Motorino, Williamsburg

Address: 319 Graham Avenue (at Devoe)
Purchase: Five varieties of personal pizzas, an heirloom tomato appetizer special, wine
Cost: Pizzas range from $10 to $15, wine starts at $18/bottle
Pizza Rating:


During our visit to the city for a fun (brief) weekend away before AJ starts medical school at UVa next week, we finally settled on the new Motorino in Williamsburg for our Saturday night dinner. Based on Frank Bruni's review, which ranked Motorino number one on the list of the city's "Best New Generation Pizzerias," (which comes with an informative interactive feature) we thought it would be a good choice.

With six of us we were able to get a reservation, so there was no wait and we had time to enjoy a drink before hand during happy hour at one of our favorites, Barcade (as a bonus, the bartender there had his Boston Terrier with him behind the bar).

The pizza was quite good. Not as stand out as Lucali, in my opinion, but I like the slightly chewy thin crust on my Margherita (good bubbles), and there was a nice proportion of cheese to sauce (pictured above). Lincoln ordered the Margherita DOC, which, for $4 more, is made with mozzarella di bufala instead of the housemade fior di latte. However, for $4 more, I think we were all surprised by how much less cheese was on the pie. If I wanted to enjoy the DOC cheese I would order some on its own from the left menu.

Grier orderd the Pugliese (left)—with burrata, broccolini, sausage, fresh chiles, and garlic— without the sausage, which was quite good, as Mario Batali agrees. Our appetizer, a fresh heirloom tomato in olive oil and seasalt with a sprig of basil, was, as Soraya described it, the essence of summer. Yet one small (not quite ripe) tomato, heirloom or not, for $6 seems a little much, but maybe that's just because we now have our own garden of them.

Motorino is soon to open a Manhattan location at the old space of Una Pizza Napoletana in the East Village. If the menu is the same as at the Williamsburg location, the spot's new incarnation will be much easier on the wallet. Even after three bottles of wine, the six of us left Motorino for just $30 each, with pizza left over.


The pizza makers and their wood burning oven.


Soraya, Catherine, Lincoln, Grier, and AJ.


Leaving quite satisfied.

Amorina, Prospect Heights

Address: 624 Vanderbilt Avenue at Prospect Place
Purchase: 1 Norma Pizza, 1 Fava Bean and Artichoke Pizza, 1 Glass of Wine, 1 Brooklyn Pennant Ale
Price: $50 (including tip); Individual pizzas are $9 to $14.
Pizza Rating:


We actually found out aboout adorable little Amorina when it was featured in tables for two in the New Yorker a few weeks ago, and realized that not only did it sound delicious, but it was pretty nearby us, down on Vanderbilt Avenue. We walked there last night for dinner and really enjoyed it. The seating area is fairly small, (it was full the whole time we were there, but there never seemed to be a wait) and the kitchen was even smaller. Despite the take out service and deliveries, the pizzas are gourmet and individual-sized, with lots of traditional Italian ingredients, and more. AJ had the pizza special, with ricotta salata, artichoke hearts and fava beans, and it was absolutely delicious. I had the Norma, with tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, eggplant, cherry tomatoes, ricotta salata, basil and fresh mint. The crust was a little doughy, but all in all I was very happy. Plus, the flowered wall paper and old Italian coke and gelati signs were quite charming.








The Norma, with eggplant, tomato sauce, cherry tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, ricotta salata, fresh basil and mint.


The pizza special of the day with ricotta salata, artichoke hearts, and fresh fava beans.

Mellow Mushroom, Charlottesville

Address: 1321 West Main Street, on the Corner
Purchase: 14" pesto swirl & tomato pizza, pitcher of Rogue Dead Guy Ale, (and a half avocado sub!)
Price: $35 including tip
Payment: Cards accepted
Pizza Rating:


Mellow Mushroom has always been a favorite of ours, despite the cheesy psychedelic theme, and sometimes annoying underage-UVa student clientele. It's a southern-based, college-town, franchise with a tie-dyed mushroom as a mascot... you can pass your own judgements. But the draft beer list is always great (seriously, the best in Cville), and the pizza has a really delicious wheat crust (perfect for dipping in honey), lots of parmesan cheese, and a very addictive pesto swirl topping. The pesto-swirl gives the pizza a lot more oil, but it's worth it. They also happen to have my very favorite sandwich, the avocado sub, which I couldn't resist ordering a half of, despite our blog-review mission. Yum!








We're in town over NYU's spring break, so Margaret graciously puppy-sat Bruno at her lawn room while AJ and I ate.

Lombardi's

Address: 32 Spring Street (at Mott)
Purchase: Small Breadsticks, Large Original Margharita Pizza, Wine and Beer
Price: $16.95 for the pizza
Payment: Cash Only
Pizza Rating:


We've heard a lot of talk about Lombardi's, so we had pretty high expectations for this pizzeria napoletana in Soho. Licensed by the city in 1905, Lombardi's is "America's First Pizzeria." Marisa was here from DC, so we were excited to try it out. The sauce was delicious (a little sweet for AJ's taste), but the fresh mozzerella and little bits of basil, paired with the bubbly, coal-oven crust won this pie the four pizza rating. The commercialized atmosphere, complete with multiple hostesses with radios and waitlists, kept it from anything higher. We missed the "real" feeling of Grimaldi's chaotic crowd, but in all honesty, it was worth it to be able to wait at the bar instead of out in the cold. I don't know how soon I'll be back, but everyone should give this historical NYC pie a try.


Gennaro's Original® Pizza


Marisa's so pretty!


Marisa takes the first slice! (Excuse the demonic red-eye.)


The busy kitchen.


The pizza makers.


Pausing in the freezing cold for pic out front.


Marisa and I smile with Mona Lisa.

Crozet Pizza

Address: 5794 Three Notch'd Road, Downtown Crozet, VA
Purchase: One Medium (14"), 1/2 Cheese, 1/2 Spinach, Tomato, and Cherry Peppers, 1 Pepsi, 1 Bass Ale
Cost: $25.00
Payment: Cash or Check Only
Pizza Rating:


Crozet Pizza has been on our short list of places to review since we started this blog. We finally made the trip over our Christmas visit to Virginia. We were accompanied by Allie's little sister, Isabelle. The secret at Crozet Pizza is to only order the small or the medium pies. They use the same amount of dough for each size pie and if you order the large the crust is much thinner and more likely to be burnt. So we got a medium and chose spinach, tomato, and cherry peppers from their extensive toppings menu (which even includes peanuts!), and kept one half plain. I found the crust to be the best part of the pie; it was thin and crunchy yet still fluffy on the inside. Allie felt that the crust isn't as bubbly as it used to be and therefore not as good. (Another disappointing change is that they will no longer do 1/4 pizza toppings, which was always nice.) I thought that the peppers were too spicy and the crust got soggy rather qucikly. Overall Crozet Pizza scored so highly not due to quality of their pizza but because of the atmosphere and the memories associated with such an historic pizzeria.


Heading off towards Downtown Crozet


THE Crozet Pizza




The Menu Board


T.J.


The Back Room (also the site of Allie's 8th birthday party...)


The Pizza Maker (the next Bob Crum)


Our pizza before it entered the oven... yum!






Crozet Pizza Customers Around the World


Alex and John!


Isabelle serves it up!


Mangiamo!

Fornino, Williamsburg

Address: 187 Bedford Ave. at N 7th, Williamsburg
Purchase: One bottle of wine ($18), One large Al Roker Pizza, One large Spinach Pizza
Cost: About $75 with tip (about $20 for each 8-slice, large, speciality pie)
Pizza Rating:


I realize this is our second (and overdue) non-traditional "Slices of the City" review, but good pizza is good pizza. Last weekend Meredith was in town from Boston, Lincoln came down from the UWS, and we met up with Helen, (who actually lives in Williamsburg) to finally try out Fornino. As expected from its rave reviews from all the reliable sources (Zagat: 22, 14, 18, $21), it was delicious! Truly "artisnal," and unique!

The spinach pie had fresh spinach leaves with white truffle oil (yum!), ricotta, pecorino, and pinenuts. The Al Roker, with roasted peppers, caramalized onions, garlic, rosemary (we held the prosciutto), had a red base and a really good flavor. The pizza on a whole was just like it would have been in Italy, especially the crispy crust. I'll admit, our server often dissappeared for long periods of time--perhaps because we were seated in the back room with the greenhouse (where they grow their own herbs and other ingredients), but that's not going to stop me from craving another Fornino pizza again soon!




The Spinach Pizza


The Al Roker