Daily Slice gives a quick snapshot each weekday of a different slice or pie that the folks at the Serious Eats empire have enjoyed lately.
[Photograph: Robyn Lee]
Wandering the mega-mercato Eataly in search of a quick snack can be tough. And it's easy to lose hope when you learn that the pizza at Rossopomodoro comes with a fork and knife... and a wait that sometimes approaches two hours. Less obvious—and much less of a headache—is the by-the-slice operation tucked between the bread and pasta counters.
Your choices here are straightforward, and each cost around $4. Margherita and something like a marinara (heavy on the oregano) are the two mainstays. Other squares might get covered with a thick slices of prosciutto cotto, green and black olives, or chili-flecked broccoli rabe.
First off, let's be clear: this is not the thin, crisp pizza al taglio you'd find in Rome. It's a much closer cousin to focaccia genovese, soft and spongy. Chasing my best memories of Genoa, I chose a piece piled with onions.
Blond and rather bland, the crust was insufficiently salted and, to my mind, under-baked. The olive oil soaked up into ever pore of the dough, creating a floppy base for the heavy-handed toppings. The onions themselves were still crunchy. They'd been barely sweated rather than caramelized. I would've liked to see them with more color, more sweetness.
That's just it: from this particular slice of let's-call-it-focaccia, I wanted more. Next time, I might take just a few more minutes to order a whole Neapolitan pie from Rossopomodoro for takeout.
Eataly
200 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10010 (map)
212-229-2560; eatalyny.com