E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
Robert Byron / Featurepics stock
Colin Hagendorf is a venerable slice expert. The Brooklyn native recently completed his quest to eat at every pizza slice joint in Manhattan, chronicling his 370-plus slice binge on his blog Slice Harvester. In honor of National Pizza Week, Hagendorf, 28, offers his tips for finding pizza nirvana.
“All of your senses are part of the experience,” Hagendorf told TODAY.com. “You don’t hold your nose or wear gloves when eating pizza.”
Smell: The smell of the pizza should pull you out from the street and into the door. Everyone knows what the perfect slice smells like, even if they can’t describe it.
The first time Hagendorf ate his favorite slice at the now-shuttered St. Mark’s Pizza in New York, he knew it was something special. He and his father had just finished eating elsewhere and were uncomfortably full. Both men were hobbling to the subway when they caught a noseful of fresh-baked pie. “It was like a ‘Looney Tunes’ come-hither cloud. The smell pulled us toward the shop.”
A special pizza joint, Hagendorf says, should draw you in just by scent.
Courtesy of Colin Hagendorf
Colin Hagendorf, a.k.a the Slice Harvester
Taste: It's all about ratio. An ideal plain slice, Hagendorf believes, should anchor the yeastiness of the dough and the acidic sharpness of tomato sauce with the right amount of cheese.
If a slice is too thick, there should be more cheese; if it is thinner there should be less sauce and cheese. Too much cheese can soak a slice; too little can leave it dry. “The warmth of the flavors should be rising off the slice and into your mouth as you start that first bite,” Hagendorf said.
The look and feel:
“Your favorite slice should be like looking into the eyes of someone you love,” Hagendorf said. It should be shaped like an isosceles triangle – about 10 inches long, 8 inches wide at its core, and approximately a half-inch thick. The crust should be slightly charred on the bottom and when folded, you should hear a distinct crack. The red from the sauce and the white from the cheese should become one glorious brown mixture after spending just enough time in the pizza oven.
Pizza is greasy, but after eating you should still be able to flip through your favorite paperback without leaving oily prints behind.
The place:
Hagendorf doesn’t trust a place that looks too clean. “If there is no graffiti in the bathroom, I am going to be skeptical,” he said, adding that the location should be bustling. “It doesn’t matter if there is music on, pans banging, or the pizza guys talking, but the ambient noises should make you feel like you are inside of something.”
Hagendorf prefers specific music: Either the equivalent of “Miami freestyle from the ‘80s, which sounds like the ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ theme song,” or Mariah Carey's Christmas songs, which to him is the Beatles catalog of our generation.
No forks
Pizza is eaten with your hands, without exception. And unless you are “an alien life form or body-snatcher,” your pizza should be folded. End of story.
What makes your perfect slice? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Matthew Moll is a multi-media journalist living in New York. You can follow his local food tweets at @tasteoflocal.
Leave a Comment:
I am always looking for the perfect slice, but not with the intensity of this guy. Any new pizza joint I run across immediately gets my attention, and I will give them a try if I have even the slightest hunger. There will never be a perfect slice, but it sure has been fun trying to find one.
There is virtually no pizza outside of the Boston/Buffalo/Philly triangle, and I'm suspicious of any place more than ~75 miles from New Haven, anyway.
Sure, Chicago has a relative of pizza. Sure, there are a few parlors (here and there) that spread out from the triangle. But otherwise, the rest of the US is a wasteland of Papa Johns, Dominos, and Pizza Hut. All of which are to pizza what Taco Bell is to actual Mexican.
I live in Texas and you can't find good pizza here, i was in Philly. and Rustica was the best i have had.
Yeah, it's a pity. I live in the Philly area and there's always a pizza joint within a 2 mile radius, even if you live in the boonie suburbs. My friend spent his whole life here and moved to California, and he said the pizza just sucks out there.
Francesco's in Suffield, CT...yum! Awesome dough and sauce, although they need better sausage! But plain cheese will do for me. :) Little City Pizza in Simsbury, CT is great, too!
Who cares what some guy's idea of the perfect slice is? We all have our own taste preferences. What a waste of an article. This guy's story should maybe have been a foot note under an article that chronicles the history and evolution of pizza, for instance. Seriously, graffiti in the bathroom is part of the experience now? Keep it.
We have some damn good pizza here in Seattle! Authentic Neaopolitan pizza is served at Via Tribunali (Via’s is going to open a spot in NYC in January) and Serious Pie (owned by Tom Douglas). What makes the perfect slice? The ingredients, the fresh ingredients.
We have some damn good pizza here in Seattle! Authentic Neaopolitan pizza is served at Via Tribunali (Via’s is going to open a spot in NYC in January) and Serious Pie (owned by Tom Douglas). What makes the perfect slice? The ingredients, the fresh ingredients.
I live in Minnesota, my two favorite pizza's are Red Savoy's in St. Paul, and Sammy's in the Arrowhead region(Duluth, and north).
I don't trust anyone's opinion on pizza unless they are originally from the tri-state area. I've lived in Tampa for 8 years, and I've yet to find a great slice of pizza. I've found good pizza, but not great.
My favorite pizza has Mozzarella, Canadian Bacon, sauerkraut, and onions all over. Sometimes a place that serves sandwiches as well as pizza can make one like that but those places are few and far between. Usually I have to make it myself at home. Too bad - I think it could really catch on.
We've spent years perfecting our own pizza at home! Why pay someone else to make it for you???
Best pizza in the world is made in Northeast Pennsylvania. Been to Grimaldis, Steves and plenty others in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Many decent pies but no great ones. Boston has none. Old Forge between Scranton and Wilkes-Barre produces a unique style of pizzza everybody should try if traveling 84 or 81. My favorites there are Arcaro & Genells and Grimaldis. Try Nardozo's in Nanticoke, Grotto at Harvey's Lake, Edwardsville, or Wilkes-Barre. Pizza Perfect is another unique style in Shavertown; consistently great. Bella Pizza in 5 locations - all really fine. You haven't tasted great pizza unless you have travelled these circles. These are just a few of the many great ones! Best chicken wing pizza at Red's in Pikes Creek.
The best pizza is Lidos in the MD/DC area. It has a crust that melts in your mouth. Can't find anything like it in FL, the wasteland where pizza is concerned.
I live in a small town in Central California.....I just drove by the only Pizza Joint in town(except for the one owned by the Iranians).....it has a fumigation tent over the building. It looks like Red Baron for Pizza Week....
Wow another reason to stuff your face, great lets go for 90% overweight population.
I live in Phoenix Az. and the best pizza here is Papa John's the price is good as well
DeLorenzo's in Trenton. Best pizza ever. Two different parts of the original family own the Trenton locations, but they're both equally good. Living across the country right now, and have had a heck of a time finding anything acceptable. Sigh.
Rocco's in Tucson - great pie!
Zacharys and Rosattis are good too!
NYC pizza can't be beat. Everything else is an imposter.
Smell and look at the bread. If you can't make good bread, you can't make good pizza. For my money its D'Anna's Pizzeria near Belmont Park on Hempstead Pike. n n near Belmont 'Anna's PizzeriaD'Anna's Pizzeria in
Primo's Pizza in New Windsor NY (Orange County) is the most best pizza I have ever had & I was born & raised in the Bronx & know what makes a good pizza. I've had some lousy slices in the Bronx but Primos in New Windsor is so awesome. Their sicilian is dynamite & the smell of his pizza alone is to die for! I'm getting hungry now
:-)
Best pizza - hands down - Dion's. Born in New Mexico and now spreading it's way through the SW. If you're ever in Albuquerque, Rio Rancho, Santa Fe, Las Cruces or Lubbock, Texas look them up. You won't be disappointed!
New Haven, CT... Sally's, Pepe's, Modern Pizza... the father, son and holy ghost of pizza— nothing better!
"And unless you are “an alien life form or body-snatcher,” your pizza should be folded. End of story."
Wrong. One of the most difficult yet ultimately satisfying rituals of eating a pizza is waiting just long enough to take the first bite without burning the roof of one's mouth. Real pizza aficionados know there are no shortcuts. Folding the pizza only ruins it by effectively changing the delicate balance of crust and topping. Why not just get a calzone instead? The crust should be at least a 1/2" thick? I have rarely eaten a pizza with a crust that thick that's any good.
I TOTALLY agree!!! If you fold it, the cheese and sauce just oozes out and it ruins the balanced layering of it.
Any town with a large Italian population has its share of good pizza joints. In my upstate New York hometown, we lined up around the block for Duff's. And yes...he was Italian, in spite of the nickname! His family carries on the tradition at Consol's, where the thin, crisp crust is perfectly topped with just the right amount of perfectly seasoned sauce and cheese. Toppings are optional...and traditional. No peanut butter pizza here!
Slice? Folded pizza? 1/2 inch crust? No thanks. I will take my made fresh made for me 10 inch thin crust Chicago/Square cut pizza over those oversized, little sauce, lack of topping pizzas from New York City. But wait, I have access to 2 former NYC residents who came to central Georgia by way of Florida. They have opened pizza places with great pizza. It has a good amount of sauce, a great relatively thin crust, great topping selction, and comes with great service. The whole NYC "SLICE" scene is overated and a leftover from the poverty times in Italian neighborhoods. Lots of cheap dough and leftover cheese kept under a heat lamp.