When you enter the restaurant, you come through the patio, facing Broadway, and, I suspect in the not too distant future, there will be music playing to welcome the patrons. Hanging by the door is a large spool of brown butcher paper with the daily specials. This recalled to us the casual-clever ambiance of Thomas Kellor's Ad Hoc that we fondly recall from our Napa trip with our son several years ago. Coming into the restaurant are long wooden common tables as well as a few window tables with comfortable chairs. At the far end of the space is a wall of pecan wood for firing up the 900 degree pizza oven, imported from Italy. There is an open kitchen with stools for eating and watching a master making Neapolitan-style/thin-crusted pizza. (Our six-year-old guest observed the process with unabashed glee, singing a pizza song from school). Against the patio window is a stack of LPs and music from a LP player which, on this night, was featuring an album by Stan Getz.
From the salad we split--(named "Butter Pecan), which featured spinach and butter lettuce, fennel, apples, chevre, toasted pecans with apricot viniagrette, to the pizza (Margherita for us; Cura for the others) with fresh ingredients and mozzarella from Wisconsin (some entrees feature it from NYC)--the meal was delicious. Once the pizza is dressed, it only takes 90 seconds to bake in the oven and the pizza comes out lightly crispened and bubbly. They use e.v.o.o. which I needed Ari to explain to me means "extra virgin olive oil" on the Margherita and chili oil on the Cura. I asked for a bit more of the e.v.o.o. so I could soak my crust in it which I love to do when something is this good and worth savoring.
Enjoy these photos but, believe me, you have to go there and enjoy a meal to appreciate the details of this place--which includes hand-made artisan blocks for serving the pizza and small wooden artisan clipboards to handle the affordable bill.
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