[Photographs: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt]
So I've got to admit: sometimes when I write a Hangover Helper entry, I sorta stretch the truth a bit. I'm not always hungover when I'm seeking out the Sunday morning grease-and-chili-and-pickle bombs I'm drawn to after a night of drinking.
This, however, is not one of those times. Waiting for a table at Motorino at the ungodly hour of 11 a.m. on a Sunday, I could feel the last drops of two-too-many Sazeracs sloshing around in the empty chamber where my brain used to be. (After some minor pleading with my body that threatened to turn physical, my brain had made the wise decision to go sleep at a friends place and work things out the morning after.)
Motorino's Pizza Al'Uovo ($14), served only on Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., arrives at the table like an angry force, jets of steam shooting from the poofy, leopard-spotted rim, the layer of melted homemade fior di latte bubbling under a slick of dark red chili oil. Their pizzas are never a demure affair, but this guy is about at wild as they come.
If the fat from the mozzarella and chili oil aren't enough for you, you always have the option of breaking the soft yolks of the eggs baked into the top of it, letting their golden yolks ooze and meld with the cheese below. Hunks of smoky pancetta dot the pie, while a dusting of fresh grated Pecorino Romano brings some bite to the party.
A couple of slices of this pie along with a Mexican Coke or two saw my brain meekly knocking at the back door asking if it could please be let back in. Another hangover averted.
Motorino
349 East 12th Street, New York, NY 10003 (Between 1st and 2nd map); 212-777-2644; motorinopizza.com
About the author: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt is the Chief Creative Officer of Serious Eats where he likes to explore the science of home cooking in his weekly column The Food Lab. You can follow him at @thefoodlab on Twitter, or at The Food Lab on Facebook.