I stopped last week for lunch at Joe's Brooklyn Pizza in Henrietta, one of my local favorites. One slice is often enough for me at lunchtime, but when I'm faced with Joe's array, it's tough to go with just one slice.
So I got two: a thin "Taste of the Old Neighborhood" slice, and a thick Grandma's slice. They made for an interesting pair. Both use the same basic toppings, with the addition of mozzarella on the thick Sicilian slice. Here's the rundown:
Old Neighborhood: tomato sauce, extra virgin olive oil, fresh garlic, shallots, fresh basil, and grated Pecorino Romano. Again, the Grandma's is the same, but adds aged, a/k/a processed, mozzarella.
Tough to pick a winner here. As for the TOTON slice, I find myself liking this kind of pizza, which harks back to a style that was prevalent in the early 20th century, before Americans starting blanketing all their pizza with mozzarella. Obviously if you like a lot of cheese on your pizza, or if you don't much care for red sauce, this is not for you, but to me, it's hard to beat the combination of tomato sauce, basil and garlic. Eating this is like enjoying a slice of bread that's been dipped into a pot of homemade spaghetti sauce, simmering on the stove. Delicious.
I'm sure I'd enjoy both these styles, on either a thick or thin crust, but I think going with thin for the Old Neighborhood slice and thick for the Grandma's was a good move. Sicilian pizza seems to call for a little something extra to balance out the thick crust, and the mozzarella/sauce combination does that well.I guess I was enjoying these so much I forgot to get a photo of the undersides, but if you've been to Joe's or read any of my prior posts about Joe's, it should come as no surprise that both crusts were terrific. The thin slice was crackly, crisp yet chewy, the Sicilian breadlike, with just enough crunch underneath. (I did think to take a side view of the Grandma's slice, as you can see.)
Now about that giveaway. Proprietor Joe Staffieri has graciously offered to provide not one, but two $25 gift cards for me to give away to two lucky readers. To enter, send me an email at ROCPizzaGuy@gmail.com, with "Joe's" in the title line. The deadline to enter is next Friday, July 15, at noon. I will select two winners at random. One entry per person, please.
Joe's Brooklyn Pizza
1100 Jefferson Rd., Henrietta NY 14623
585-424-JOES (5637)
6720 Pittsford Palmyra Rd., Fairport NY 14450
585-364-0361
Mon - Wed 11 AM - 9 PM
Thurs - Sat 11 AM - 10 PM
Sunday noon - 8 PM
Great review! We frequent Joe's in Perinton. I discovered recently that they use the same amount of dough for their 18" Large as their 20" XLarge. Hence, the XLarge is thinner. Their slices come from an XLarge. I much prefer their XL slices over the Large.
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