Cuisine

Neighborhood

CUISINE: Pizza
NEIGHBORHOOD: Cobble Hill/Carroll Gardens

527 Henry St. (Between Carroll and Summit Sts.)

(p) 718-858-4086

We can finally call ourselves true residents of  Broolklyn Heights/ Cobble Hill now that we've eaten at Lucali.  At the request of an adorable young married couple who swear it's their "favorite restaurant, not just favorite pizza, in the city" we decided to brave the wait and test this shiz out.

This is how it goes down: Someone makes the call and is given an estimated wait time, usually between one and two hours.  You'll then have to kill time somewhere in the area. We opted for Bocca Lupa. Eventually you'll get a call from Lucali telling you that your table is ready. CONT'D

It was almost 10pm by the time we sat down. The only light in the place is from candles scattered around the room — Not exactly your standard pizza spot. The staff is young, hip, and attractive.  The kitchen (if you can call it that) is right in the middle of the room – basically just a table in front of an oven.  The owner and pizza maker stands there with his arms crossed (unless he's tossing dough) and watches the restaurant with an extremely serious expression. Kind of awesome, no?

The menu, too, is unusual. There's a standard plain cheese, 18'' pie, with new toppings every night.  When we went there was pepperoni, sausage, basil, mushrooms, peppers, garlic, and onions.  The pizza only takes ten minutes to cook, and comes out thin and charred from the brick oven.   There's a good two inches of just plain, crusty perimeter; our friends (veteran Lucali eaters) ordered a side of sauce to dip it in.  Smart move. The toppings were fresh and tasty, with particularly large leaves of green basil.

So is it the best pizza in Brooklyn? In New York? The world? Jay Z and Beyonce have been known to enjoy a pie here, so what does that mean? Here's my two cents: The pizza is straightforward — there's nothing about it that signifies Lucali necessarily (like a specific sauce or the creamiest burrata). Instead, it's all about execution. Lucali's thin crust pies are a lot like all of the others you've had in your life, but for some reason, they're just better.

Posted in FOOD on August 3, 2010 10:41am by Jena Steinbach | 30 comments

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We are young (early 20's) and hungry (for knowledge! music! art! food!) friends living on (or in areas which border) Manhattan. We moved to the city seeking higher education, and an alternative to frat parties and gin buckets. We prefer a bottle of Chianti to a keg, lunches at City Bakery to a dining hall, Joe's to Starbucks, Frankie's Amatriciana to Batali's. Our uniting factor is our love for food. For detailed, personal information, keep reading.
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