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| - It's all Nicole's fault! Her ROTD made my mouth water for real NY-Style, thin-crust pizza. And Sweet Basil does it! Finally, I have found a slice that is TRUE to what many claim to be.
Now, I know it's not wood-burning, brick, or what have you, but a specialty oven does not a NY slice make. I DO admit that the so-called "best" NY joints, aka the old-school, fresh, specialty shops, do use these ovens. But my favorite pie comes from any run-of-the-mill pizza place on the corner of any street. And those places use a gas oven.
Ok, now that we've gotten that part out of the way ... The place itself, as in the decor, was really nothing special. It was Strip Mall USA. However, I could tell from my first bite to my last that the ingredients are phenomenal and the pies are cooked with great love and admiration for the dough, the tomatoes, the basil, and so on. You can just tell from having a five-minute conversation with this guy that he absolutely loves what he does.
After reading several reviews, I was worried I'd have to order a whole pie (well, let me rephrase that:I wasn't worried, because lord knows I could have polished it off even if it took me a few meals and a couple of days, but it's so nice to have a carefree slice on the go. There's no long wait time, no worrying about taking a box out or anything getting cold). But! Lo and behold, there was a lunch menu with salad/slice, salad/soup, or soup/slice combos, so I went for it.
Let me just say that putting fresh mixed greens, various colors of veggies, and THOUGHT into a house salad does not go unnoticed. And the dressing was insanely good. It was like balsamic vinaigrette on crack.
And the slice. Oh, the slice. Humongous enough, as Nicole said, to do the fork-and-knife thing or the Tony Soprano fold. I chose the fold, and that delicious cheese and sauce got all steamy and puffed out with every bite. This slice needed no garlic salt, no red pepper flakes, no Parmesan cheese, no NOTHING. It was perfect. You can tell that the dough, which was simultaneously soft and crisp, crunchy and chewy, and altogether delicious, only had a few key ingredients and no fillers.
I was waiting all this time for "The One," that perfect slice to remind me of home. I've found it!
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