(courtesy of Decider New York)
Motorino is a wood oven pizzeria-restaurant (no slices) concentrating on Neapolitan-style pies. Belgian-born Pizzaiolo Mathieu Palombino received a highly-coveted Michelin Star award for his work at more upscale Manhattan eateries, including BLT Fish and Bouley among others.
I ordered the Margherita with mozzarella di bufala DOC (Denominazione di origine controllata, an Italian quality control board).
What makes Motorino unique is their crust- slightly charred, not too dry, and fluffy as a cloud. You could practically use it as a pillow! It's perfectly moist and chewy without being too much so.
The crust immediately tapers off into the San Marzano-based sauce and mozzarella di bufala, leaving a very thin layer of dough underneath (you need to do 'the fold' or use your hand to support it)- it almost feels like some sort of Frankenstein creation: the crust from one pizza and central core from another.
The sauce is sweet and tangy, something I enjoyed to an extent- until it started stealing the show from the cheese and crust. In my opinion, each ingredient of a well-rounded pizza should compliment and support one another, not outshine or command more attention over their counterparts.
Regardless, the pizza was effing killer. Palombino has got a great pie on his hands, and you will too if you go- there's a sort of authentic, badass feeling to walking out of the pizzeria with residual blackened fingers from the top-notch wood-burning oven.
I'm in complete agreement. I prefer a Trenton-style tomato pie (thin and crisp) but Motorino hits a home-run with its softer-chewy crust in the Neapolitan style. I got the "Soppressata Picante" and it was superb.
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