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Pulinos Pizza on their first day
Recently on Anthony Bourdain's show, No Reservations, he talks about people obsessed with food. He interviewed some bloggers and actually tv.gawker has a good rundown of it. I just want to note that because apparently Bourdain is not a fan of food bloggers ruining the experience of the food for the sake of documenting the experience of the food. I guess that makes sense. I mean, scientists on memory will say that what your brain is doing is just remembering a memory. So do you remember better with pictures even if the food cools off by a few degrees? Who knows. But if documenting an eating experience is wrong, then document an eating experience on a restaurant's first day of opening (to the public) must be super duper wrong. Yup, pots can call kettles black. This kettle? I fucking love it. Call it like you see it. So that's why I thought it was ok to visit Pulino's on their very first day, and write about it before they even close.
Situated on Houston and Bowery, Pulino's Bar and Pizzeria is the newest creation in the Keith McNally empire. After opening up Minetta Tavern, he's back with something that's probably going to wow the crowds once again. I say this because his restaurants are always jam packed. Try getting into Minetta Tavern around dinner rush... good luck. Now I'm not pizza critic, so it's difficult to predict what the city's premier pizza blogger has to say about all the food they have to offer.
What I can tell you is that even at 12 noon on the first day, the energy in the restaurant was super high. When I walked in, the restaurant was maybe half full and the bar was nearly empty. After just ten minutes of waiting on my food, the restaurant got packed. Daniel Maurer was in the house. Nate Appleman was close by the kitchen and Keith was there looking cool. I mean, this is the place where people want to be.
I got a pie called salume picante or something like that. Yea, a bad blogger in a rush forgets to jot down the details. It's got tomato sauce, cheese, pepperoni, olives, and I guess pepper flakes. The pizza was $18.50 after taxes, so it's uh... not a workingman's type of pie. It's not what you get at Motorino where the crust is poofy. Here the crust is more crunchy than soft. Even though it's not the same as Motorino, I would venture to guess that Pulino's will garner fans for their crust as well. The tomato sauce was mild and not too acidic which was nice. It was mellow. More Kenny G than KISS.
I'm not going to 'review' this place because what can you really say after one day and one pie? Not much except that I want to go back and see what the rest of the menu is like. The restaurant is probably already too cool for someone like me though so I'll see how it goes in the future. If you get a chance to try Pulino's, it's an experience that's probably worth the price tag.
Pulino's Bar and Pizzeria
282 Bowery.
New York, NY 10012
212-226-1966
Map
Sign up to the feed and never miss a post!Posted by Danny on March 15 2010 at 2:14 pm
Am I missing something? So what Bourdain is saying is, he can travel around the world eating different foods with a film crew but when bloggers do it, they're ruining the experience?
Pizza looks good. Will have to give it a try!
esther on March 15 2010 at 2:35 pm
@esther,
Yea unfortunately it sounds like that's what he's saying. I guess it's different when someone else is holding the camera...
Danny on March 15 2010 at 2:36 pm
That tiny pie for almost 20 bucks? GTFO
Liam on March 15 2010 at 2:55 pm
@Liam,
As for the size of the pies, I'd say they're actually wider in diameter than pies at Motorino. They're just flatter so the crusts are not as filling.
Danny on March 15 2010 at 2:58 pm
I think Bourdain is right. For now on, I'm gonna get my girlfriend to watch me eat, take all the photos and jot down notes.....
I'll just eat and enjoy.
FN on March 15 2010 at 4:29 pm
Come on, a whole pizza for lunch? How do you do that? Did these olives still have pits?
Deli on March 16 2010 at 11:34 am
@FN,
Well that's one way to go... haha, good luck!
@Deli,
It's easy, I practice!
Danny on March 16 2010 at 12:17 pm
my stomach aches even at the view of this masterpiece... or maybe I don't understand smth... hope their futher pizzas look better:)
Mhunter on April 20 2010 at 3:24 am