Lucali's

Finally, after several attempts, some lousy results and some decent-but-not-amazing results, Suzy and I have found a really fantastic pizza place in our area: Lucali's at 575 Henry Street.

We walked the fifteen minutes or so to the restaurant around 7pm on a Saturday night, only to find a small group of hopefuls standing around outside. In January. In temperatures well-below freezing. Yikes. On the one hand we were worried about a long wait, while on the other hand, we were hopeful that this meant the pizza was good.

We managed to get the attention of the hostess, left a name and cell number, and were told it would be "about an hour". We opted to wander the area a bit, rather than just stand there in the cold. We decided to get a bottle of wine to have with supper (Lucali's sells no alcohol, but has a reasonable $4 corking fee). We got a bottle of Spanish Rojo, the name of which escapes me, on the recommendation of the store owner as a good rustic wine to have with pizza.

After a lengthy wander through the aisles of a nearby market to kill some time (and warm up), we headed back to the restaurant around 8pm, roughly 45 minutes after we left our name. As we approached, we could see that the crowd out front had gotten bigger. We settled onto a bench to wait, hoping that the estimate we got from the hostess would be accurate. It was not.

Several groups of 4 or 5 were hustled in over the next twenty minutes, including one group that was under the name "Uncle Joe". A group of four who were huddled near us (and had been waiting there outside since 7pm, after calling ahead at 6!) said that they were pretty sure that the "Uncle Joe" party had shown up spur-of-the-moment, but had gotten in nearly right away anyway. That Uncle Joe must have some pull...

Anyway, after finally getting inside at around 8:40 (so cold!), we were seated at a nice table near the back, well away from the door and the icy wind, which was nice. We were right in front of the--well, I wouldn't call it a kitchen, per say ... how about "work area"--where the pizzas are assembled. Three or four guys were making pizzas and calzones and sliding them in and out of the large, wood-fired brick oven. The place has a nice atmosphere, simple but not cheap, and the whole room was lit by a couple of dim ceiling lights, plus candles on the tables and on the counters of the cooks' and servers' work areas. It was dim, but not at all unpleasant.

Our server opened our wine for us, and proceeded to give us the low-down on the food -- no menus here (which I guess is part of why the dim lighting wasn't an issue). Lucali's serves one size of pizza: a large thin crust jobbie that's enough for two; and two sizes of calzone: a "smaller" one that's enough for two, and a large one, which is apparently for bigger groups to share. The server also rattled off a respectable, if not overly large, list of toppings, most of which are $3 per to add and a few (like artichokes) that are $8 per. We ordered a pizza with pepperoni, mushrooms, garlic, and artichokes.

We had a little wine, and our pizza arrived very quickly, probably no more than ten minutes. They have meetal racks that let them put the metal pizza trays over the candles on the tables, to help keep it a warm, and to free up some real estate on the table, no doubt.

The pizza was absolutely fantastic. It was, of course, hot but not so hot that the cheese was in danger of doing damage to my mouth. It was very, and no matter which topping(s) I was getting with each bite, it was great, simply because the basic pizza itself--the crust, sauce, and cheese--was incredible. The sauce had a great, balanced flavour, with noticeable Italian spices that were never being overwhelming to the rest of the pizza. And though it was a thin crust, there was still a hint of chewiness, even around alot of the edges. Suzy said instantly "This is it." adn I knew what she meant: We have finally found the great pizza we were looking for since August.

In the end, the meal ended up costing $42 dollars with the corking fee, tax, and tip, which would put the pizza itself at around $30, I guessed. So, while it was almost certainly the most expensive pizza I've ever had, it wasn't a bad price for a great meal for two, and realistically it was only about 50% more than a large pizza with several toppings from any random pizza chain, and it was, conservatively, 500% better. Only the deep dish we had in Chicago comes close (but they are such different approaches to pizza I'd hesitate to compare them directly).

So in summary: We walked for thirty minutes and waited for an hour and a half (half of that outside) in January to eat a $30 pizza at a restuarant that doesn't sell alcohol -- oh, and only takes cash. But, man, we will be going back there again while we are living in NYC, no doubt many, many times.

That said, next time, we'll call to put our names down before we get there. Especially in the winter. Brr.