Artichoke

Matt and I had a nice little evening planned for ourselves last week-- a slice at Artichoke, a new pizza joint and watching Manhattanhenge, the yearly phenomenon where the sun sets in alignment with the street grid of the city. Clouds made the sunset a bust but the pizza was great. Matt wrote a review!


Matt: "Staten Island?" This is the response any New Yorker who does not live on said island exclaims whenever anyone mentions the name. Frank and Sal Garcia however, have brought a 'slice' of Staten Island to the East Village that is making people take a second look at a borough most notable for (the now closed) Fresh Kills landfill. (I suggest they name their signature pie, with artichokes and spinach, the 'landfill' pie.)

Round and Sicilian are your other two choices at this tiny storefront that has virtually no area to eat. It is so small that a line forms out the door after the fifth person waiting. Fortunately, one can get slices for $2.50. And this was one hearty and fantastic slice! Artichoke has been the biggest opening and recieved the most press of any new pizza place I can remember. There has even talk of 'Is this Manhattan's answer to Difara?'.

We arrived around 630pm to find a line of about 10-12 people. The annoying 16 year old girl on her cell phone almost stole the entire slice pie that had just came out of the oven, and we were eyeing it up and down. Luckily, she opted for something else. We got two slices off the freshly made pie, two Boylan's orange sodas and headed for Stuyvesant Park just over on 2nd ave. Ive never been to the park, which is split in two by 2nd ave at 15th street, but it had tons of seating and was rather empty. The picture above was taken here.

[Erin says: had that girl taken that pie it would have been ON! Slice pies are made for slices, not for buying the whole thing at the per slice price!]

[Erin also says: I loved the park! Much less crowded and more picturesque than Union Square.]

First off, this is a big slice. As I picked it up I immediately liked the crust. It was thin, but not too thin, crispy and solid, enough to be held with one hand without folding. You can tell they use San Marzano tomatoes for the sauce, and I am more of a sauce person than a cheese person so this was a great slice! The flavors came together in harmony, not too much cheese, not too much sauce, just enough basil, and it had a nice presentation, as you can see.

[Erin says: the basil really adds to the pizza. Di Fara is still better, but Matt is right, this is one rockin' slice!]

Artichoke has replaced Joe's as my top New York slice. For those readers not from New York, many of the top places do not offer slices, while others are known as slice places, such as Joe's or Bravo. So I am happy that such quality is offered in slice form. At this price, for this quality, this is probably the best slice value in the city. A shorter line would be nice, but if I lived nearby I could see myself stopping for a slice on a pretty regular basis.