Every week, I document another dish that impressed and satiated me during my food adventures around New York City
This is a little embarrassing, but when I was a kid, my favorite place to get pizza was from Papa John’s. I didn’t grow up in New York, so didn’t have quite the options or sophisticated pizza palate. But also, I was obsessed with the side of garlic butter dipping sauce that came with every order. I truly never ate pizza crust before this discovery.
Perhaps Sauce Pizzeria was similarly smitten with that dipping sauce because the East Village pizzeria includes a dipping sauce with each of their slices.
The sauce at Sauce, of course, is influenced by the chef-owner’s Italian grandmother – probably not his Papa John.
The pizza here is very good. I tried the Upside Down slice, in addition to the one I’m going to write about, and I enjoyed it. It was cheesier than it looked (which is usually a good thing) and had an expert level of char to the dough. There also was a bit of sharpness from the addition of pecorino. It may have lacked sauce, but the side of creamy tomato gravy made up for that.
My experience above earns this place a solid 8 out of 10, but the Al Pastor slice was something completely different. Normally al pastor are words that come before “taco,” not pizza.
For those that scoff at Hawaiian pizza with pineapple and ham, this might be a more classic alternative.
The same browned crust is mostly a base (not so different from a tortilla) for roasted pork, cilantro, pineapple sauce, pickled red onions, and jalapeños. The al pastor is one of my favorite taco fillings and it works just as well on a flatbread that is baked with mozzarella.
And in case you questioned whether this tasty creation can be considered a pizza, just dip that crust in the accompanying tomato sauce and you’ll be a convert. Price: $5 (slice)
| SAUCE PIZZERIA (between First and Second Avenue), East Village (646) 983-4007 |
| 345 East 12th Street |
| saucepizzeria.com |
