The old Brooklyn order
Upside-Down Sicilian
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.
This is what people of a certain age in Brooklyn mean when they say upside-down, and it is worth knowing about because most shops will not make it any more. It is a Sicilian base — the full day in the pan, the fried underside — but assembled the other way up, with mozzarella on the dough and a heavy layer of crushed tomato spread right over the top of it.
The result is not a thick grandma pizza, because the base is completely different. What you get is a very moist square with a bright, almost sharp top and cheese that has melted into the crumb rather than sitting on it. Nobody makes it by accident; you either grew up with it or somebody told you to try it.
It is our best-selling catering tray, for a reason that is entirely practical: it survives an hour on a table better than anything else we make, because the tomato on top stops the cheese drying out.
What goes on it
The base
The full Sicilian dough — seventy-two per cent hydration, a day in the oiled pan.
The cheese
Whole-milk mozzarella straight onto the dough, corner to corner.
The tomato
A thick, even blanket of crushed plum tomato over the whole surface, seasoned with salt and oregano.
The finish
Grated hard cheese and olive oil on the way out, and nothing else — it does not need it.
How it is made here
Built in reverse
Cheese, then tomato. The order is the entire dish and getting it the usual way round makes a perfectly good Sicilian instead.
Sauced heavily
Roughly half again as much tomato as a normal square pie. It has to be a layer, not a coating.
Twenty minutes
At 550°F. A shade longer than a Sicilian because of the extra moisture on top.
Rested five minutes
It comes out very wet and needs a moment to set before it will cut cleanly.
Upside-Down Sicilian — what it costs
- Full tray, 12 squares$36
- Half tray, 6 squares$20
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
Upside-Down Sicilian — questions
How is this different from a grandma pizza?
The base. A grandma is thin and proofed for an afternoon; this is a full thick Sicilian proofed for a day. They only look similar from above.
Does it travel well?
Better than anything else we make. The tomato layer keeps the cheese from drying, which is why it is the tray we recommend for a party where the food will sit out.
Can I get it with pepperoni?
Yes, but it goes under the tomato with the cheese, so it will not cup. If you want cupped pepperoni, order the pepperoni pie.
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.