La Villa

The other day I managed to lug myself all of six blocks to a nearby pizzeria that I had heard some positive reviews about from my fellow Park Slopers, La Villa.


Adam @ Slice reported some mixed reviews based on some home-delivered pies a while back, so I decided I had to experience La Villa 'in the flesh.' Just one problem: what the hell should I order? Villa boasts five different incarnations of a Margherita and it was making my head spin. Despite their descriptive explanations, I had to get some clarification from my waitress:

Napoletana - a fresh ingredient take on New York pizza (grated whole-milk mozzarella) with San Marzano tomatoes
Margherita D.O.C. - 'New York Neapolitan' (ala Luzzo's & Lucali) pie with homemade mozzarella, basil, and S.M. tomatoes.
Mozzarella di Bufala - same as above, but with buffalo mozzarella
Siciliana - typical deep-dish Sicilian square with grated whole-milk mozz.
Focaccia della Nonna - The grandma slice, substituting sauce with crushed S.M. tomatoes and in an atypical circular rather than rectangular appearance.

I ordered the Bufala but they were outta the cheese, so I opted for the D.O.C., and it was fantastic:


It's out of focus, I know, but you get the idea. Man, this had to be one of the lightest pizzas I've ever had, and I mean that literally- every time I served a slice I thought it was going to float away.


The crust is nice and charred and airy. I have to admit, I had low expectations for a place that serves much more than just pizza.


I think my only complaint, and I'm embarrassed to admit this, is that it needed salt. I know I'm eating my words a bit after giving Bloomberg hell a while ago, but I'm just telling you what my taste buds wanted.


La Villa uses a wood-fired oven assisted by gas to keep the oven consistently hot.


It looks strikingly similar to Black Sheep's oven- anyone know what these are called?


With four other Margherita varieties left on the menu, I know I'll be back. At least four more times...