Metro Pizza

Here's a question I've often asked myself: where can one gamble away all your money in a matter of minutes, drink openly on the street, find just enough money lying around to buy two pizzas and four beers, all while sweating to 110 degree heat?


Las Vegas, of course! Earlier this summer I found myself in Sin City for work, and what business trip is complete without sampling some of the local pizza fare, ammiright? Before embarking, I knew my top priority would be Metro Pizza, established in 1928 in it's early form by the fathers of John Arena and his cousin Sam Facchini.

(courtesy of Metro Pizza)

In 1980, John and Sam ironically left New York City and bought "Original New York Pizza" in Las Vegas, which would eventually become Metro Pizza. There's a great interview with John on Pizza Therapy; I really admire the guy's devotion to pizza and making a quality product.


Penny Pollack and Jeff Ruby listed Metro Pizza in the nation's top 10 pizzerias in their book Everybody Loves Pizza- and one look at Metro's menu might give you an idea why: on a similar but completely different note to Tony's Pizza Napoletana in San Fran, Metro offers an impressive variety of pizza styles.


Along with their own unique style of pizza, John and Sam offer Chicago-style stuffed pizza, speciality pies inspired by pizzerias across the globe, and classic New York-Neapolitan pizzas a la Lombardi's and Patsy's back east. That being said, I don't think I visited the "right" Metro Pizza, which was located inside of a combination casino/motel/brewpub.


I knew instantly that something was amiss when I took a seat (one of about 10) after ordering, but was told I had to move if I wasn't a paying customer of the adjoining budget steakhouse. This was primarily a take-out only joint, and its menu sadly did not have the latitude that their website (and presumably other locations) suggests. Oh well, I ordered two personal pies: one plain, one sausage, and two beers. And yes, I was alone, just me, myself and pint.


25 minutes later, here it is: very cheesy, very bubbly, and very... good. I know, it doesn't look like a pizza from a top-tier pizzeria (and it's probably the exception considering their impressive menu), but it was shockingly light and perfectly cooked.


This combined with another two beers (on the house!) I was given once my pizzas arrived (did I mention it was buy one-get one Tuesday?) brought my total tab of two pizzas and four beers to... $11.28. WHAT?! As weird as this place was, I loved every part of it.


Would I rank Metro in the top 10 of American pizzerias? From this visit, no, but I won't rest until I return and have the proper sit-down Metro Pizza experience.

Zero Otto Nove

My beloved pie-eyed followers, I have returned! My goodness have I lost track of time, and just in time for my favorite time of year- the leaves are changing color, the weather is just chilly enough to wrap yourself up in your favorite cozy hoody, and there's an excuse to eat pizza everyday for NATIONAL PIZZA MONTH!


Not too long ago I trekked up to the Bronx's Italian neighborhood near east 187th st. (yikes that's a hike!) to the area's pizza-dominated street, Arthur Avenue. Sitting amongst legendary pizzerias like Mario's and Coals lies Zero Otto Nove, or 089.


Despite a full-fledged neighborhood street fair happening just around the corner, I was able to get into ZON without too much of a hassle. After a refreshing Stella at the bar, I was tapped by the hostess and led through a cramped, dimly-lit hallway to the main dining area, and boy was I taken back when I got to my table-


The entire restaurant is styled just like a back alley in Naples, complete with faux-posters advertising imaginary events, forced perspective, street lamps and fake windows!


These pictures truly don't do the space justice; the place is very dark and there wasn't enough light to use my wide-angle lens, but just to give you an idea of the capacity of the joint, there's a second story, complete with a balcony:


You sure don't see this everyday in New York; in fact I can't even imagine what it would cost for a place this big in Manhattan. What's nice is the fancifully-deco'd oven, which commands the attention of the entire dining area. I'm not sure who makes the oven (Acunto?), but it's absolutely smashing, and there's nothing I love more than a pizzeria with the oven in plain view. It's kind of like when a magician rolls his sleeves up before a trick to prove there's nothing awry.


I was pretty damn hungry, so I didn't screw around and ordered right away: a Margherita (surpirsed?) and the "patate salsiccia e provola," aka a white pie with smoked mozzarella, sliced potatoes, and sausage.


Beautiful! Another thing I love: six slices instead of the usual four typical with most Neapolitan-style pizza. The pies were out in a jiffy (as they should be), but I really cannot express how sharp the wait staff is at ZON. The place was jam-packed, and yet seemingly every time I took a sip of my water it was instantly refilled. Attentive, but not pushy or too aggressive.


Seriously, look how gorgeous this pie is! I should explain at this point that "089" is the area code of Salerno, Italy- the birthplace of restaurant founder Roberto Paciullo. Salerno has even garnered its own variation style on the Neapolitan pie, typically crispier and thinner in the middle (if you can believe that's even possible to make a Neapolitan pie thinner).


Immediately after the Margherita arrived, so did the other pie:


Disclaimer: I only ordered the sausage on half, this isn't standard. Another fine looking pizza, waiting to be scarfed.


Just about halfway through housing the pizza, a nice young gentleman stopped by the table just to make sure everything was to our liking- another impressive sign of pizza professionalism. Check.


While Zero Otto Nove may be a bit over the top with its decor; some may even call the style too cheesy (ha!), but I'd be lying if I didn't, if not for just a moment, feel convinced I was chowing down on authentic Salerno pizza in a moody back alley in Italy.


Diss it or dig it, there is no denying one thing: Roberto has got not just a great pizza, but a great restaurant on his hands, and it is absolutely worth a trip, no matter where you're coming from.

Greenpoint Open Studios: Pie Bake-Off!

Hey New Yorkuhs! This Thursday at 7pm, Greenpoint Open Studios is hosting a Pie Bake-Off fundraiser at The Diamond, and yours truly is submitting my eponymous pizza, the Pizza Commander, with a twist. What kind of twist? Come out and drop $10 for a good cause to find out!


I know this event is more geared towards traditional pies, but I'm not one to follow the rules.

Great beer, a raffle, prizes, and pies- your Thursday night just got awesome.

The Copper Oven

A few months back I got a nice email from a guy named Seth who complimented the blog and mentioned he ran a pizzeria called The Copper Oven in upstate New York. "That's great," I told him, "I head up to my friend's lake house outside Ithaca every summer, are you nearby?"


"Actually we're about a half hour north of Ithaca..." At this time I started realizing that all of Seth's ingredients are locally sourced from towns I was familiar with. "We're in a small town called Ovid." That was exactly where I was heading- Ovid, population 612. What are the odds?


There's Seth on the left with The Copper Oven's namesake. The pizzeria is situated on the gorgeous Cayuga Ridge Estate Winery on Cayuga Lake. Seth and his wife Mary Jane opened TCO this year shortly after acquiring their beautiful oven, a Le Panyol coated in, of course, copper.


I've never come across an oven I can see my reflection in! This thing is stunning, and to top it off it's on wheels making the whole rig completely portable.


The tiles and brick are made from organic white clay which has excellent heat refractory qualities and allows Seth and MJ to whip up pies like this-


As I mentioned earlier, TCO uses local ingredients and toppings when available, even pulling fresh herbs straight from their garden. Ladies and gentlemen, the locavore movement is in full effect, and I'm lovin' it.


Here's MJ whippin' up a pizza for me and my buds. Seth and MJ have a good system going in which she rolls out and preps the pies, then runs them outside for Seth fire up.


Generally The Copper Oven has two different pies to choose from on any given day- one of which is usually vegetarian. I had to try both, but I started with the Cream of Mushroom Soup pizza.


This is a new one on me, but who doesn't love cream of mushroom soup? Why didn't anyone think of this sooner? Who cares, it exists now and Seth & MJ nailed it. It's a white pie with a créme fraiche base, Parmesan cheese, chanterelle mushrooms, and fresh garlic scapes and chives from the garden.


Perfectly balanced, not too heavy, not too creamy. I wanted another, but I knew I still had to try the Prosciutto pizza:


This pie is similar to the mushroom pizza, but it substitutes the mushrooms for Prosciutto cotto followed by a drizzling of balsamic vinaigrette.


I dig the creative flavor combos happening on this pizza and mercilessly wolfed it down with a spectacular glass of wine.


The Cayuga Ridge Estate Winery was just awarded "Best Riesling of the New World" in Germany for their 2008 Riesling. You know me, I don't know my wine for anything, but it tasted great so I grabbed a bottle for the road (but not before order two more pizzas).


A few weeks back Seth and MJ featured my visit on their blog; I've been treated like such a pizza celebrity! I'm so stoked Seth reached out to me urging me to visit his truly unique pizzeria. I really loved everything about The Copper Oven- the pizza, the location, and especially the hospitality. Will I be back next summer?


You betchya.

Tommaso's

Located halfway between Cafe Zoetrope and Tony's Pizza Napoletana in North Beach, San Fran, is the west coast's oldest brick oven pizzeria, Tommaso's.


Built in 1935 by the Cantolupo family from Naples (where else?), they aptly named the place Lupo's and started firing pies in their oven. The pizzeria became increasingly popular after G.I.'s returned from Italy after WWII having had pizza overseas, and quickly rose to Bay Area fame amongst city eaters.


A plaque adorns the front of the restaurant, just in case you thought I was making this shit up. I wish I could find the picture to prove it, but local resident Francis Ford Coppola used to frequent Lupo's, and on special occasions would take over making pizzas. I'm not making that shit up either.


In '71, the Cantolupo family sold the joint to one of their loyal employees, Tommy Chin, who had been working at Lupo's since the year after they opened back in the day. Mr. Chin decided to rename the place after himself, that is, if he were a Neapolitan. Thus, Lupo's became Tommaso's.


Chin sold the place several years later to the current owners, the Crotti's, one of whom was my server. When I say the place is family owned and operated, I mean it. I love that in a pizzeria.


I ordered a half plain/half meatball. Odd topping I know, but it was pretty tasty. The place is notoriously dimly lit, so please forgive the poor exposure on these photos.


I'd be lying if I said the pizza at Tommaso's was incredible, but it sure ain't bad. It's slightly thicker than your average NY-style pie; it kind of reminded me of Pizzeria Regina in Boston.


Would I go back? Absolutely. The pizza was tasty, and the place has soul. I'm a pretty happy, easy-going guy, but nothing gets me down like a pizzeria with no soul. When I stepped back out into the bright sunlight, I had to round out my documentation of both Tommaso's and San Francisco in general in an east-meets-west fashion, representing my favorite soulful Brooklyn pizzeria.


Bridging the gap. Cheers!

Cafe Zoetrope

Sitting boldly on the cusp of San Francisco's Little Italy (North Beach), Financial District and Chinatown rises Columbus Tower, a gorgeous aged copper edifice circa 1907 designed in a similar vein to New York's Flatiron building. Within these green-tinged walls lies a landmark to two things I hold dear: pizza and movies.


Aside from being one of the coolest-looking buildings in the greater San Fran area, this place is also the original headquarters of American Zoetrope, the independent film company founded by the godfather of filmmaking himself, Francis Ford Coppola. Ever heard of Apocalypse Now? How about the Godfather trilogy or The Conversation? Yeah, the picture editing and soundtrack recording were all done right here.


If you're familiar with FFC then you know he's a wine maker as well (too bad he's not a home brewer, but that's still pretty sick). Being the revolutionary entrepreneur that he is, Francis opened Cafe Zoetrope ten years ago as a venue for his wine tastings, as well as a place to exhibit his line of food products and style of Italian home cooking.


The place is lined with some of the coolest photos and memorabilia from his films. I was told I could take pictures of the pizza, but not pictures of the pictures... okay then. Just imagine this as a Francis Ford Coppola/Godfather museum- I was humbled as a filmmaker, to say the least. In fashion with the myriad pizzerias in San Fran, Zoetrope of course cooks up pies, so I ordered a Margherita w/ mozzarella di bufala while I watched the world cup.


Not too shabby lookin', but upon closer inspection... where the hell is the cheese?


It's on there, just barely. This pizza was definitely cooked in a gas oven, and with such small blobs of cheese used it looked (and tasted) like half of them evaporated.


That being said, the tomato sauce had plenty of juicy sweet flavor. The basil could have used a dousing of olive oil before being tossed in the oven; you can see how dried and shriveled it looks.


Overall Zoetrope's pizza was nothing to write home about (but isn't that what I'm doing?), but I've certainly had worse. Combined with the early afternoon wine, watching the cup, being the only patron in the place, and the awe-inspiring decor, I have no regrets having visited Cafe Zoetrope.