NYC — Spring 2012: Pizza Mezzaluna

After scarfing down the two cupcakes at the hotel in the late afternoon, my mom and I weren't hungry until much later in the evening. We were completely exhausted from walking so much in the day, so we decided to stick to Soho to look for a good place to eat dinner since my brother was picking my dad up from the airport. We came across Pizza Mezzaluna and decided that, despite its small size, it looked clean and "friendly" enough (as opposed to the dark, dank restaurants lining up the street, which, to my mother, are obviously menacing and up to no good), so we ended up dining there.

Cesare a modo nostro: Caesar salad with crispy prosciutto and hard-boiled eggs

Fresh tagliolini pasta with Bolognese sauce

Margherita pizza with tomato, mozzarella, and basil

The theme of our dinner was simple and classic. The Caesar salad was nothing fancy, but had just the right dressing-to-salad ratio, and was flavourfully amped up with the crispy prosciutto — a welcome substitute for bacon bits — and a generous sprinkling of parmesan. And, of course, you know I love anything with hard-boiled eggs. The tagliolini pasta is made fresh and cooked perfectly al dente, with aromatic, well-seasoned, meaty Bolognese sauce that isn't too thick or too runny. And, of course, the pizza. Pizza Mezzaluna is ultimately known for their Neapolitan-style pizza, cooked in a wood-burning oven. The crust is light and minimally puffy, properly charred on the bottom, and relatively thin but substantial enough to hold any toppings. Each slice is also pliable enough (e.g. not cardboard-hard) to fold in half to eat New York-style. Generous blobs of Grande fior de latte and fragrant basil round out this simple, but ridiculously tasty pie. If you're ever in Soho, Pizza Mezzaluna is a really great option for those who want classic, authentic, well-executed (and reasonably-priced!) Italian food in an intimate, but cheerful, setting with no attitude.

Pizza Mezzaluna

146 West Houston Street

New York, NY 10012

(212) 533-1242