The small daily lie of every pizzeria in New York
The slice counter
That slice came out of the oven a while ago. It goes back in for two minutes when you order it, and it is very good. Nobody here will tell you it is fresh out of the oven.
What a slice counter actually is
A slice from the counter came out of the oven earlier and goes back in to reheat when you order it. That is what a slice counter is, and it is very good. If you want a pie straight out of the oven, order a whole one and give us the twelve to fifteen minutes it takes.
Every pizzeria in this city operates this way and almost none of them will say so. Walk into a shop at four in the afternoon, point at a tray and ask if it is fresh, and you will usually be told that it is. It very rarely is, and it does not need to be — a good slice reheated properly is a genuinely good thing to eat, which is why New York has eaten it standing up for a hundred years.
So our trays are marked with the time they came out of the oven, and if you ask Danny how long that one has been there he will tell you the number rather than a reassurance. Sometimes the answer is four minutes. Sometimes it is twenty-five and there is a fresh tray eight minutes away, and he will tell you that too, and you can decide.
That slice came out of the oven a while ago. A slice from the counter came out of the oven earlier and goes back in to reheat when you order it. That is what a slice counter is, and it is very good. If you want a pie straight out of the oven, order a whole one and give us the twelve to fifteen minutes it takes.
What is usually on the rack
By the slice
Slices from 11:00am until an hour before close, or until the last tray goes. Whatever is up there is what is available — anything else is a whole pie and twelve to fifteen minutes.
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.
Pepperoni Pizza
Small-diameter natural-casing pepperoni that curls into cups and chars at the rim, over the plain pie.
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.
Grandma Pizza
Thin, square and pressed straight into the pan: mozzarella first, then stripes of crushed tomato spooned over the top with sliced garlic and oregano.
Upside-Down Sicilian
The old Brooklyn order: cheese laid on the dough and a thick blanket of crushed tomato over the top, so the tomato stays bright and the cheese never dries out.
White Pizza
No tomato at all: mozzarella, dollops of whole-milk ricotta, sliced garlic, olive oil, black pepper and oregano.
Vodka Pizza
A pink tomato-cream sauce cooked down with a splash of vodka, with mozzarella, ricotta and basil torn over the top.
The Woodside Supreme
Everything at once and balanced anyway: pepperoni, sausage, green pepper, red onion, mushroom and black olive.
Buffalo Chicken Pizza
Grilled chicken tossed in a cayenne-and-butter hot sauce over mozzarella, finished with a blue-cheese drizzle and sliced celery.
Garden Vegetable Pizza
Roasted peppers, red onion, mushroom, black olive, wilted spinach and cherry tomato — roasted first, so nothing steams the crust.
Meat Lovers Pizza
Crumbled fennel sausage, sliced meatball, pepperoni cups and diced ham, with the sauce cut back so it is not heavy.
Ask the time
Every tray is marked with when it came out. Ask, and you get the number rather than a reassurance.
Always reheated
Two to three minutes back in the deck oven unless you specifically ask for it cold. It makes a real difference to the base.
Or wait for a whole one
Twelve to fifteen minutes and it is yours straight out of the oven. On a quiet afternoon that is often the better trade.
Asked at the counter
Questions about slices
How long has that slice been sitting there?
Ask, and you will get a straight answer. Trays are marked with the time they came out and Danny will tell you which one is freshest and how long until the next one. Nobody here has ever been told to say a tray is fresher than it is.
Do you reheat the slice?
Yes, always, unless you ask us not to. Two to three minutes back in the deck oven, which crisps the base again and re-melts the cheese. A slice handed over cold from the rack is a worse slice and we do not do it.
What is on the rack at four in the afternoon?
Usually plain, pepperoni, Sicilian and one other. The full range is on through both rushes; between about three and five it narrows because we would rather bake fewer trays than throw pizza away at closing.
Can I get a slice of anything on the menu?
Not by the slice, no. Whatever is on the rack is what is on the rack. Nine of the pies are available by the slice at some point in a day, and any of them can be ordered as a whole pie in twelve to fifteen minutes.
Why is a slice cheaper than an eighth of a pie?
Because a whole pie is made to order and a slice is cut from one that was baked in a batch. You are paying for the wait, or not paying for it.
What happens to the pizza you do not sell?
We bake to the rush rather than to a target, so there is not a great deal of it. What is left at closing goes to the staff and, on a bad night, into the bin. It does not go back on the rack the next day.
Two minutes, three dollars seventy-five
Come in for a slice
It is the cheapest way to find out whether this shop is any good, and it is the test we would rather be judged on than anything written here. Ask how long the tray has been out. You will get a number.