Immaculate Infatuation

Whether or not you are a fan of Lucali seems to come down to two things – how long you had to wait for your table, and how you were treated in the process. The few people that have told us this place is overrated complained not about the pizza, but had beef because the sarcastic Brooklyn girl up front wasn’t so nice to them. We get it – we have definitely been on the receiving end of some half-serious abuse from a Lucali waitress. As a matter of fact, I believe I was officially banned from the restaurant last time because I asked twice about the toppings.

Honestly though, for us that’s all part of the game. Yes, it can be annoying to deal with an unpredictable situation, but for a pizza this good, we’re willing to deal with it. It’s all about knowing what to expect going in, and understanding that you might not end up with a table, no matter what they told you twenty minutes ago. Want to save yourself some disappointment? Don’t bring your fiance’s parents here. Don’t come without a backup plan. Don’t bring a date that you’re trying to impress with your restaurant game. Don’t try to hit Lucali before you have to catch a flight, report for military service, or do anything else that you can’t be late for. But if you’re down to just grab a bottle of wine, show up at 6pm, and pray that you get a table, you might be diving into some of the best pizza this city (and therefore Planet Earth) has to offer. Read below for what might be the shortest food rundown in Infatuation history – your options are pizza or calzone. Order both.

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Move over people, the champ is here. Joe’s is the best slice in Manhattan. It’s been like that forever and will remain that way for eternity. If you can make a case for any other slice on the island of Manhattan, please let us know. The menu is simple and usually there are three options: plain, fresh mozzarella and Sicilian (sometimes you can catch a Pepperoni pie too). If you’re ordering by the pie then there’s the additional toppings option, but why mess with perfection? The kitchen operation is a well oiled machine and keeps hot pies blazing out of the oven one after the other. Unlike a place like Artichoke, which makes lining up to vote look like fun, the line at Joe’s is the epitome of efficiency. You can be backed up 15 deep on the sidewalk and still be in and out with your slices in 10 minutes, easy. Bonus points to Joe’s for owning one of the best fountain cokes around, with just the right balance of syrup, carbonation, and water.

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I’ve got some kind of crazy karma going with ápizz. Every time I go, it’s amazing. The perfect table seems to magically appear without reservations and the food is always spot on. On top of that, there is an X factor that exists within the walls of ápizz that can take an average night and turn it into the start of something memorable, perhaps even legendary. The staff is friendly and if you have to wait, there’s a small bar area away from the tables to hang out. It’s not a raucous place, but for an intimate setting there’s definitely a tangible vibe that’s positive and humming with satisfaction. If you’re making a reservation for 4-6, definitely ask about getting one of the two downstairs tables.

ápizz is the kind of place that you have to know about to go to, mostly due to the fact that it’s hidden on a residential block west of Ludlow’s overcrowded and oversaturated LES headquarters. There ápizz sits patiently, hangin’ out by itself on Eldridge, waiting for your discovery.

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If there’s one cuisine whose hype is usually warranted, it’s pizza. Because of its universal nature, critics and “the people” will generally see eye to eye. At the end of the day most pizza is either fantastic or good enough and it doesn’t take a food expert to distinguish between the two. With these facts in mind, the Infatuation was fired up to investigate New York Mag’s declaration of Kesté as NYC’s best pie of the moment.

As anticipated, Kesté serves up some of the best pizza in town. We went during prime time and waited about half an hour for our table – the perfect amount of time to whet our appetites with a couple craft pints from the Blind Tiger down the block. Kesté doesn’t serve by the slice (unless you’re lucky and they hook you up with a taster slice for waiting), and while the pies are sized for one person to eat, you should come hungry and with friends. On our last visit, we each ordered our own pie and no slice was left uneaten. Kesté’s decor could use a little spruce up; the exposed brick almost looks fake, and the random artwork doesn’t add much to the vibe. They jam as many tables as possible into the small space and it’s hot as balls thanks to the open oven in the back. You know what though? I’m fine with Kesté concentrating their efforts on the food, and it pays off. I’d rather eat like a king at a dive than consume crap in a palace. Not that this place is a dive by any means, but you get my point.

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The best pizza grows in Brooklyn. We know this. Perfecting your dough craft outer-borough style before bringing those pie skills to the big time seems to be a theme these days, so it comes as no surprise that with a brand already established in Williamsburg, Mathieu Palombino’s Motorino (which the NY Times awarded “best new generation pizza”) recently opened up their first Manhattan annex in the East Village. Their small pizzeria is in the old Una Pizza Napoletana space on 12th street’s mini restaurant row. Having an award winning oven already in place, Motorino has hit the ground running. The masses will now get a taste of Motorino’s unbeatable margherita and signature soppressata pies.

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