Pizza at Capizzi in Hell's Kitchen, NYC, New York

I was recently invited to Capizzi, a Pizza and Wine Bar located in Hell's Kitchen, right behind Port Authority. Capizzi gets its name from a town in Sicily, where the owner's grandparents and mother are coming from. The location is definitely not ideal, most of the people going up of 42nd street to find restaurants.

There, we met with Joseph "Joe" Calcagno (left), who explained to us that he wanted the restaurant to feel like home, like it was at his grandmother (Nonna in Italian). 

That is why the wall is full of artifacts coming from his grandma, as well as photos of Joe's family, one of them being 7 years old Joe with his dad Paul. Joe's father and grandfather have been in the restaurant industry, making it somewhat natural to follow their footsteps.

He also placed some elements that remind him his family and childhood, such as the refrigerator that was similar to the one his grandma had. In the back of the room, is the kitchen where you can see them prepare the pizza, throwing the dough in the air to shape it.

Joe wanted the kitchen to be open so people can see what is going on. Looking carefully, there are few things you can notice. First is the wood burning oven that cooks pizza at more than 800 degrees for approximately 2 minutes.

You definitely feel the heat when you are close to it! Second is what is hanging in the kitchen.

Yes, it is peppers that you see drying there. Because at Capizzi, there are plenty of things that are made on premises and not bought dry, such as crushed red pepper.

Or oregano:

Joe told us that most of the dishes of his menu are made from fresh ingredients. He prides himself in buying the best products he can find so his customers can enjoy some great quality food, similar to how it was when he was a kid: what they were buying had to be the best, even if it meant going in different stores to find it. As he puts it: "One bakery might have the best bread, but not the best cake".

After we sat and Joe went to the kitchen, one of his staff member who did not know that Joe was taking care of us, started to describe the menu so we could order. We truly appreciated the fact that he knew the dishes and described it in a way that made us want to order most of it; it is always frustrating when you go to a restaurant, ask questions about the food and realize that the staff has no idea what it is or how it is made. Later, Joe explained that he eats with his staff, meals being a good opportunity to discuss matters of the restaurant, as well as knowing each and every dish.

My drink of choice that evening was their homemade sangria that I was curious to try; it had a nice fruity taste and was made with a blend of wines. Dangerous drink for sure as it is the kind that you would drink like you would drink milk.

So, it was time to try the food! We started off with arancini, that are fried rice balls that are breaded.

There were two kinds: red peppers and spinach & cheese. Both were really good and not dry. I admit that my favorite was the red peppers one, although the spinach one, with all the cheese in it was fantastic too.

Then, we got their arugula salad that is one of their best sellers. It was composed of arugula, tomatoes, goat cheese, walnuts, cranberries, onions and green apples.

Although a bit overdressed (the dressing was made of olive oil and balsamic vinegar), it was a delicious dish, that married sweet and tart flavors perfectly. It was fresh and had a nice crunch thanks to the tomatoes, and mainly to the green apples.

The third appetizer was burrata.

They do not make the burrata at Capizzi and they buy from one of Joe's friends. It was simply dressed with olive oil, so creamy and delicious; the vegetables (tomatoes, peppers and artichokes) as well as the speck were a perfect addition to it. 

Then came the pizza. The first one was the margherita pizza.

As Joe explained, all pizza use San Marzano tomatoes, Mozzarella and Italian olive oil. However, Joe uses American flour, simply because he prefers. He in fact characterized his pizza to be between Neapolitan and American. The margherita was delicious: moist, there was a lot of cheese on it.

The second pizza was made with speck, arugula and four different cheeses: pecorino, provolone, parmesan and mozzarella. 

Similar to the margherita pizza, the outside was puffed up and it had a nice char. The crust had a slight crunch that faded in the center.

The speck was crispy, rendering some additional saltiness to the pizza.

Again there, there was a lot of cheese.

The third pizza was the eggplant parmesan.

I admit that, when Joe asked if we liked it, I said yes, mainly for Jodi as it is one of her favorite, but also to be polite. Well, I was pleased that we got it: it was the best eggplant parmesan pizza I ever had. I know it is a bold statement, but I will explain to you why: most of the time, you barely taste the eggplant, there is too much breading and it is oily. At Capizzi, they roast the vegetables in the morning and then put them on the pizza right before cooking it for two minutes in the oven, retaining the moisture and ensuring that the vegetables on the pizza are cooked. So, there was no breading and the taste of the roasted eggplant came through deliciously.

The fourth and last pizza was made with pepperoni and sausage:

Imagine that Jodi, who does not really like sausage and pepperoni loved it! It was definitely high quality meat: tasty and not oily at all, it had a nice kick. 

For sure, we could not eat all these delicious pizza and brought some home...

But Joe really wanted us to try their homemade desserts and we could not say no (it would have been rude, right?).

It was composed of:

Mini cannoli:

Tiramisu:

Pannacotta:

All of the desserts were really good: light and not too sweet. My favorite was the pannacotta that had a great texture, a bit denser than a flan.

I finished the meal with an espresso:

As well as some homemade lemonade that was nicely acid and not too sweet.

Talking to Joe was a real pleasure because we could feel the passion for what he does and the importance he attaches to the quality of his food. One may think that Capizzi is pricey , but taking into consideration the ingredients used, I do not think so. Think about it: why do we accept to pay $15 for a burger? Because we expect the meat to be of better quality. Same applies to any food and why not to pizza. If you are not ready to pay the price, there are plenty of $1 slice pizza around, but you will get what you pay for and it will not be the same quality as Capizzi.

Enjoy (I did)! 

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And Remember: I Just Want To Eat!

Please note that I was contacted directly by the restaurant or a PR and that the meal was complimentary. However, the opinions expressed in my blog are 100% my own!