, serving bagels, biscuits & breakfast sandwiches on weekends along with booze & pizza nightly. This hot spot is a virtual hole-in-wall tucked away in Ditmas Park in a less-than-desirable part of BK. With several different styles to choose from, I opted for this “ode to Totonno’s,” which is remarkably similar to the original Coney Island legendary pizza, shockingly crispier & crunchier. The sourdough is truly special, made from a higher protein 00 flour, usually cold-stretched after the fermentation process & then baked in an electric oven at 650° removing as much water from the dough to prevent sogginess once its placed in the box. Uniquely delicious, fabulously firm & astoundingly crispy, this is not typical tasting sourdough. Compact & crunchy, the undercarriage is incredibly charred with a coal-oven feel to go along with a beautifully blackened crust possessing otherworldly crisp. The pie is constructed in upside down fashion; same as Totonno’s, with the cheese nestling the dough & the sauce spread atop. The high-quality low moisture mozzarella is sliced thinly, roughly 14 slices per pie, layered, alternating between cheese & sauce in the middle. Silky & smooth, the creamy consistency of the marvelously melty mozz creates an amazing cheese pull with each bite. A touch of grated pecorino romano enhances the flavor of the mozzarella while slightly neutralizing the sweetness of the sauce, playing off each other spectacularly. Speaking of the sauce, it’s heartily robust, richly red, wonderfully tangy & zesty with mild sweetness & exceptional seasoning, melding sublimely with the dough & cheese. All of the components work in magnificent harmony to make a surprisingly sensational sourdough pie. This tribute to Totonno’s is unbelievably on-point with a new school take on an old school approach, seemingly the future of sourdough pizza with a taste of the past. Even though the prices are steep for a barely larger than personal size pie (Brooklyn treats the U.S. dollar like it’s Canadian money), this is definitely travel-worthy pizza with one-of-kind dough you have to try to fully appreciate.
