BRIAN’S 100 BEST ’19: PUMPKIN BUREK at TONY & TINA’S PIZZERIA

I’m counting down the 100 best dishes I tasted in 2019…

You’d think the thing to order at Tony & Tina’s Pizzeria would be the namesake pizza. But you’d be wrong. This Albanian owned pizzeria in Bronx’s Little Italy specializes in Albanian bureks, which are dough stuffed with filling. While the meat and cheese ones are satisfying, the most interesting and delicious is the pumpkin. The soft freshly baked chewy dough has a salty sourness and the pumpkin puree inside is sweet and starchy. No hints of the American addition of warming spices. This is only available at certain times of day and often sells out, so if they have it, don’t miss it.