We are now moving into an intensely focused period of blogs were there will be only one thing on my mind: pizza. If I am doing my job right that will be the only thing remaining on your mind when I am done.
My best advice is to settle down with a good snack before we begin because reading this on an empty stomach is a HUGE mistake.
When you name your pizzeria “Best Pizza” what you are offering needs to be next level. Otherwise you are just being ironic. I am happy to tell you that the title couldn’t be more fitting and less funny if they tried.
The man behind this restaurant is Frank Pinello. You might also recognize his name because he is the host of my new favorite television show, appropriately named “The Pizza Show” on Viceland. This show premiered in March 2016 is currently in its second season but is brand new to me. I found it while flipping channels one day and to say my life hasn’t been the same since is an understatement.
This show has taught the places I need to visit as well as the reasons I love my favorites. He has also enlightened me to my next reason to go to Las Vegas; The Pizza Expo. Yes, it is as glorious as its seems so I hope to see you there next March, and every year after that.
When I realized that the man I was watching on t.v. owned a pizzeria that has been on my annual to do list since 2016 (https://bit.ly/2u0g9db) all of my worlds became aligned. God was sending me a very clear message and I was paying close attention. My visit to Best Pizza became imminent.
As I pulled up to 33 Havemeyer Street in Brooklyn’s popular neighborhood of Williamsburg, I began to experience déjà vu. But then I realized what I was experiencing was the memory of my first visit to this location.
It was prior to 2010, as that is when Best Pizza opened, and it was during the Feast of the Giglio at nearby Our Lady of Mount Carmel church (https://bit.ly/2J5G62h).
At that time my family and I stopped for lunch at the Italian restaurant that use to occupy this location. It was such a pleasant surprise to see this is where I would be having lunch once again, even if it was under different circumstances.
The restaurant is tiny but is a full service spot. They offer many Italian dishes you would expect to see. But I was all about pizza.
This particular day the wait was long because they were in the process of completing an enormous catering order. I didn’t mind the wait considering I got a seat at one of the few tables they have.
While sitting patiently waiting for my order I observed that this is predominantly a takeout joint. Folks are grabbing a slice to go. This is their local pizzeria.
My mother, a.k.a. my go to #pizzafriday companion, ordered a mushroom pie. We planned on eating a slice and then taking the rest home. Since we were waiting for a while we decided to start with some garlic knots as they were already prepared.
The New York Times could not stop raving about these garlic knots and I must say they were very good. They were not very garlicky or typical in any way. They have shaved parmesan on top and a side of slightly spicy marinara sauce.
Our pie arrived about thirty minutes after we did. The smell wafting from the hot box was drawing me in. I ripped open the box to get my lips around that pipping hot slice. Then I think I blacked out.
First of all the mushrooms were sautéed beautifully prior to being baked on the pizza. Any time we have mushroom pizza this is the first gripe my mother normally has. She HATES uncooked mushrooms being tossed upon a cooked pie. I happen to agree. It doesn’t add any flavor value to the pizza and I could have done a better job myself. In fact, I have. I sauté mushrooms before putting them in anything especially mashed potatoes.
As for the pizza itself, it was perfection!!
Frank Pinello has discussed on his show how despite the three main ingredients that constitute pizza, it is fascinating how much it can vary from one place to another. He contends that it is due to the quality of ingredients. In Best Pizza, I noticed all of the ingredients came from Italy. That kind of attention to detail comes through in the taste.
"The humidity and weather affect pizza more than anything else in terms of the day to day. We gauge what the weather is like, and what the atmosphere is like, and that’ll determine the temperature of the water we use for our dough. So if it’s cold outside, we will use a room-temp water for the dough. And if it’s warm out, we’ll use cold water.”
But the attention to detail doesn’t stop with the ingredients. As you can read from the quote above, Best Pizza pays close attention to anything and everything that makes it well, the best. And the best it is. I couldn’t believe how good it was. Nothing in my mind could even compare and we all know how much pizza I eat. I quickly scoffed down another slice and carried the rest out. I felt like I had swallowed a piece of the holy grail.
Clearly I am not the only one who thinks so. In February 2018 Thrillist named Best Pizza on its list of the greatest pizzerias in Brooklyn.
Current companions on that list are also close associates of mine.
They include:
- Di Fara’s (https://bit.ly/2FrG82i);
- Vinnie’s (https://bit.ly/2GFsa0L);
- Juliana’s (https://bit.ly/2hWeC61);
- Roberta’s (https://bit.ly/2FupK0W);
- Lucali (https://bit.ly/2H1BpWM); and
- Totonno’s (coming up next).
Despite conquering many of the pizzerias from my 2017 annual to do list (https://bit.ly/2qeVUqY) recently, you can bet that my soon to premiere 2018 to do list will have a lot of Frank Pinello’s recommendations.
Stay hungry my friends. As for me I will continue to eat pizza on Fridays.
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