DISH OF THE WEEK in New York: Old Town at SRETCH PIZZA

I know he works food magic, but I was amazed that Wylie Dufresne read my mind when composing the menu for his new pizzeria.

Stretch Pizza, which feels like a modern somewhat high-end pizza restaurant, is nestled in the Flatiron District, pretty adjacent to the sceney Nomad area. As expected from the man who truly brought molecular gastronomy to the masses, the pizza menu here is a bit left of center.

Sure, there’s the Classic NY and the Pepperoni, but you also have an Everything Pizza (with cream cheese and the ubiquitous bagel spice) and the El Cubano, modeled after a Cuban sandwich.

But there was one pizza that had just about all the things I love on it. The Old Town.

Most people might be confused by the list of ingredients, but I am not most people. I was so excited when I reach this pie is topped with mushrooms (my current favorite food), muenster cheese (my favorite cheese as a kid), and pumpernickel (sure, why not?). It has all the funky, earthy notes that I love.

I never had the opportunity (yet) to taste the sandwich this is inspired by, but I have been to Old Town Bar many times in the past (most notably for their hot dog) and am thrilled the historic NY bar gets a shout-out on this menu. Their namesake pizza is just awesome too, if you ask me.

The puffy, well-stretched dough was crunchy along the edges with nice big bubbles and a light chewy texture. I could tell the pizzas here were top notch from the very first bite.

I really loved the tang the muenster cheese and garlic cream provided underneath the meaty umami mushrooms. It’s not as rich as you might expect, which I appreciated. Some crunch and sweetness came in hits from the pumpernickel crumbles throughout which was tamed by salty parmesan shavings.

This was one heck of a pizza and checked a lot of boxes for me personally. It was far from a stretch. Price: $24

Is Stretch Pizza the best pizza in NY? Although I have not tried the more straightforward pies as of this writing, I could tell from the puffy dough and brilliant mix-up of ingredients that this is one to keep an eye on. 8.5 out of 10.