Sunday, September 27, 2009

Giovanni's Pizza Restaurant: "If you read the Daily News, you already know I like this place."

After Che Bella, Gabby and I strolled down to the next pizzeria on my list, only to find out that it wasn't even there, and the number listed for it in the phone book was an out of service cell phone. Weird sketchy times, indeed! So we hustled over to Giovanni's Pizza Restaurant and were immediately overtaken by the smell of delicious pizza as soon as we walked in.


The place smelled phenomenal, and the guy behind the counter looked like the perfect 'I don't give a fuck' pizzadude. Greasy apron, shirt halfway untucked, backward hat just barely holding the hair out of his face. I used the word shlubby to describe him in the Daily News, and some people took umbrage with that. (Most notably Daily News Commenter Nomorracism, who remarked, " Isn't that a jewish saying? What does it mean though? It sounds disrespectful, but that's not suprising since they think they are better than everyone else who is not jewish." Thank you Nomorracism, for your insightful anti-semitism.) I just want to take a minute to clear the air and mention that I did not use the word "shlubby" in an even remotely pejorative sense. As a lifelong shlub myself, I feel a certain kinship with anyone else who can't seem to keep their shirt tucked in. And this particular guy's brand of slovenliness was almost post-coital looking, with Making of the Pizza being akin to the Physical Act of Love. And such good love (or pizza) had just been made, that homeboy could not bother to fix his appearance afterwards, because in light of that transcendent experience, who cares about societal norms regarding tucked shirts or restrained locks?


The pizza: guy just handed me a slice, perfect temperature, right off a tray behind the counter. When I come back here, I'm gonna ask to have my slice reheated a bit because I prefer that extra crunch, but holy zombie Moses, this pizza was pretty damn good even lacking in such an elementary and important textural factor. The cheese was top quality, the dough was made perfectly, thrown perfectly, given ample time to rise. But the sauce was really what made this slice. It was sweet in this really natural way, like fresh, homegrown tomatoes right off the vine. It was definitely spiced, but all it really tasted like was delicious fresh tomatoes, and that taste added an element to this otherwise pretty good slice that put it right over the edge into the realm of greatness. As Gabby was eating his he said, "eating this slice is actually making me more hungry!" And not in that way where you are bummed out that you're eating something so you get hungry as an excuse to eat a new thing afterwards, but in a way where you are so pumped on something's intricate and totally awesome flavors that you get hungrier just thinking about it as you eat it.

S & D Giovannis
1011 Columbus Ave
New York, NY 10025

7 comments:

  1. man, please: come here in Italy to eat a REAL pizza!
    ...sorry but i see only slice of sh*t on USA...

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  2. For me, the picture of the slice doesn't really do it the justice your review describes. Isn't it funny how this can translate sometimes?

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  3. been there, pizza was great!

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  4. your website and that means you personally are responsible for me stealing a piece of pizza from the grocery store today. looking at the pics of all these slices got me in the mood for pizza. i ordered slices and said i would pay for them "up front" instead of at the deli section but didn't. thanks sliceharvester! you are a bad influence but your pictures are oh so good!

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  5. the graph on shlubbiness might be one of my favorite written passages that I have read in a while. "And this particular guy's brand of slovenliness was almost post-coital looking..." pure genius. keep up the good work my friend.

    -Abe

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  6. I second abes comment, hilariously true genius observation bro. I'll shake your hand when I see u at the bar later

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  7. Arrived here about noon on a Tues. I saw 1 tiny slice laying there. I usually order 1 slice at a time to get hot pizza, but when I saw that, I promptly ordered 2 slices and a diet coke. “I have a fresh pie coming out in 5 minutes” said the man. YESSSSSSSSSSSS! 2 fresh, hot slices. Wasn’t cheap at $6.25, but it was good! Sauce had bits of tomato in it. Roof of my mouth slightly burnt. Fresh pizza is always worth the trip.

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