LOMBARDI’S PIZZA
32 Spring St., New York, NY 10012 nr. Mott St.
Lombardi's Margherita / Pepperoni
I had a friend in town from LA a few weeks ago and his one request was to have good New York Pizza. I think Lombardi’s is very representative of your classic coal oven pie. Although you can great a great slice many places, there is something so much better about having a whole beautiful steaming pie set down in front of you. Of course there is much debate over which of the many NYC pizzerias serves truly the best pizza but Lombardi’s has been around since the beginning (at least so they say) so I chose them as my “taste of New York.”
What makes Lombardi’s pizza so good? A few things. First, it’s beautiful. You eat with your eyes first. You can immediately see that the ingredients are fresh, there isn’t too much of any one thing and each one is evenly distributed. Symmetry is a must on shared items. Second, the super thin crust is perfectly crispy (and stays crispy) all the way to the center. You get a coal oven flavor without any burned bits. Third, the sauce. There is nothing I dislike more than a pizza sauce that is overly sweet or overly seasoned. Lombardi’s sauce actually tastes like fresh tomatoes and there is just the right amount of it. Fourth, the cheese is just enough so that you get some in every bite but it is not overwhelming and it does not make the pizza greasy. Fifth, they have the most perfectly tiny little rings of pepperoni that curl up into little cups holding just a drop of the zesty oil to give your slice a little kick. And last, I love when a few ribbons of fresh basil are tossed on top to give it an herby freshness.
I think everyone was pretty satisfied.
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