Fall 2004 Preview

Upper Crusts

Pizzerias serving passable pies are everywhere, but once in a while we get a glimpse of pizza perfection—expertly charred crust, milky mozzarella ooze, a splash of sublime sauce. We’re keeping an eye on these promising parlors.

Published Sep 6, 2004

Waldy Malouf gets into the dough-tossing game.

(Photo: Kenneth Chen)

Waldy’s Wood-Fired Pizza & Penne
800 Sixth Avenue, near 27th Street; December
Waldy Malouf has been making fabulous under-the-radar pizza at Beacon for years.
Signature pie: Wild mushroom and quattro formaggi thin-crust pizza, shaped like a skateboard and cooked in a wood-fired oven. Plus baked macaroni and stromboli.

Fornino
187 Bedford Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn; late September
Former Cucina chef Michael Ayoub; Peter Reinhart, pizza expert and author of American Pie: My Search for the Perfect Pizza, consults on the dough.
Signature pie: Neapolitan-style, topped with greens, garlic, and tomato plucked from the chef’s backyard garden; wood-burning oven.

Una Pizza Napoletana
349 East 12th Street; October.
Bread baker and New Jersey pieman Anthony Mangieri is a reputed stickler for authenticity and a scourge of slice seekers; he flies in buffalo mozzarella from Naples, too.
Signature pie: Classic Neapolitan twelve-inch margherita pizza cooked in a wood-fired brick oven.