In Gravesend, Pizza Gets Another Look

When most people think about pizza in Gravesend, the conversation begins and ends with L&B Spumoni Gardens. But Slice, the Serious Eats pizza blog, published not one, but two great Gravesend pizza stories today.

The first is a Q&A with David Sheridan about his newly-completed backyard wood-fired pizza oven. And the photos make me drool.

I built the oven myself but not completely alone. I had been thinking about an oven for a couple of years, maybe three. I don’t remember the actual shove that had me move from thinking to doing. After obsessing over the plans from FornoBravo.com as well as reading everything I could find about pizza ovens, I made the jump in November of 2009.

The man cooks Neopolitan-style pizza in his backyard oven once or twice a week, but also uses it to roast and smoke. But never mind that, let’s focus on what’s important. Does he enjoy cooking for neighbors?

Absolutely. I love to do this and appreciate having a group to feed. I fear the day my family and friends become weary of pizza.

Don’t worry, Sheridan. We’re here for you.

But moving just a tad down the block from Sheridan, Slice also profiled Ciccio’s Pizza at 207 Avenue U. This distinctly Italian-American place, Slice says, serves up a yummy sesame-seed topped thin crust.

The crust-to-sauce-to-cheese ratio is good. It’s a cheesy slice, but not overwhelmingly so. The crust has a slightly nutty flavor to it, even before you get to the sesame seeds, toasted by the oven, on the edge of the slice. The sauce is slightly sweet (but not crazily sweet) and spiked with the typical assortment of old-school NYC-style seasonings.

I’ve never been to Ciccio’s, and if I hadn’t already had lunch at Delmar’s, I’d probably head there for dinner. Your thoughts?