Make A Vezzo of This Place

In Murray Hill, there are a hundred and one pizza places. There are a dozen and one sit-down pizza restaurants. But, to my knowledge, there is only one brick-oven pizza place. It was a very welcomed addition to the neighborhood in my book! And, I was excited to finally try it out.

Aside from its brick oven, Vezzo stood out in a lot of other ways too. As soon as I walked in, I noticed how the restaurant has a very warm feeling with exposed brick and pipes and dim lighting. And that was even on a cool, rainy night. It has a vibe that is different from any of the other Italian/pizza places nearby. It felt more comfortable and authentic with people drinking Peronis and wine out of carafes.

There was a pretty long wait on a Saturday night and virtually no waiting area. So, when a few seats opened up the bar, my friend and I were happy to sit there rather than keep waiting. We decided to share a salad and a pizza. I almost never dine at the bar anywhere, so it was fun to change it up and to also be in the middle of all the action. The hostess was also playing the roll of waitress, bartender, and busboy, so things seemed a little frantic, but service was still very quick and attentive.

We started with the Greek salad that was served with black olives, feta cheese, cucumbers, yellow peppers, sweet red onions, and tomatoes. The salad arrived very quickly, but looked like it was completely dry. Soon followed bottles of extra virgin olive oil and white balsamic vinegar. I had never heard of, let alone had, white balsamic vinegar, but I have since become a huge fan. It was similar in flavor to regular balsamic, but something about it made it better!

We looked over the huge list of pizza options and noticed how many creative combos there were: Chixpotle, El Greco, Spicy Garden. We ended up going with Fromaggio Blanco, which had fresh ricotta, fresh mozzarella, spinach, and basil. Even though it had no sauce, it was far from dry or bland. With a little dash of garlic powder, the pizza was delicious. There was a little too much fresh basil on top, but it was easy to pick off. The pizza was super thin, and the crust was perfect…not too doughy, but not too crispy.

In Italian, vezzo means "habit." They must have known they had a good thing going because I definitely would like to make a habit of this place. I am eager to go back and try some of the other pizza combinations. The other pizzas we saw on other diners’ tables all looked fantastic. Vezzo is the perfect kind of place to go with friends, sit back, and enjoy the great food, drink, and atmosphere.

Vezzo
178 Lexington Avenue
@ 31st Street
website
Menu Pages listing

Pizza Never Tasted So Good

Once a year, Passover rolls around and I clear all of the off-limits foods out of my kitchen. In past years, I’ve eaten out during the holiday, but just avoided all of the breads/grains/starches that aren’t allowed. This year, I decided to test myself and take it to the next level…not eating out at all. As Miss Menu, this was definitely a huge challenge! I usually go out to dinner at least 3 times a week, and pick up lunch during work a few times too. But, I figured that it would allow me to truly appreciate the Passover story and traditions, not to mention serve as the perfect way to go easy on my wallet and my diet for 8 days.

I tried to spread out my postings so Miss Menu wouldn’t go dark for 8 days. So, while it looked like I was enjoying dinners out, that was hardly the case. It was so hard packing my lunch and eating at home for all that time! So, it is safe to say that my first meal out again to “break” Passover was even more of treat than I would have thought! Along with all the holiday traditions and meals, my family started its own tradition of breaking Passover by binging on pizza every year. And this year, although I wasn’t with my family, I still kept the tradition alive….this time with some friends. I knew exactly where I wanted to go – my favorite neighborhood pizza place that I have ordered from numerous times, but have only dined at one time (also to break Passover 2 years ago).

Libretto’s is a family-owned pizzeria that sells slices out of the front and has a sit-down Italian restaurant in the back. There is always a great debate as to what makes a great pizza, especially in New York. I have my favorites for the authentic, brick oven pizzas (like Grimaldi’s), but when it comes to the more general New York-style pizza, Libretto’s tops my list.

Walking in, I already knew exactly what I wanted…plain cheese, and a lot of it. We decided to order one plain pie and one pepperoni pie. After we ordered, we got worried that we had way too much food coming. 16 slices for 3 people. I am proud (and slightly embarrassed!) to say that we finished all of it. I accounted for 4 1/2 pieces…a new personal record! But, after basically doing the South Beach diet for 8 days and losing 8 pounds, I felt like an absurd amount of pizza was more than justified. Maybe I should start marketing the “Passover diet!”

Back to the good stuff…
While I can’t speak to the pepperoni, the plain pizza was delicious, and even better than when it’s delivered since it’s straight out of the oven. I will note that their delivery comes very quickly. The crust was cooked perfectly leaving it a little bit doughy. The sauce and cheese both had such great flavors. All together…a perfect pie.

Another factor that scored major bonus points for me was fountain soda with free refills. In NYC, free refills are very hard to come by. There is nothing worse than getting a few refills only to see $12 worth of Diet Coke on your check. I have a minor caffeine/soda addiction, so refills to go along great pizza made me a happy camper.

In addition to regular pizzas with over a dozen topping options, Libretto’s has a huge list of specialty pizzas with really interesting topping/flavor combinations. One that caught my eye for my next visit was the Pizza alla Vodka. Pizza with vodka sauce and fresh mozzarella? What could be bad?! On my first dine-in experience, I had tried the BBQ chicken pizza, which was really good too. They also have antipasti, soups, pastas, heroes, entrees, and desserts. Suffice it to say it’s an impressive menu. I have a feeling, though, that no matter how good the other dishes may be, it would be virtually impossible for me to go to Libretto’s without getting pizza. I hope the family would take that as a major compliment!

Libretto's
546 3rd Avenue
b/t 36th & 37th Street
website
Menu Pages listing

East Village Food Adventure - Part 3

We continued across 14th Street, and I was beginning to have second thoughts. I was already starting to feel pretty full, but knew I had to continue on. No pain, no gain, right?! Next up was Vinny Vincenz…what I thought would be your run-of-the-mill pizza joint, but turned out to be something a little more special than that. Plastered on the front windows was review after review about Vinny’s self-proclaimed specialty – the Sicilian slice.

In full disclosure, I have to be upfront and say that growing up in the South, the closest I came to eating Sicilian pizza was Pizza Hut’s pan pizza. Now that I’ve been in New York for a few years, my Sicilian experiences have been less than thrilling. All that bread, so little sauce and cheese…not my thing.

After having a fresh slice of a Vinny Vincenz Sicilian pie, I think I may finally understand its appeal. The dough was light and airy, and not too thick. The sauce had a nice, sweet flavor, and there was enough cheese to make a cheese-lover like me happy. Nine times out of ten, I’m going to stick with a regular pizza. But, it’s good to know that there’s Sicilian out there that I enjoy too.

Miss Menu had an interesting observation – Since not all slices are created equal in a Sicilian pie, one can request which specific slice they want from the pan. Some people love the corners with two edges of crust. Others love the middle pieces with no crust at all. Not knowing my preference, I went with a 1-crust edge piece. I have decided that’s my favorite…a crust to serve as a handle, and three sides covered in deliciousness.

I ended up only eating about half the slice to save room for the rest of the adventure…but even that didn’t help enough. I had to sit Stop 4 out…the Mexican grocery Zaragoza. No way was spicy Mexican going to sit well right now! Hoping this breather would leave me feeling better, we continued on down the list. I was excited for the next stop…Crif Dogs!

Vinny Vincenz
231 First Avenue
b/t 13th & 14th Streets
website
Menu Pages listing