It’s 11 pm and I’m fading. On any other occasion I would be fast asleep by now, but not tonight.  This night finds me sitting in the corner of a dimly lit dining room, sipping Bourdeux out of a small glass tumbler, and spending time with three of my closest friends. It’s a cool Friday night yet somehow it’s about a thousand degrees in this restaurant. I’m stuffed but this is no time to stop eating. We’ve waited too long for this moment.

Our waitress questions us as we order just one pie for the four of us, but she doesn’t know what we know. She hasn’t had the day that we’ve had. For her other customers, this is probably the first pizza place they’ve been to today. It’s our 6th. 

As a stunning margherita pizza is placed next to the single candle illuminating our table, we have no idea how we are going to eat it. We each grab a slice, take a bite, look deep into each other’s eyes, and let out what I can only describe as sensual noises. I’m not tired anymore. I’m not full anymore. I forget about the heat. 

We order another pizza.

We were sitting at Lucali, an incredibly charming pizzeria in the Carroll Gardens neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. Opened in 2006 by Mark Iacono, Lucali has been made famous by a large collection of TV shows, articles, and celebrity customers. Superstars Jay Z and Beyoncé solidified Lucali’s reputation when they famously skipped the Grammys in 2012 for pies at the restaurant. Not only do the guest list and candle lit atmosphere contribute to Lucali’s exclusive vibe, so does the process of getting a table. There are no reservations here, instead eager customers line up at 5pm to get their names on the night’s list. Our group arrived at 5:40 and were told our table would be ready between 10:30 and 11. Luckily we knew exactly what to do while we waited.

We ate pizza.

When we got our names on the list at Lucali we had been in New York for a little more than a day. The objective of the trip was simple: travel to New York City and eat as much pizza as possible. We called it the Great 2019 New York Pizza Tour, because we are incredible at naming things. There would be no cheeseburgers, no seafood, and no noodle bars. Only pizza could satiate our hunger for three entire days.

We had an itinerary.

The trip was organized by a friend who loves pizza in a way that very few do, and luckily he also loves to dedicate incredible amounts of time into researching places to eat and drink. We had a schedule full of New York’s best pies (and slices), and there was little time to waste. A waitlist at one pizzeria often meant finding another to fill the time, and the situation at Lucali was no exception.

Paulie Gee’s in Greenpoint, Brooklyn was our destination after getting on the list at Lucali. Gee’s, however, had an hour-and-a-half wait. Standing around at that point would be silly, so we put our name down then set our sights on Williamsburg where Best Pizza awaited. That’s right, we went to eat pizza while we waited for our table to eat pizza…while we waited for our table to eat pizza.

Pizza inception is a beautiful thing.

Best Pizza was quiet, with only three or four other customers waiting on slices when we arrived. The spot throws off a “late night” vibe so it’s obvious that we beat the rush. The interior is small with a yellow backlit menu board overlooking shelves filled with cans of tomato sauce and a half-dozen tables. The walls are adorned with paper plates decorated with customer art ranging from stylized Best Pizza logos to personified pizza slices with cheesy breasts and women with literal pepperoni nipples.

I ordered a classic cheese slice. The crust was thin and cracker-like on the bottom with a little bit of chew above. A beautiful layer of perfectly balanced tomato sauce was spread beneath fresh mozzarella, which provided an elegance that the classic dry and stringy cheese can’t touch. Each slice is garnished with a single centered basil leaf, serving as a signature on the edible piece of pizza art. It was incredible and already made the entire trip worth it, yet we knew there was so much more in store for us.

After being blown away by Best Pizza it was time for our meal at Paulie Gee’s. We were seated at the table closest to the open kitchen, allowing us to watch as the team worked the dough and constructed the pizza. I was fixated on watching the kitchen crank out one amazing-looking pie after another. We slowly drank our NEIPAs from Other Half brewing, worried about the space in our stomach. Eventually we mustered up the will to order.

Paulie Gee’s makes traditional Neapolitan-style pies with somewhat non-traditional toppings. We went with The Greenpointer, topped with arugula and lemon and the Porkypineapple, with pickled pineapple and speck. I know what you are thinking, pineapple doesn’t belong on pizza. Well, you’re an asshole and you’re wrong. It does and the Porkypineapple ended up being one of the best pies of the whole trip, even among my friends that were pineapple skeptics.

The meal was pleasantly accented by a brief conversation with none other than Paulie Gee (who’s real name is Paul Giannone). With restaurants in other parts of the country we were fortunate he was at the original location that evening, and he made it a point to visit with every guest in the house. A loud and energetic version of Henry Winkler, Gee enjoyed hearing about our trip before heading to the kitchen to check on his operation.

Finally it was time for our table at Lucali. It’s a “bring your own alcohol” situation so we grabbed a bottle of Bordeaux and headed back to Carroll Gardens. Just before 11pm the hostess sat us at the large table right inside the front window.

We had absurdly high expectations for Lucali, expectations few places could meet. Lucali not only met them but far exceeded what I ever thought a pizza could be. For every other pie of our trip I could give a somewhat detailed account of what made it particularly good or what wasn’t quite right. For the pizzas at Lucali, however, all I can say is that they were perfect. The crust, the sauce, the toppings, everything was just perfect. The style wasn’t quite Neapolitan, nor was it a New York Slice, it was something totally its own. My friend declared it as “Neo-Neopolitan”.

Lucali served not only the best pizza I’ve ever had, it ranks up there with one of the best meals I’ve ever had. A $20 tab consisting of a few slices of pizza and a couple of cups of wine in a room that was far too hot made more of an impression on me than multi-course tasting menus with prices that rival a high end car payment.

With full stomachs we returned to our hotel a little after midnight and looked forward to the next day, because pizza would be on the menu yet again.

Friday night was just one of three evenings that comprised the Great 2019 New York City Pizza Trip. We ate at 22 pizza shops in approximately 72 hours and I’ll be doing my best to recount the highlights of the trip in a series of articles here at Barrels and Mash.