Sunday, July 4, 2010

Sauce Pizza: "Aiyyo, this slice is like Ziti, facin' me real TV, crash at high-speeds, strawberry kiwi."

EDIT 12.2.11: CLOSED. RIP, dawg.

Sorry if you can't see the pizzeria too well past this weird dad, he followed me around all day!

Okay, this place! At first I thought it was called "BEER PIZZERIA" and I was like, "woah, what a creative name." But actually it's called Sauce Pizzeria which is just as dumb but not as charming. Luckily it rules there! There is a crazy cramped back seating area with really dark color (like forest green!) naugahyde booths and dark stained wood. It is like, "let's take a small space and make it look smaller." I love it! There was a staircase that didn't go anywhere. I wish I had gone to the bathroom. I think I may start checking out the bathrooms at all the pizzerias from now on, if they are available to the public. The pizza guy was really nice. When I got a can of cola with my slice, he gave me a little cup of ice with it! It's such a small gesture but it meant so much to me.


This slice of pizza was pretty great! It had totally perfect ratios and the cheese and sauce combined really well. Instead of being two separate things they were one combined thing, but without being a big sloppy mess. It's a hard phenomenon to describe, but I think I've talked about it before. Like, it's important that the cheese and sauce integrate to a certain degree, which only happens if the slice is cooked adequately and the cheese melts enough. But be wary, you are walking on the edge of a precipice with no safety net! Because if it is cooked too much the cheese becomes a boiling and roiling ocean of molten dairy, poised to burn the tongue of any who dares get near it. Seriously, that shit is deadly!

Where was I? Oh yeah, this slice is so good. It was shiny with grease, but not flowing in torrents. Just enough of a little bit to make it nice and oily but not enough to prevent you from reading a newspaper for weeks afterwards. And the cheese, while not Totally Amazing, fell somewhere between Good and Great, which rules. The sauce, the sauce was incredible. Now I know why it's called Sauce Pizzeria. Ben Trogdon, who is a pizzaman himself, couldn't stop gushing about it. It tasted of tomatoes, but it was also very delicately seasoned. I can't quite place what was in it because I have never been good at pulling spice flavors out of cooked things, but trust me, it ruled. The crust was a perfect texture, crunchy with a little give, and fully cooked (I can't believe this is not a given and is actually something to applaud), and it worked really well with the flavors of the cheese and sauce. The heal of the crust (typically just called the crust. What am I doing here?) was delicious and tasted like really good bread.

While eating the pizza here, I learned that some time in the past, Mr. Trogdon and a companion drank a cup of coffee at every place that sells coffee in Olympia. What is it about me and my friends that makes us do these ridiculous, obsessive things? When pressed about it, Ben said, "well, coffee is basically the pizza of the Northwest" and we both shook our heads knowingly.

Rating:

Sauce Pizzeria
517 3rd Ave (34th & 35th)
New York, NY 10016

4 comments:

  1. Wow. That was Imperial Pizza for decades. Great little local joint. Sad to see them go. Glad they new guys are still cranking out good pies.

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  2. Went at 2PM.. all pies looked like they were sitting out all day... not appetizing looking at all. I walked out faster than I walked in.

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  3. Sadly, looks like they're closed; yelp says they have a "for rent" sign in the window.

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  4. Used to eat there back in the early nineties when it was Imperial as we lived nearby. They always had a good slice there.

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