js76wisco…thats exciting news on the LA pizza front that Prince St is about to open…while I definitely won’t be going when there is a line, there should be some windows where we can get in there…Certainly, with or w/o NYC filtered water, I have no doubt that with the Morano family out here, the pizza will be great!
Here I am with another member of the pizza cognoscenti, Adam Kuban, the original founder of the Slice web site! Hmmmm, I can practically taste it!
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Going to try to hit it during the week, hopefully no line.
do they have calzone?
They have a filtration system that will replicate NYC water!!
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Are there still people believe that NYC water has anything to do with pizza ?
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LOL I personally think it’s bullshit. Out of all the ingredients, techniques, and other factors that go into making a pizza. Water is definitely on the bottom of the list imo
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I asked Kenji about this on Twitter and he said it’s not the water. NYC has a pizza culture, they’ve just been doing it longer so over the years it’s just gonna get better and better. People are competing with each other all the time.
Just like we have a taco culture here, in general we probably have better tacos here than In NYC.
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I’ve seen several blind taste tests that support this.
One on Food Network had three chefs make two pizzas each, one pizza used NYC tapwater and the chefs had no idea which was which.
Then they sampled each one of the pizzas and every chef preferred one pizza over the other and all three of them were the New York City tapwater.
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It’s nonsense.
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Considering the hundreds of pizzerias across all 5 boroughs, theres gotta be a lot of shitty pizza using that same NYC tap.
Makes sense what hungrydrunk says, they have a ingrained pizza culture. Just like how LA has better tacos, better donuts, it’s because it’s in our culture.
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what a great statistically relevant sample size.
True.
Interesting nonetheless as it was blind and each made the pizzas so they would be the same other than the water.
Again there were several taste tests I saw (never claiming they were definitive), but of course it will be taste subjective. There may be science as to why it works (calcium and magnesium) but no science to really explain why one tastes better to one person and not to another.
I think even if you want to say there is no difference in taste. The water is important to get consistency from NY to LA - how the dough handles, i would want to eliminate variables that might make the dough behave differently. There is a reason why coffee shops also spend a lot of $ on getting the mineral content right as well even though the average person won’t be able to tell.
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i can think of at least three, and no article i’ve seen claiming that it makes no difference has ever taken all of them into account:
purity (which includes the level of chlorine)
acidity (PH)
hardness (ppm of calcium/magnesium et al)
90% of NYC’s water comes from the catskill/delaware watershed about 120 miles north of NYC. the water goes to westchester county where it’s treated with chlorine, phosphoric acid and sodium hydroxide (and IIRC subjected to ultraviolet light) to a PH of 7.2.
new york watermaker, which markets a system designed to replicate the water of any geographical location (including NYC) claims that NYC water has a unique composition of total dissolved solids, calcium and magnesium in very specific proportions, plus that neutral pH which make a difference in how it reacts with gluten. their clients seem to agree.
i’d be curious to see if ivan ramen noticed a difference when he transplanted his ramen from tokyo to NYC. orkin devised his own ramen, which included determining the exact percentage of kansui (alkaline salts) to get the right consistency using tokyo water. if his ramen recipe needed tweaking, then i’d submit that tap water can make a difference in making dough.
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arrived 15 minutes before opening and was surprised to be the first one there. what a difference a week makes. @js76wisco, @hungryhungryhippos
got a whole pie and even straight out of the oven I was I bit disappointed the crust was still flaccid. after reheating in the toaster oven it was much better #teamreheat
this might be the prince of square slices but I still think the king is il romanista.
pizzette
after-pizza bang at the new pizza and sandwich shop from nancy silverton inside the citizen public market in culver city. shout out to the rooftop dining area.
margherita - mozzarella, tomato, basil & extra virgin olive oil
I wish I had uni for scale because they weren’t kidding, this pizzette was small. their slogan “every bite matters” is apropos, at $10+tt, 4 slices, 3 bites per slice, this was $1.10 per bite. the crust was thin and flaccid, the cornicione was airy and crisp, sauce was flavorful. next time i’ll stick with the stuffed pizzettes…
hand for scale
porchetta, roasted burnt onions, arugula, anchovy-caper-currant relish, fennel pollen
served cold with thinly sliced porchetta, this was fantastic. the onions and arugula reminded me a bit of the father’s office burger. @Dommy, @TheCookie, @NYCtoLA, @J_L, @paranoidgarliclover, @rlw, @Hungrydrunk, @attran99
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If I wasn’t so busy and it wasn’t so Covid-y out there… I would have gone today for lunch… I am very interested in the Pizzettes and glad to hear they are yummy! 
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Wait, is that an WHOLE slice? i first thought it was a partially eaten slice. The price doesn’t seem HORRIBLE, I guess, but I almost wonder if they should just slice a pie in half so get more to chew on.
Thanks for the heads up about the porchetta. I’ll bring some crushed potato chips for crunch. 
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