Starting At The Top - Lombardi's

I'd imagine that once upon a time, Little Italy in NYC was slightly less "little." I'd also imagine that this would be the ideal place to start on a hunt for delicious pizza in the city so nice they named it twice. The thing about pizza is there's a joint on nearly every corner where I'm from and there are die-hards that swear by their pizzeria being the best that money can buy. So I'll start by asserting the fact that there's LOTS of good pizza in NYC but there's a lot LESS great pizza.

On my journeys, I've been asked, "What makes great pizza?" I think the judging can be somewhat subjective but if you base it on three primary factors you can find your way to greatness a lot easier. I focus on the sauce, the cheese, and the dough/crust. Bland sauce makes for bland pizza, simple enough. If your sauce is uninspired, I'm uninspired to eat it. I want to taste the wonderful herbs that are ubiquitous in Italian cooking - oregano, parsley, and basil (give me fresh basil and I'll be your BFF Mr. Pizza Man **note that if you do not want me as your BFF lay off the fresh basil) Moving on to the cheese, I don't want my pizza to be smothered in so much cheese that I can't truly enjoy it. I want a blend and balance because the mozz can tend to be a bit salty when it's just globbed on top. Lastly, the dough/crust needs to be cooked well enough to have a little crunch, thick enough to hold the pizza together and not just flop over, and thin enough to not feel like I'm chewing and chewing and chewing to get it down.

To sum up - flavorful sauce, easy on the cheesy, and a thinnish crust and then it's on to business.

Back to the mission, pizza. First stop - Lombardi's. Why here? Well, they kinda started the whole pizza thing in the good ol' US of A back in 1905. That's what the plaque to the right says and I believe EVERYTHING I read on plaques. If that's not good enough, nearly every listing for the best pizza in NYC has Lombardi's in the top spot (if not top 3.) We got two samplings from Lombardi's - a white pie and a pie with meatball, sausage, and pepperoni.

The white pie was more a work of art than a pizza pie. Notice the way the ricotta is on top of the pizza, reminiscent of meringues with their nice fluffy peaks and delicate hints of golden brown. Still looking? Yes that is fresh basil and it has also received some gentle browning courtesy of Lombardi's oven. The cheese was so delicious, spread nicely, and flavored with the perfect amount of garlic. Lastly, the crust was to die for. Don't believe me? My friend said, "I never eat the crust and I can't get enough of this." Don't believe her? Well, you should.

Moving right along I did mention another pie so I've got to give the low down. Yes I am a meat lover but I typically do not go loading on the meat on my pizza. Rather, I keep it more subtle since at many pizzerias, more toppings means a thicker, doughier pizza and that just aint my thing. But, Lombardi's proves me and my judgmental ways wrong by serving up this tasty treat. Loaded with generous amounts of each meaty topping, this pie still had flavors that stood out on their own merit. The homemade meatballs (made with pork and beef) were delicious. The pepperoni was small and thinly sliced but added the right flavor, same goes for the sausage. But what about the sauce DJ? Oh well this is the kind of sauce many of you wish your grandmother would make - and it was on a pizza!

I'm not sure if pizza heaven exists but this is one heavenly pizza. If you've been here, go again. If you've never gone, stop thinking about it and do it now. Chances are you're going to be waiting on a decent line anyway.

Rated - 5/5 as in pizza perfection.