the spinach and artichoke slice...
from artichoke basille's pizza, 14th street, nyc. may 2, 2009 there are many moods and occasions when a mere slice or two of pizza will do:
when you've been out all night carousing.
when you need a quick lunch, on the cheap.
or any good morning, cold, right out of the fridge.
but there are times, when pizza is more than a mere slice. it's the whole magilla: it's rhyme and reason, and some great reward.
i went to artichoke pizza for the first time today, and ordered the spinach and artichoke slice. it is a fat and juicy-looking affair, and i was slightly intimidated. but to paraphrase jonathan richman, ate it with gusto, damn! you bet.
it is an untraditional slice. and it an evocative experience--you may forget for a moment or two that it's pizza you're enjoying. buttery, creamy sauce, coyly hiding under a blanket of chewy mozzarella, on a crust that is hearty but light, and with a proper crunch: you can imagine you're picnicking on the left bank, enjoying oozy brie on french bread (but without the brie funk)...
or you're dining in a courtyard in italy, un-shyly taking whatever slices are left in the bread basket to sop up a creamy white sauce...
or you're in new england, tearing a roll into bite-size pieces and soaking it in your clam chowder...
but then you realize you're on a bench, under the trees in union square park, on sunny and cool may day, with a big slice from the little pizza shop down the block...
that's a damn fine place to be.
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artichoke pizza
328 e 14th st
new york, ny 10003
212.228.2004
