We all know that a truly good pie often calls for a pilgrimage, but there is something to be said to the adage that the city’s best pizza is the one on the corner. Well, it seemed to apply to me this time. If you’re in the Village, try the following two spots:
Motorino (349, East 12 St. (2nd Avenue), East Village, tel. 212-777-2644, www.motorinopizza.com), where the pies, which strike a good balance between crisp and pillowy, sweet and salty, with more or less ideal ratios of tomato to cheese to bubble and flat (when we were there, we tried the solid margherita and the garlicky cremini mushroom and spicy sausage, both very, very good), more than make up for its small, bare-bones storefront space.
Keste Pizza e Vino (271, Bleecker St. (Morton St.), W. Village, tel. 212-243-1500, www.kestepizzeria.com), where it’s even pokier than Motorino and where they say the 12-inch pies don’t get more authentic (read: Neapolitan). This is because the chef is the current president of the APN (Associazione Pizzaiuoli Napoletani) and if anybody should abide to the strictest standards of Neapolitan pizza-making he is it (just as ‘kesté; means ‘this is it’). I personally love the Battilocchio Tartufo, but the Caprese, with mozzarella, tomatoes, basil and extra virgin olive oil, is good too.
