Frank Bruni of the NYT published an article about a new generation of pizzerias rising up in Manhattan this week.  DC itself has its own share of gourmet pie joints churning out some of the best crusts to satisfy our own lusts for the gourmet pizza.   Since the beginning of this year, my friend and I have been on a mission – to find the Best of the Best Pizzas in town.

In our quest, we have grown a love for pure margherita Neapolitan pizzas.  The beautiful, slightly charred crust with chewy soft interior topped with the perfect balance of San Marzano tomatoes, basil, fresh bufala mozzarella and olive oil hath met no equal.

When it comes to pizza, Neopolitans don’t mess around.  In fact, they love the pie so much that they formed an association – Verace Pizza Napoletana – to preserve its authenticity. Here are some ground rules:

The new law states the pizza must be no more than 35cm (14in) in diameter and no thicker than a third of a centimetre at its centre, rising to 2cm at the crust.

The tomatoes must be the San Marzano variety grown in the fertile soil at Mount Vesuvius’ base.

The oil: extra virgin; the cheese: buffalo mozzarella. All the ingredients must be from the Campania region.

The oven must be wood-fired, and the pizza must cook in less than two minutes.

These standards must be met to recieve a D.O.C. certification (denominazione di orgine controllata).

Read more here.

There are only two DOC certified pizza joints here, and in our books they are supreme! But DC still has plenty of delicious gourmet pizzas with top notch ingredients and piled on delicious crusts. Armed with guides from the Going out Gurus, Washingtonian, and Sietsema…we searched far and wide using the Margherita or cheese pizza as our standard base for all our orders. This is still a work in progress but here are our thoughts to date:

2Amys: The ultimate in the Neopolitan Pizza AND small plates

Margherita d.o.c. Our first visit here was a pizza epiphany.  This pie had the perfect balance of flavors with just the right amount of ripe San Marzano tomatoes, fresh buffalo mozzarella, basil and olive oil.  Gone are the days of plasticky cheese covered pizza with oily crusts.  Hello Margherita d.o.c.! After our trip my fellow pizza enthusiast was so delighted he sent me the following: Dork: 2 Amys 2 good. The best margherita pizza I’ve ever had in my life. Put this in your mouth and your mouth will give you a kiss for it. The trinity (bread, sauce, cheese) that creates pizza was in perfect harmony. The crust was slightly flimsy, but crust isn’t there for support it’s there for taste. Job well done!    Hahaha… Seating here can be a challenge and that’s probably the only thing that keeps me away. I must report that word on the street is that this place has lost its touch according to some of my favorite critics, so I must wait to make another journey before I crown it as supreme.

Fratelli La Bufala:Giving 2 Amys a run for their money – minus the small plates

Their menu is also DOC certified and the only place out of our contenders to rival 2Amys! Top notch ingredients and crust that’s cooked to perfection. Slightly soggy middle with tomato juice and olive oil (the way a Neapolitan pie should be) sweet and tangy tomato sauce, just the right amount of flavorful real bufala mozzarella, perfectly charred crispy chewy crust. My friend did note that the basil didn’t have the punch he was hoping for making it < 2Amys. We really might have to go back to 2Amys and have Fratelli la Bufala the day after to really get a good feel for the top pizza in DC to date! A rematch is in the making!

Italian Store: New Yawk style pies

A Good NY style pie.  The winner for us was their garlicky white pizza, whereas their regular cheese pizza was good, not great.  This is where to find NY Style pizza in Greater DC. This pizza is so different from the other pizza places in quest – catering more to the pizza by the slice NY mentality rather than the “gourmet” pizzas we have been sampling. Great white pizza slice dripping in oil, but the downside is that there is nowhere to eat inside and by the time you get it home it’s slightly cooled and probably not as tasty as it would be in its prime.

Pizzeria Paradiso: Almost the real Neopolitan… not quite

They may have learned from 2Amys, but for some reason their pies don’t satisfy like them. The crust is standalone good. It has a nice char and yeasty flavor but doesn’t have the chewy consistency that I crave when biting into a Neapolitan pizza.  The ingredients are fresh and top notch, but after multiple visits I realize they just don’t get the art of balance like the other two tops on my list.

Liberty Tavern: A lesson in harmonizing flavors

A non-traditional but delicious pizza.  The margherita here is just ordinary.  What won us over was the Vermont Pie with the white cheddar, sage, sour Granny Smith apples, caramelized onions and thick cuts of salty top notch Prosciutto on top. Harmonizing different flavors seems to be what the kitchen does well.  Crust was standalone delicious, the cheese punchy and prosciutto chunks hearty and delicious. But the sweet apples and caramelized onions really just balanced the salty on this pie making for a harmonious bite! Never had anything like it and I REALLY liked it!

Matchbox: Something fiery, something smoky

A league of its own. The Fire & Smoke here with the roasted peppers, spicy tomato sauce and smoky Gouda cheese is a true winner here.  The Margherita with the sun dried tomatoes just falls flat – the sun dried tomatoes were just dried out and tough, and the pesto did no justice next to the spicy tomato sauce of the Fire & Smoke.  The crust itself was thin, and dry but tasty in flavor. It’s the PUNCH of flavors in the Fire & Smoke make up for it! Be sure to get the 3-6-9 Sliders with Gouda cheese as an appetizer!

Piola: In the neighborhood, so this will do

Surprisingly good Margherita pizza.  The pie was slightly over sauced but flavorful and the crust was thick but chewy and tasty.   If you’re like me and Neapolitan pizzas are your thing be sure to get the Neapolitan style pizza with slices of fresh mozzarella on top! They have a few different styles of pizza to cater to everybody’s tastes.

RedRocks: No No No!

The biggest disappointment of them all.  Our crust didn’t come out slightly charred but rather Burnt black and slightly on the salty side. The basil was weak, and the tomato sauce was just OK. The salty crust felt like it overpowered the tomato sauce and the flavors didn’t balance out.   Given the rave reviews on this place I was really expecting more.  It was an OK pizza. Just not on par with the big boys. I must note that we have only been here once. But it was such a disappointment for both of us that I don’t see us coming here again… On our own accord anyway.

Next on our quest is Pete’s New Haven Style Apizza, Comet Ping Pong (although change in ownership may change this), Pizzaiolo and Mia’s Pizzas. Perhaps this might even spur me to make a pit stop to Naples to continue my pizza orgy and maybe even reach enlightenment!

Shoot me a note if you have any suggestions at all!! I’d love to hear where your favorite pizza places are!

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My incessant hunger is probably fueled by this compulsion – zipping through page after page of resto-reviews.

Here’s a piece of my mind…

1) 2Amys Margherita d.o.c. pizza. Nothing like that chewy slightly charred crust of a true Neopolitan pizza. I’m a crust <3er!  Topped with San Marzano tomatoes, basil, slices of bufala mozzarella, and some e.v. olive oil, this is truly a slice to remember…. not to mention a balanced meal! since this isn’t a pie that’s COATED in cheese.

2) Ray’s Hell Burger – My idea of the ULTIMATE burger… Hands down.  Ray’s “bloody good” meat I can have medium rare, the “au poivre” searing, Ray’s heck sauce, cognac sherry mushrooms… DROOL. All for 7 bucks. (thanks to our dear Obama and Biden stopping by, I’ve had to avoid this place and the long lines…)

3) A steaming bowl of Pho 75 – tripe, tendon, brisket, flank steak. Throw in the mung bean sprouts and basil. Marinate the onions in lime, sriracha and hoisin sauce… Pile on your spoon .. SLURP. Repeat. What’s not to love?

4) Kibbeh at Zaytinya – Fried balls of ground lamb, bulgur wheat, almonds, pine nuts, currants with Labneh (strained yogurt). This is my favorite Kibbeh to date. What makes this kibbeh POP from the rest of the pack are the currants that bring this from an ordinary kibbeh – to extraordinary.

5) Buhsuht Soondoobu (mushroom tofu soup) @ Lighthouse. It POURED (for a minute) today! And rain puts me in a mood for pho or soondoobu. Nothing like a SCALDING hot overflowing bowl of soondoobu to bring a smile to my face. And I’m always a true free banchan (side dishes) enthusiast! One of the  many perks of dining Korean. My first serving is usually gone before my main dish hits the table!

6) Bonchon Chicken – Spicy, garlicky naked crispy chicken with crunchy Mooh (pickled radish). I’ve had this itch for some Korean Fried Chicken lately. Oh and some Hite to go with it!

After all this thinking… I landed on… PassionFish!  Welcome to my world. I’m just as confused as to where this idea came from… But I’m always up for a new culinary adventure so I’ll be sure to share my first experience.

Resto-Marathon to be continued soon….

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