Snooky's/Elementi Now a Pizza Place, Plus Other Pizza Talk

caseopele wrote: ....Word on the street is a specialty pizza place (or some crap like that) is going in next. How original. :roll:

Oh God I hope not. Enough with the pizza places already. If you want great pizza close by, go to Franny's. If you want truly outstanding pizza - go to Motorino in Williamsburg.

Subject: Mack's Closed?

Mack's has closed and will be replaced by an Italian joint. Article here:
http://www.fuckedinparkslope.com/home/breaking-macks-140-dunzo.html

I have to say, I was excited about it, but the one time I ate there, I just wasn't feeling it. Food was fine, but it was so bright and ambiance-less.

Jamzer wrote: [quote=caseopele]....Word on the street is a specialty pizza place (or some crap like that) is going in next. How original. :roll:

Oh God I hope not. Enough with the pizza places already. If you want great pizza close by, go to Franny's. If you want truly outstanding pizza - go to Motorino in Williamsburg.

If you want truly outstanding pizza, take the Metro North to New Haven. Everything in New York City is playing catch-up and trying to fool you with fancier ingredients.

I think the problem with this, and other, locations is that we've now conditioned that anything on 7th Avenue in the North Slope is hopelessly unhip and inferior. I forget Moim exists sometimes. The new wine bar next door looks hopelessly out of place. You're going to have to really bring it to succeed in the Elementi/Mack space. It's a new neighborhood order out there in the past several years since 5th became 5th and other streets such as Vanderbilt have raised their game.

shortcake,

i think the whole olive vine, mango thai, chiles and chocolate, oshima, la taqueria thing in the north end of 7th avenue is kinda great actually...

oh and mr. wonton. ok, not great.

It took Lucali's *forever* to open as well. Seriously from the time they first started work on the place to opening was easily over a year.

Shortcake wrote: If you want truly outstanding pizza, take the Metro North to New Haven. Everything in New York City is playing catch-up and trying to fool you with fancier ingredients.

Having finally done this a few months ago, I can say that the pizza is excellent there, but definitely not as good as Di Fara's.

Shortcake wrote: Blasphemy.

DiFara's might make it to my "top five," but it can, in no way, approach a white clam pie from Pepe's, or anything at Modern or Bar.

I'd also put Apizza Scholls in Portland above it.

DiFara's is too overloaded, too soggy, and too greasy to compete. I think it's sheer NYC fanboyism to put it in the same category as the others.

Absurd.

Having previously shared Pitu's belief about clams and pizza (I'm strictly a pepperoni guy), I nevertheless tried the combination at Franny's.

To my surprise, it was delicious!

Shortcake wrote:
If you want truly outstanding pizza, take the Metro North to New Haven. Everything in New York City is playing catch-up and trying to fool you with fancier ingredients.
.

I had my first taste of New Haven pizza (or should I say "Apizza") last weekend, from Abate, 129 Wooster St. (I didn't have the requisite time to face the lines at Sally's and Pepe's).

I was assured by my New Haven sherpa that the pie we ate perfectly exemplified the NH tradition, with its thick, chewy crust. This was a regular pie, not the clam pie, (I'm not eating any damned clams).

While I wouldn't call Abate's pizza bad, (far from it) I fail to see what all the fuss is about. I found it on par with the average NYC slice, and in no way as tasty as DiFara, Lucali, Otto, or my PS favorites Tomato & Basil and LaVilla, (screw the overhyped, overpriced Franny's).

so I hear that burger place closed, you know the one that used to be Elementi?

Danny Hellman wrote: [quote=Shortcake]
If you want truly outstanding pizza, take the Metro North to New Haven. Everything in New York City is playing catch-up and trying to fool you with fancier ingredients.
.

I had my first taste of New Haven pizza (or should I say "Apizza") last weekend, from Abate, 129 Wooster St. (I didn't have the requisite time to face the lines at Sally's and Pepe's).

I was assured by my New Haven sherpa that the pie we ate perfectly exemplified the NH tradition, with its thick, chewy crust. This was a regular pie, not the clam pie, (I'm not eating any damned clams).

While I wouldn't call Abate's pizza bad, (far from it) I fail to see what all the fuss is about. I found it on par with the average NYC slice, and in no way as tasty as DiFara, Lucali, Otto, or my PS favorites Tomato & Basil and LaVilla, (screw the overhyped, overpriced Franny's).

never been there. not considered one of the top places in New Haven in the least. i'd say Pepe's, Modern, or Bar would represent the best of what New Haven has to offer. not a Sally's guy either.

there is no place in NYC i've ever tasted which compares to an out-of-the-oven white clam pie from Pepe's. not even close. it's one of the ten best things you could ever eat. as a matter of fact, that's not even an opinion. that's just cold hard fact.

Apizza Scholls in Portland, Oregon also served me a pie that would wipe the floor with DiFara's. i'm not even saying DiFara's is bad. it's very good pizza, and better than 99% of the pizza on this planet. it just gets overinflated by people who are too conditioned to say that New York City is the best at everything, when it issimply not.
.

I'll freely admit that posting all the time has not made me smarter.

...quite the contrary, actually

belzjm wrote: di fara and lucali are both more expensive than franny's for a pizza...

Yes, but DiFara and Lucali are worth every penny, (and every torturous minute of waiting). I've only been to Franny's once, whereupon I found the pizza tiny, overpriced and undistinguished, and the crowd loud and douchebag-laden.

Shortcake wrote:
never been there. not considered one of the top places in New Haven in the least. i'd say Pepe's, Modern, or Bar would represent the best of what New Haven has to offer. not a Sally's guy either.

I'm aware that Abate is not revered to the same degree as Pepe's, Modern or Sally's, (although Abate has lots of positive reviews online). I expect one day to get back up to NH and eat one of those famous pies when I have more time to spend waiting on a ridiculous line. That said, the NH local who led me to Abate insisted that the pie whose rubbery crust we were gnawing through exemplified the New Haven style. Don't get me wrong, it was good, it just wasn't all that.

Shortcake wrote:

there is no place in NYC i've ever tasted which compares to an out-of-the-oven white clam pie from Pepe's. not even close. it's one of the ten best things you could ever eat. as a matter of fact, that's not even an opinion. that's just cold hard fact.

I refuse to acknowledge anything with clams on it as pizza. Call it something else, and eat it somewhere else.

Karl the Druid wrote:
aloha pizza

topped with ham and pineapple

hello, or goodbye?

Definitely goodbye.

My other half was raised in New Haven, we were just there during the holiday weekend. We always go to Modern, Pepe's, and Abate (for their gluten free pizza for a friend). It's a totally different animal compared to NYC pizza, just like deep dish is a totally different animal (Lou Malnati's also have a gluten free deep dish pizza where the entire crust is made of sausage). Personally, I enjoy them all, for different reasons.

Danny Hellman wrote: [quote=Mountebank]
Or could it be a few parochial local aficionados arguing futilely for a vastly inferior product?

There is no way a DiFara pizza could be "vastly inferior" to some open faced clam sandwich from Connecticut. You must be barmy!
Yes, and having ACTUALLY TRIED BOTH, I can tell you that Pepe's is good, but not in the same league as DiFara's.