SLICE CITY
New York’s go-to food goes gourmet with deluxe dough and premium toppings
THERE are few New York City foods more iconic than the humble slice, perfected by pizza-making legends from Brooklyn’s Di Fara to Manhattan’s Joe’s Pizza. But in recent years, the city’s top pizzaiolos have shifted their focus to whole Neapolitan pies — and while it’s led to some delicious discoveries, such as the much-hyped Roberta’s or the beautifully simple Lucali pie, it’s left the city’s slice scene in a state of neglect. The result: an onslaught of rubbery, reheated wedges fit only for uninformed tourists and late-night revelers already broke from their bar tabs.
Thankfully, there’s a slice renaissance a-bubbling. Everyone from Francis Garcia and Sal Basille of Artichoke Pizza fame to Greenpoint’s own Paul Giannone (aka Paulie Gee) are getting in on the slice action with new counter-service joints. And these spots are slinging single-serving ’za like you’ve never had it before: in Roman squares, in Detroit-style baked-cheese crusts — even sunny side up for breakfast. Here, The Post rounds up six of the city’s newest, tastiest pizza cuts. Fold, eat and repeat.
THE NEW CLASSIC
“There’s something called the pizza cognition theory, [which] states that the pizza that you have first is the pizza that tastes best to you for the rest of your life,” Giannone, of Greenpoint’s famous Paulie Gee’s pizzeria, tells The Post. “The slice I remember was a classic New York slice.” That’s what he’s tossing at his new Greenpoint spot, Paulie Gee’s Slice Shop, which opened last week. Its slices are less fluffy than Paulie Gee’s famous, naan-like Neapolitan pies. But they’re much better for traveling.
Back in 2014, Giannone stopped serving takeout pies at his original eatery — “The best pizza is served right out of the oven,” he says — and was met with a “backlash” from the hungry masses. To appease them, Giannone and chef Andrew Brown developed a “firmer, snappier crust” that could survive the cardboardbox journey.
Now, the team is dishing out those sturdier creations at the Slice Shop, which is a three-minute walk from Giannone’s original Greenpoint restaurant. In the retro spot, which Giannone calls an homage to “great old-school New York-style pizzerias,” he serves big, hefty slices starting at $3.50. Grab a piece of the white pie, which is reminiscent of Totonno’s version, and the Hellboy, a fanfavorite combo of sopressata and Mike’s Hot Honey from the original Paulie Gee’s. 110 Franklin St., Greenpoint; PaulieGee.com/ Slice-Shop
DETROIT DELIGHT
Artichoke Pizza owners Francis Garcia and Sal Basille have a new gourmet slice shop: Lions & Tigers & Squares, which opened in Chelsea in the spring and makes Detroit-style rectangular slices. “It’s really different” from Artichoke’s cheesy offerings, and just as decadent, Garcia tells The Post. The almost-deep-dish slices are coated all over with Wisconsin brick cheese — a softer, meltier version of cheddar — giving the dough a crunchy crust. “It almost tastes like a Cheez-It,” Garcia says.
The cousin co-owners got deep-dish pizza into their heads while filming Cooking Channel’s “Pizza Cuz,” where they tried a similar four-cornered personal pie at Buddy’s Pizza in Detroit. The restaurant name is a tribute to all things Motor City: Detroit Lions football, Detroit Tigers baseball and, obviously, Detroit-style pizza.
Their $5 classic version features two thick bands of tomato sauce over a pillowy bed of cheesy bread. It’s the stuff of dreams, at least for Garcia: “I’ve been making pizza my whole life, and, like, I dream about the friggin’ Lions & Tigers & Squares pie.” 268 W. 23rd St.; 917-261-6772, LionsAndTigersAndSquares.com
ROMAN MASTERPIECE
It won’t take you long to wolf down PQR pizzeria’s square, Roman-style slices. But they take days to make, co-owner Fabio Casella explains. “Our dough is fermented for 96 hours,” says Casella, who opened the Upper East Side slice spot this spring with Roman pizza maestro Angelo Iezzi. Both are obsessive about using only the freshest, highestquality ingredients. Try the $7 Piennolo slice, topped with cherry tomatoes imported from Italy’s Vesuvio region and creamy stracciatella cheese. 1631 Second Ave.; 646-449-0889, PQR-NYC.com
MORNING GLORY
Jordan Baker wants you to eat pizza for breakfast. That’s the concept of Baker’s Pizza & Espresso, a sister restaurant to the 30-year-old pizza maker’s Baker’s Pizza in the East Village. The new Hell’s Kitchen spot opens at 8 a.m., and serves breakfast-ready slices with baked eggs and other flavors typically found at brunch.
Baker, who runs the shop with brother Jeremy Baker and Bronx-born pie tosser Jamie Cacace, says he would eat egg-topped pizza for breakfast before shifts at his downtown spot. “Customers would come in early and would see it and ask for it,” he tells The Post. So they decided to sell it to the masses.
Along with their $5 eggy ’zas, Baker and co. are serving Stumptown coffee and espresso drinks ($3 and up). There also are more traditional lunch and dinner pizzas, such as the Baker’s slice, with caramelized onion, herbed ricotta and housemade pork sausage. 754 10th Ave.; 917-262-0722, BakersPizzaNYC.com/Espresso