A home kitchen's pizza that came into the shops
Grandma Pizza
Thin, square and pressed straight into the pan with no long proof: mozzarella down first, then stripes of crushed tomato spooned over the top.
The grandma pizza came out of Long Island home kitchens, where nobody had a day to proof a dough or an oven that went past 500°F. You press the dough into whatever pan you own, let it rest for an afternoon, put the cheese down, spoon tomato over it in rough stripes and bake it. It is the least ceremonious pizza on this menu and one of the best.
Because the cheese goes on first it insulates the dough from the sauce, and because the sauce sits on top it never fully cooks — it stays bright and slightly raw-tasting, which is the flavour people are actually after when they order this. Sliced raw garlic and dried oregano go on with the tomato and both perfume the whole tray.
It is thinner and crisper than a Sicilian and it is not, whatever anybody tells you, a thin Sicilian. Different dough, different proof, different order of assembly.
What goes on it
The dough
Sixty-five per cent hydration, pressed straight into an oiled pan and rested about six hours. No overnight, no cold room.
The cheese
Whole-milk mozzarella laid directly on the dough, edge to edge.
The tomato
Crushed plum tomato spooned over in three or four rough stripes, deliberately not spread — the bare patches are part of it.
The finish
Thinly sliced raw garlic, dried oregano, olive oil, and grated hard cheese as it leaves the oven.
How it is made here
Pressed cold
Straight from the mixer into the pan, pressed out over about twenty minutes in two or three goes so the gluten relaxes between them.
Rested an afternoon
Six hours at room temperature, covered. It should be relaxed and about half an inch thick, not domed.
Fourteen to sixteen minutes
At 550°F. Shorter than a Sicilian because there is far less of it.
Cut in twelve
With a wheel, and it comes out of the pan straight away like everything else that bakes in one.
Grandma Pizza — what it costs
- Full tray, 12 squares$32
- Half tray, 6 squares$18
- By the square$4.25
Prices include every topping listed above. Extras are $3 for vegetables and $4 for meats. Prices change when our costs do; the menu here is the menu in the shop.
Before you order this
A shared flour kitchen, and what that rules out. Our kitchen handles wheat flour in open air all day, along with milk, eggs, soy, tree nuts and fish. Flour becomes airborne every time a dough ball is opened, and it settles on every surface in the room, including the peels, the oven floor, the cutting board and the wheel. We can tell you what we put on a pizza, and we will tell you honestly. We cannot tell you that anything leaving this kitchen is free of an allergen, and we will not say it. If a reaction would send you to hospital, this is not a safe kitchen for you, and we would far rather say so than take the order.
The kitchen is one room. Every pizza here is opened on the same bench, baked on the same floor and cut with the same wheel, and that is true of this one as much as any other. The pages on allergens and cross-contact and vegetarian, vegan and dietary questions set out plainly what we can and cannot tell you, including the things most shops leave you to assume.
The rest of the menu
Other things worth ordering
New York Cheese Pizza
The plain pie the whole shop is judged on: a thin, foldable base, a thin bright sauce and low-moisture mozzarella browned in patches.
From $3.75
Pepperoni Pizza
Small-diameter natural-casing pepperoni that curls into cups and chars at the rim, over the plain pie.
From $4.50
Sicilian Square Pizza
A thick square pie proofed in an oiled steel pan: an airy open crumb, a fried golden base and a crisp cheese edge.
From $4.25Asked at the counter
Grandma Pizza — questions
Why is the sauce on top?
So it stays bright. Underneath the cheese it would cook through and taste like a normal pizza; on top it only just sets, and that fresher, sharper tomato is the whole reason to order this rather than a Sicilian.
Is the garlic raw?
Yes, sliced thin and put on before the bake, so it softens without browning. If raw garlic is not for you, say so when you order and we will leave it off.
Which is crispier, this or the Sicilian?
This one, easily. It is about a third of the thickness and gets the same amount of oil under it.
Twelve to fifteen minutes, and worth the wait
Order a pie
Telephone the shop and we will tell you honestly how long the kitchen is running before you commit to anything. Collection is always quicker than delivery and the pizza is always better for it. If you are ordering for a crowd, the catering page has the trays and the notice we need.