Grimaldi's

Occasion: Post speed-dating debrief dinner with Mamie and Sheila
Location: Grimaldi's on Old Fulton St in Brooklyn (grimaldis.com)
Edibles: pizza, natch - one with mushroom and pepperoni; one with sausage and roasted peppers

Musings: OK, y'all, I know this place is supposed to be legendary... but I walked out feeling like it's kind of overrated. I mean, they make some good pizza, but it's not good enough by itself to get me out into the hinterlands, a.k.a. the outer boroughs.

The dough for the crust is really nice and chewy - this is a pie where I'd actually eat the crusts. But the slice itself is soggy and limp. The sauce was bland and watery. And you certainly don't go to Grimaldi's for the ambiance. So what's the big deal, exactly?

Eataly

Occasion: Dinner with Josh
Location: Pasta / Pizza station at Eataly, on 5th between 23rd and 24th (newyork.eataly.it)
Edibles: Fettucine with oxtail ragu for me; pesto lasagna for Josh; tiramisu and gelato for dessert

Musings: After two failed visits (driven out by the crowds and long waits both times), I finally managed to eat here. The trick is clearly to come early - like, 5 or 6pm - and on a weekday.

As it was a cold and dreary walk over, my first thought was to get me some carbs. Off to the Pasta / Pizza station. We had a short wait for our table, and passed the time by wandering around. There's plenty to browse and drool over, so the wait is not a complete chore. And there are samples to be had! I nibbled on some celery root shavings with olive oil.

Our meal at Pasta / Pizza was pretty good overall. To start, I was pleased that they do a generous pour on the wine, and that there were lots of choices sub-$10.

A small step backward with the antipasto plate. It's not cheap at $13 and the portions of each are miniscule. I'd not get this again.

Really good, fresh, al dente noodles. My fettucine was crying out for some grated cheese, but it was never offered. I also stuck my fork in Josh's plate, and while I liked the flavor of the lasagna, it's pretty heavy with béchamel and a whole plate would have been too much for me.

We left Pasta / Pizza for dessert. I got a scoop of pear and vanilla at the gelato stand - $5 a pop for a small cup. It got a little cloying towards the end, but the flavor is really unique and memorable. Josh's chocolate was nice too, but you can get the same thing at any number of places.

I also got a divine tiramisu cup - just couldn't resist. $6.

Eataly has a casual, marketplace ambiance, but you'll probably end up spending as much as if you went to a proper restaurant. I'd definitely come back to try the seafood place, and the vegetable place. It'd also be good for dessert and coffee, maybe after a Shack burger.

Five Points

Occasion: Dinner with the girls - Abby, Jill and Elizabeth
Location: Five Points on Great Jones between Lafayette and Bowery (fivepointsrestaurant.com)
Edibles: I had a couple of raw oysters, followed by the spaghetti and meatball special; the girls shared two pizzas

Musings: Meh. Five Points is a restaurant that I occasionally myself dining at, simply because the reservations are easily had. I think the food is okay at best and overpriced for sure.

One of the pizzas smelled so strongly of truffles it was almost nauseating. Jill agreed it was heavy-handed.

My oysters were good. But they don't really get credit for that - they're not cooked at all, are they? The meatballs in my dish were tough and gamey. I wasn't impressed by the homemade pasta either; I've honestly had dried pasta that was better.

[Postscript: Take a pass on this place and go to Great Jones Cafe instead. Better food and cheaper too.]

Pala

Occasion: Birthday dinner for Elizabeth!
Location: Pala on Allen between Stanton and Houston (palapizza.com)
Edibles: caponata and risotto balls to start; the porri e salsiccia (pork sausage, leeks, sundried tomatoes and pink peppercorns) and bufala cruda (buffalo mozzarella, cherry tomatoes and fresh basil) pizzas

Musings: Great place for a casual midweek get-together. (Or a first date - nice dim lighting!) We were seated promptly even though the space is pretty small. The food came quickly, and was both tasty and reasonably priced.

A big thumbs up on the caponata. It was a nice big dish for $8, and the veggies were very fresh and vibrant. The risotto balls were decent, but nothing to write home about.

As for the pizzas, the bufala was definitely the plain Jane. However, the salsiccia had A LOT of flavors going on, and it was nice to be able to take break from it. They're good complements for each other.

Bonus - it's pretty much door-to-door for me on the bus. I'll definitely be back.

Otto

Occasion: Dinner with Alfred, in from Toronto for the long weekend.
Location: Otto on 5th Ave at 8th (ottopizzeria.com)
Edibles: three veggies to start (I think it was the beets, the mushrooms and the summer squash); a prosciutto pizza; rigatoni with sausage

Musings: My love for all things Batali continues. I can't believe I haven't been here in over a year!

Otto is an old faithful. The food is reliably tasty and the prices are reasonable. It's casual, dim, loud. And I'm always tickled when they've got the train station schedule board (pictured above) going, that lets you know when your table is ready.

As I've mentioned before, the veg guy at a Batali restaurant is always top-notch. For $4, you get a nice ramekin of the vegetable antipasto of your choice. I recommend that you get several, and don't be shy about asking for more bread. It's always my favorite part of an Otto meal.

For the main course, we considered - but ultimately chickened out of - getting the lardo pizza. We were told by our waiter that it has no sauce or cheese; it's just a crust draped with lardo. Now, I like me some pork fat but it's quite a commitment for two people to split one of these babies. I'd definitely like to try a slice some other time. If you feel the same way, call me. Maybe we can get a group together.

[Note: I also recommend the pizza with the egg - it's simple, but intriguing and yummy. For dessert, the olive oil ice-cream sundae is a good choice. It's got lots of weird toppings but, somehow, it all works together.]

La Pizza Fresca

Occasion: Dinner with Abby and Elizabeth
Location: La Pizza Fresca Ristorante on 20th between Broadway and Park (lapizzafrescaristorante.com)
Edibles: I had a half-portion of the orechiette with sausage and broccoli rabe; we also shared two pizzas, one margherita and one prosciutto

Musings: Thumbs down on this place. First, they need to get an AC. Or stop being so cheap about turning it on. It was sweltering inside.

Second, the chef really needs to get off his high horse. Elizabeth wanted the prosciutto baked into the pizza. The waiter returned and reported that the chef didn't think it would taste good that way. We maintained that that's how we wanted it. The waiter returned a second time and said the chef refused to prepare the pizza as we'd asked. (Let me clarify - the waiter was in no way at fault. In fact, the poor guy looked pretty miserable and apologetic.)

I was ready to march into the kitchen and give the chef a talking-to, but Abby and Elizabeth convinced me to wait until after dinner. I mean, when a diner wants his steak cooked to kingdom come, the kitchen is obliged to prepare it that way!

Ultimately, the pizza arrived with the prosciutto baked in. But what a hassle. Not like we don't have PLENTY of other choices for pizza in the city.

99¢ Fresh Pizza

Occasion: Snack time! Any time!
Location: 99¢ Fresh Pizza on 34th between 2nd and 3rd
Edibles: pizza, natch

Musings: This place is not good news for my waistline. Walking past it four to eight times a day + the no-brainer price of 99¢ = a LOT of pizza. I have eaten more pizza since this place opened a few weeks ago than I probably ate in the entirety of 2009.

I think this pizza is as good as anything else you can find in the vicinity for three to four times the price but you need to manage your expectations, as we lawyers would say. The crust is bready and chewy (though I think they should keep it in the oven longer to develop some crunch), the cheese is decent, the service is fast. Business is brisk so the pizza's usually pretty fresh.

You can get toppings for 50¢ apiece, but that seems to undermine the whole point of 99¢ pizza. I load on the free "toppings" of parmesan, black pepper and Italian herbs from the little shakers. Nostalgia - just like I used to do as a student...

Motorino - Pizza Crawl Stop #4

Location: Motorino on 12th St between 1st and 2nd (motorinopizza.com)
Edibles: cremini mushroom and sweet sausage pizza, margherita pizza

Musings: Our last stop. Impressively, nine of eleven people who started the day lasted to the finish line. No one was, by any stretch of the imagination, hungry at this point but many were able to find a second wind.

Motorino is a fancier (and more expensive) place than the others we went to on the crawl, aimed at the same foodie audience as a Pulino's or Otto. We luckily got there in the late afternoon when the restaurant was mostly empty. Still, they were pretty nice about pulling together four tables for our group. Not knowing about our shenanigans, they were incredulous that we ordered so little food for so many people (the pizzas at Motorino are individual-sized, around 10").

There was a brunch pizza with eggs that sounded intriguing, but we settled on the cremini and sweet sausage and the classic margherita. The toppings on both pizzas were high quality. I was a big fan of the cremini and sausage, personally. The margherita was workmanlike but I was too pizza'ed out to work up any real enthusiasm.

Their crust could use some work - while nice and chewy, it was also pretty salty and aggressively charred. This location is pretty new so perhaps they're still getting used to the idiosyncrasies of their pizza oven.

My tally: I managed a slice of each, but they were pretty puny so I'll count it as one. Grand total: 4½. I think that's pretty respectable.

Artichoke - Pizza Crawl Stop #3

Location: Artichoke on 14th St between 1st and 2nd (artichokepizza.com)
Edibles: the eponymous artichoke pizza and margherita pizza

Musings: Yet another beast. I LOVED the artichoke slice. Really gooey and cheesy and full of umami! It's basically pizza topped with spinach-artichoke dip. Yum. I had a slight criticism for the crust, which was on the thick side and tasted slightly stale (which couldn't have been the case since the line was insane). Because of the thick crust and the richness of the toppings, one of their mammoth slices can easily be shared between two people.

The margherita had a slightly thinner, crunchier, almost cracker-like crust. Of the three tomato sauces tasted so far, this one was the least memorable. (Though I was also the least hungry at Artichoke, so factor in some bias.) My overall feel was that the slice was constructed in a somewhat sloppy manner - definitely not as much attention to detail or finesse as Totonno's.

They had a daily special with crab, which I'd be interested to taste another time. Of the two we did have, the artichoke slice was by far the superior.

My tally: A half slice each of the artichoke and the margherita, for a running total of 3½.

L&B - Pizza Crawl Stop #2

Location: L&B Spumoni Gardens on 86th St between 10th and 11th St in Brooklyn (spumonigardens.com)
Edibles: thick-crust Sicilian pizza

Musings: A totally different beast. A whole rectangular pie yields twelve hefty slices. The dough is nice and yeasty and the sauce is solid, a little spicier than Totonno's. The cheese is under the sauce, a good ¼ inch of it. A slight ding for the quality of the cheese - it tasted like grocery store processed mozzarella. Though yummy in its own way, this one is breadier than I like my pizzas.

My tally: A whole slice here, for a running total of 2½. I think at this point Tom was up to a group high score of five.

Totonno's - Pizza Crawl Stop #1

Occasion: Gary's Second Annual Pizza Crawl! Participants included Jill and Tom, Kristina and Ryan, Amanda and Chris, Adrienne, Jeannie, Debby and me.
Location: Totonno's Pizzeria Napolitano on Neptune Ave between 15th and 16th St in Brooklyn (totonnos.com) [Note: another location in Manhattan on 2nd between 26th and 27th - just a hop and skip away from my apt!]
Edibles: a white pizza and a regular pizza with tomato sauce (pictured below)

Musings: A no-frills neighborhood place. We ran into a local boys' soccer team celebrating with pies and root beers. It was very cute.

I thought Totonno's standard pie was outstanding. Thin, chewy crust with a good snap to it. Good structural integrity - not soggy at all. Fresh and zesty tomato sauce. The white pie was also tasty, if a touch too garlicky for me.

A few caveats. First, getting there. The closest subway stop is Coney Island / Stillwell Ave - all the way at the end of the line on the N, Q, D and F. It takes a good hour to get there from Manhattan, plus it's a bit of walk from the stop. Also, they don't serve single slices, only whole pies.

As good as the pizza was, I'm probably not going to be making the trip out to this location very much. But I will definitely be visiting the Manhattan location soon for a comparison. Stay tuned.

My tally: Trying to pace myself, I had a half slice of the white and a full slice of the tomato. So 1½ slices and counting.

Pulino's

Occasion: Pre-opera (Partenope) dinner with Melissa, Tony and Alicia
Location: Pulino's on Bowery and E Houston (pulinosny.com)
Edibles: gamberi (shrimp) pizza; salsiccia (sausage and broccoli rabe) pizza; fazzoletti (a crêpe-like creation stuffed with cheese and lamb ragu); asparagus with ramps, rhubarb and black pepper ricotta; a skillet of sausage and peppers - all eaten family-style

Musings: When I first walked in, I had the strongest sense of déjà vu. The backlit bar, the white tile, the pillars, the converted warehouse feel - all of it a dead ringer for Schiller's (which, as far as I know, is unaffiliated). It was pretty crowded and hectic, even though dinner service didn't officially begin for another 20 minutes, at 6:00. Speaking of which, a little suggestion: start earlier.

If you're going to identify yourself primarily as a pizzeria - and a gourmet, pricey one at that - your pizza's got to be outstanding. I found Pulino's to have good-quality toppings, but the crust definitely needs work. The relatively small pie was extremely soggy in the middle; if you try to pick up a slice, it just flops over and falls apart in your hand.

I thought the asparagus dish had too many components that didn't quite come together. The fazzoletti was decent but nothing exciting. The sausage and peppers I liked, but it came to the table sort of room temperature and I would have liked it hotter.

Pulino's is pretty new and, in my opinion, still working out a lot of kinks. This place has gotten a lot of press and will draw flocks of New York's fickle foodies for the next few weeks. My rec would be to wait until the furor dies down and see if they've really got the goods to stay open long term.

Executive chef Nate Appleman, of "The Next Iron Chef" fame, pictured with Alicia and Mel.

Bettola

Occasion: Pre-opera (Aida) dinner with Mamie
Location: Bettola on Amsterdam between 79th and 80th
Edibles: shrimp app special and cremini mushroom farrotto to share; I followed it with the salmon; Mamie had a pizza

Musings: When Mamie and I walked past it (our Good Enough to Eat plans foiled by a gas leak), I was really excited to eat here again. I had come here ages ago with PA and Bettola made a really deep impression. I can still remember the awesome scallops I ate with a startling amount of detail.

I was a little nervous upon discovering that the restaurant was completely empty - though I guess it was only 6:30. (There were five other tables by the time we left.) They really deserve to be doing better. One quibble: the waitress blew through the specials like an auctioneer and we had to ask her to repeat herself on several items.

I had eaten a late lunch, but it didn't take much convincing to go in on two shared apps. The shrimp dish was okay, but they need to prep and trim their asparagus more carefully. I ran into several pieces of inedible, woody stalk. The farrotto was HUGE and they didn't skimp on the mushrooms. Delicious. My salmon was a touch overcooked for the medium rare I ordered but it was a good-sized portion, well-plated and with nice veggies on the side. Next time, I'll probably have a glass of wine, the farrotto and the tiramisu (I was dying to try it but there just wasn't room, alas).

With the equivalent of an app and main per person (but with no wine), our total bill came out to $67. Although it's a bit of a stroll to Lincoln Center, I think Bettola is a great pre- or post-theatre option.

Little Italy Pizza

Occasion: Workday lunch

Location: Little Italy Pizza on 45th between 5th and 6th (littleitalypizzany.com)

Edibles: one slice each of sausage and chicken parmesan pizza

Musings: Despite its awards for the best pizza in town, I don't think Little Italy is all that impressive. The sausage slice was good; the chicken parm, not so much.  The chicken was dry, and the toppings were so heavy they just slid off the crust. It's impossible to eat without a knife and fork, which kind of defeats the purpose of making it a pizza, you know?

My biggest beef with this place is the price. My two slices cost me $8.50. I thought it was because of my "fancy" toppings, but the lady behind me ran up a bill of $8.10 for a white slice and a cheese slice. That's just too expensive for pizza.

Koronet, I still love you bestest.

Riposo 46

Occasion: Pre-theatre (Bye Bye Birdie) drinks and snacks with Amy and Brigid
Location: Riposo 46 on 9th Ave at 46th
Edibles: spinach pizza and mushroom bruschetta to share

Musings: A nice pit stop before a show. (My stomach starts yowling like a wounded mountain lion if I don't get something to eat beforehand.) The $9 bruschetta plate came with a huge mound of delicious sautéed mushrooms and would have been a light meal on its own. Definitely good to share. The pizza was trendy-gourmet-rustic. They poured me a generous glass of chenin blanc. No complaints here.

Mia Francesca

Occasion: Karen and Josie's wedding reception!!!
Location: Mia Francesca on N Clark between Buckingham and School in Chicago (miafrancesca.com)
Edibles: calamari and pizza (artichoke and red onion) appetizers; caprese and romaine salads to start; pasta, one with tomato sauce and one with roasted vegetables; sausages with peppers and onions; tiramisu

Musings: Family-style Italian is an inspired idea for a wedding reception. This is food that was meant to be cooked and served on a large scale.

The pizza had a wonderful crust and I happily snarfed down... ahem, four slices. (They were smallish pizzas, okay?) The dinner that followed was uniformly yummy and culminated in our table mowing through our plate of sausage and peppers (genius menu choice, Karen!) and then raiding not one, not two, but THREE other tables for their leftovers. All the more impressive if you consider that, of the six of us, only four were eating that dish - Rebecca keeps kosher and Kristina is a vegetarian. We barely found room for the pillowy tiramisu that arrived last... but managed somehow. Although they must have been feeling overwhelmed, the staff couldn't have been nicer.

All in all, it was a relaxed, jovial, chatty, table-hopping kind of shindig. Warm and unpretentious, like the couple we were there to fête. All the best wishes for your future together, Karen and Josie! Thanks for letting us share in your big day.

Scuderia

Occasion: Long overdue dinner with my girls, Abby and Elizabeth
Location: Scuderia on Downing at 6th Ave (scuderianyc.com)
Edibles: shared Piccante pizza (spicy pork sausage, taleggio, rucola) to start; I had the pepper pappardelle with beef cheek ragu; Abby had the panzanella (tomato, cucumber and onion salad with big croutons); Elizabeth had the bucatini all'amatriciana bianca with guanciale and pecorino; shared ice-cream sundae for dessert

Musings: I was so psyched to see my girls that the food could have been terrible and it still would have been a good night. Happily, the food at Scuderia was excellent. The pizza was spicy but not too spicy for me to enjoy, wimp that I am. My pappardelle was fantastic - silky, fat ribbons of al dente pasta mixed with a hearty, meaty ragu. Loved it! Elizabeth's pasta (which I ate about half of) was also tasty, but I missed the tomatoes of a classic amatriciana.

I would definitely go back to the restaurant, but the company really made the night. As we sipped our wine and munched our way through dinner, we laughed, gabbed and weighed in on all sorts of miscellaneous topics. Girlfriends are the best. Ladies, we have to get together more often!