New York for a day, and got to try some new pizzas!! 11/30/2011

My daughters invited me to go along to NY yesterday, and I can’t pass up not trying some pizzas while I was in NY.  This time I wanted to try some regular slice NY style pies and also maybe a different kind of pie I never tasted before.  I had asked pizzablogger (Kelley), about if there were any pizza businesses he would recommend.  He gave me two places he recommended, but I only got to try the pizza at Best Pizza.  Kelly recommended to order a slice of regular, the white pizza, if available, and the square/Sicilian pizza with the caramelized veggies on top.  Best Pizza was our second to last pizza business I tried.  All the slices sure didn’t fail to be very tasty and very different.  Kelly also recommended to try Mast Chocolate which is only about 6 blocks from Best Pizza.  Some of the things I found interesting at Best Pizza, is they bake in a wood fired oven that used to be a coal fired oven.  The man I talked to at Best Pizza said the coal oven is 116 years old and the coal fired oven was used in the bakery before.  The dome of the oven in very low.  When I asked what temperature they bake the pies, he said hot.  I asked how hot, and he said about 600 degrees F.  They also made their own fresh mozzarella from curd.  The pies with the fresh mozzarella and other toppings were top notch in my opinion.

I am posting the pictures of the pizzas I tried today, and also some other pictures for members that might not have ever visited NY.  We went though the Holland Tunnel, to get into NY and took the Lincoln Tunnel to return home.  We went though Tribeca, Chinatown, and then to Flatbrush to shop a little.  I decided to try a regular slice joint first.  The pizza business was called Angelica Pizzeria Restaurant.  The pies in the window looked like regular NY style pizza.  I went in and ordered one regular slice reheated.  I had to go to the other end of the pizzeria to pay for my slice.  I got talking to the owner and asked if All Trumps is used as the flour and he said yes.  I then asked what kind of sauce he used.  He said 7-11.  Then I asked what kind of cheese he used and he said Grande.  I then told him I also make pizza, and he asked what kind I made.  I showed him some pictures on my camera.  He thought the pictures were interesting and gave me back the 2.00 I had paid for the slice I was buying.  He especially liked the MM pizza. He told me best of luck with my pizzas.  He said his business was started in 1967.  I ate the slice while walking.  It was very good.

A little while later while walking in Flatbush, we saw a interesting Mideastern Pita Business.  It was called Bedouin Tent. http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/bedouin-tent/menus/main.html
I watched though the window, and it looked like they were opening pizza dough and then putting it into the oven.  I then went into the business and watched more.  The smell of those Pita’s sure were amazing.  I then asked if their dough is anything like pizza dough and they said yes it is pizza dough.  Well, then I also had to try the pitas.  They also were delicious!  The one man kept rolling the dough, then stretching it, and put it into the oven with his bare hands sometimes.  The dough puffed-up like a balloon if they were just put into the oven. I took some videos of the men making the pitas and also opening the dough.  These are the videos.  On the back of Bedouin Tent menu it says:

Tucked into the middle of a quiet Brooklyn Height block, The Bedouin Tent abounds with hospitality like the wondering desert people the Restaurant  is named after.  Owned by the same Jordanian family that owns the Moustache Pitza and the newer Olive Café.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxT2OKH156w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaGRkf3yKvM


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtdAYJH1m_E

Then it was more shopping and walking.  We then went to NE NY to pick up some other stuff, then off to Best Pizza in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/09/dining/reviews/09under.html?_r=1


We then took the BQE to Woodside and Astoria Queens and stopped for some street food.  We had steak solvaki.  That was also delicious!  We had to take the Midtown Tunnel from Astoria to get  Manhattan.

Not to far from the street food, I wanted to try Rizzo’s Pizza, so we stopped there. http://rizzosfinepizza.com/  and http://rizzosfinepizza.com/
A friend of my daughters had told me Rizzo’s pizza was his favorite pizza.  He had live in Woodside and Astoria most of his life.  I only wanted to try one slice and told the man that someone had recommended Rizzo’s to me.  He gave me a slice and wouldn’t charge me for it.  That slice was also very delicious and different.  The slice was very thin and crispy.  I asked him if they sold dough balls and he said yes, so I purchased two doughs balls to try in my deck oven.   I wasn’t able to watch if the dough is opened by hand or is rolled, so  I might need some suggestions as how to make a pizza that looks something like Rizzo’s.  I asked the man if I could freeze the dough and he said yes.  He said the dough ball are for a 18” pizza.

It was then time to leave NY and return home.  We then went though Manhattan, to get to the Lincoln Tunnel.  The last pictures are of us driving though Manhattan.  I wish we weren’t moving and I could have gotten better pictures of Manhattan. The one tree is at Macy’s.  The windows on the other side were decorate so beautifully.

I had a great day in NY and really enjoyed all the pizzas and other foods I ate there.

Thanks so much Kelly for you recommendation of Best Pizza!  It sure was a hit with my daughters and me.

Norma