LEO/LHB: Here's anuddah New York pie. Got a problem widdat?

[Robin Garr]

LEO's Eats with Louisville HotBytes.com

Pizza originated in prehistoric times, food experts say, when Stone Age tribes pounded wheat grains into a coarse batter and baked rough rounds on hot stones. Then they would top this primitive flatbread with whatever roadkill or gleanings were available. They didn't call it "pizza," but we think they probably called it good.

Tomatoes and cheese weren't added for a few millennia, but by the time pizza as we know it was created in Naples and emigrated to the New World in the Ellis Island days, aficionados were surely already fighting over whose style was best.

Locally, folks who've tasted the joys of New York City pizza engage in a constant quest to find something akin to the Italian-immigrant style of pie that's sold on almost every street corner in Gotham. It's not an easy quest, as Louisville's own pizza form (perhaps best demonstrated in the mile-high Impellizzeri pie) has earned a strong following in its own right.

Nevertheless, the quest continues, and when I heard that Perfetto Pizzeria had recently opened in the Plainview quarters last occupied by the short-lived Slice of NY, I rushed eastward to check it out.

They've spruced the place up a bit, but it still has the feel of a New York street-corner pizzeria dropped into a suburban Louisville shopping center. The walls are dark forest green; the floor is faux red brick. A gallery of old black-and-white photos adorns the walls, and black-and-white oilcloth covers the tables. A little white cupboard at the back holds plates and cups, adding a nostalgic family kitchen feel. The staff is warm and welcoming, service is cordial, and the pizzas have a New York accent, even if the owners, I'm told, hail from Wisconsin.

Pizza is available by the slice, lunch hours only, at $2.89 plus two bits per topping.

Read the full review online. Because there's an apostrophe in the URL, this link takes you to an entry page from which you have to click through to get to the full report on the LEO Website:
http://www.leoweekly.com/dining/here's-anuddah-new-york-pie-got-problem

Alternatively, read it at this link on LouisvilleHotBytes.com.

Perfetto Pizzeria
9910 Linn Station Road
426-4644
Robin Garr's rating: 82 points

More NYC pie?

Quickly told, Tony Boombozz Pizza is developing a "Brooklyn Pizza" that's also a fair match for the real thing. Served only as a full, extra-large pie to ensure folding-size slices ($12.99 for cheese), it's currently available only off-menu at the Springhurst location. Luigi's at Seventh and Main offers a good replication of NYC pizza, as does Spinelli's on Baxter, which hails from Philadelphia but isn't far off the New York City mark.

Spoiler, for anyone who doesnt want to read the whole post:
I love it!!!


I pretty much agree with everything written above about Perfetto pizza. I love it.

The wood oven, I agree, would make a difference, as the heat is what gives the New York pizza it's crunch. I noticed that the pizza is cooked on metal grates, which leave a grid on the bottom of the pizza. Maybe if the pizza were placed directly onto the oven bottom it would be a bit crunchier. (I dont know how to run a pizza place or make a pizza....but I have, do and always will eat a ton of pizza and this may give me some insight.)

I've been there twice, so far. Everyone working there is polite and quick to help with whatever is needed. They have real garlic powder, which is a big plus in my book. There is something absolutely revolting about garlic-butter. (Who the heck came up with the idea of butter with pizza? Sacriledge!!)

I usually ask for my Pepperoni on the side and I like to eat it raw on the pizza (It's a cold-cut, after all) and they serve a generous portion. (This works well because one of my kids doesnt eat pizza but loves pepperoni. How it is that one of my kids would not like pizza is a mystery to me. It should be running thru their veins.)

Getting back to the point, I very much like Perfetto pizza and will probably end up there every weekend. Until Perfetto showed up, I would make the trip into the city for Luigi's during their truncated Saturday hours. Now, when I want some New York pizza I head to Perfetto.

Have a good day and a happy holiday!!

Steve

Robin,
Thanks for reminding me of Luigi's. That place does have good pizza but it always seems to fall through the cracks as a downtown lunch spot.

I'm really looking forward to trying the pizza. I'm planning on making a trip out sometime in the next week. As I posted earlier, Cafe Classico is the gold standard in Louisville for my redneck palate and I miss Primo terribly. I have tried Liugi's and very much enjoyed the Pizza, but to be honest I had a little sticker shock there. My wife and I had stopped in for lunch and had a total of three slices and two cokes and the bill was North of $20. I didn't really pay attention to it since I did enjoy the pizza. But then I went back the following week and ordered a medium 2-topping to take out and the bill came to around $24. Believe me, I have no problem paying for quality, but this just seemed a little outlandish. I ordered sausage and pepperoni, not truffles and imported proscuitto. Anyway, can't way to try the new pie entry.

Last weekend Perfetto had a Italian Fest day where various Italian dishes were prepared. I can remember 3 of the 4 dishes cooked:

Gnocchi
Eggplant Parm
Stuffed Shells (Meat and Cheese)

I had taken the kids to Perfetto for pizza on that day (a weekly pilgrimage) and ordered my wife some stuffed shells. (She had just gotten home from the hospital after giving birth to my newest little girl, Emma) The order was 2 meat and 2 cheese stuffed shells...I think the total was about $7.00...cant recall exactly.

I brought them home and shared them with my wife....and found out that there was a very serious problem. The problem being that I didnt get enough shells.

It's been a while since I've been back to NY and havent had any shells, Lasagna or Baked Ziti other than my own in a while. (I'm not too shabby a cook.) In all honesty, these shells were better that my own and were damned good!!! Eating these shells broke my heart with homesickness.

I dont know when the next Italian Fest is going to be...but, if I hear about it, I'll be there.

(I dont usually write reviews on here, I'm kinda picky and dont want to subject everyone on the board to my b*tching. The reason I'm posting about Perfetto's is because I really enjoy the food there and would like to see them thrive. There are a ton of places here which claim to have N.Y. style pizza...there are only two places which, in my opinion, truly make N.Y. style pizza. Perfetto's and Luigi's. Hero's used to have decent pizza, but since the name and management change, they just dont cut it anymore in my book.)

Have a great day!!

Steve

My personal rankings:

1. Boombozz: The Brooklyn Pie is not on the menu. I had to ask for it.
2. Luigi's: Only #2 due to their limited hours.
3. Perfetto: Crust is a little on the thick side for me
4. Spinelli's: Used to be my favorite pizza in the area, but my last three trips have been horrible. Soggy, Soggy, Soggy, pizza.

Steve,

Welcome to Hotbytes! Love the review- thanks.
Did you try the Gnocchi? I LOVE good Gnocchi and I don't know of any local sources that are not more upscale dining.

Deb

The only way to make a real NY pizza is to use water from NYC! I've heard this from more than a few transplanted pizza guys in different parts of the country. Baking is like chemistry and there is something about the NYC water that makes the dough come out the right consistency.
As far as Spinelli's, last time I went I just told them to throw it back in the oven for another minute. That helped a lot.

Just a note: I do not think the owners have ever "claimed" their pizza as NY. I think we gave them that label. Someone correct me if I am wrong.

I agree, they never said they were a "New York Pizza" place. But, like Robin said, the pizza does "have a New York accent".

I agree about the water...Louisville water doesn't make the same dough as New York water....but what are restaurants supposed to do? All they can do is make the best pizza they can with the available resources.

The same issue with water affects bagels here, as well.

Maybe a restaurant can get New York water shipped, somehow, to Louisville....is it really worth the trouble and expense? There are plenty of people here in Louisville who have never had a true "New York style" pizza, don't know the difference and may not even care. Is the "New Yorker transplanted to Louisville" demographic large enough to make water shipping feasible?

I don't worry about getting New York pizza in Louisville...if I want real New York pizza, I'll fly to New York. With the difference in water and what's required to get the water here you cant expect restaurants to go all out trying to reproduce a New York pizza....that's just selfish.

To wrap up this diatribe:

I love the pizza at Perfetto's and don't want it to be anything that it's not.

Just enjoy it for what it is....I do.

Steve

Since falling in love with Luigis's and then the Brooklyn style at Boombozz, we've been leery of trying any other NY style pizza. After reading through this thread, it looks like Mike & I have to head over to Perfetto and try them out. I'm also curious about the shells - I am a very fussy pasta person and usually perfer to just make it myself.

I finally got over to Perfetto today for lunch. Had gone last Sunday only to find them closed, and the same on Monday...might help if I read their hours of operation on the door.

I'm a big guy (trying to lose some weight), but one piece of pepperoni was all I could do, It was tasty albeit a bit greasy. Four napkins helped soakup the extra grease, and then the slice was gone in 10 minutes.

A diet coke helped wash it down.

I give the slice a 6.5 out of 10, and the value was good. I agree that a hotter oven would make the crust crisper and better.