Ovest Pizzoteca in Chelsea
File under: a need, fulfilled. After we've spent a couple of hours gallery hopping in Chelsea, or pursuing less aesthetic, and more athletic, activities over at the Chelsea Piers, we are, in a word, hungry. Problem is, most of the dining options in the immediate vicinity are either too sceney (The Red Cat) or too teeny (Tia Pol), too pricey (Cookshop) or too dicey (Cabo Rojo). Enter Ovest Pizzoteca, an inexpensive spot with good food served in a snazzy yet family-friendly room. We've been a couple of times over the past few months, and on both occasions walked away happy and satisfied.
Ovest Pizzoteca, an outpost of the longtime East Village favorite Luzzo's, has a crowd-pleasing menu of paninis, pastas, salads, snacks and, of course, pizzas. We've sampled a bit of everything and were consistently impressed with both the quality of ingredients and the care put into the preparation. Our Peppino panini, for example, was a well-balanced sandwich of prosciutto cotto, artichokes, and goat cheese, totally fresh, perfectly pressed and served with generous pile of bright lemony greens. Nothing revolutionary, to be sure, but well done nonetheless. The Pizza a Cono, which is more calzone than pie, is as good an excuse as any to eat a plateful of cheesy dough. We had the Andrea, stuffed with mozzarella, black olives and anchovies, with some pine nuts scattered about. Tasty stuff.
In the Antipasti section of the menu we tried, and enjoyed, the Asparagi all'Asiago, the asparagus grilled just right, the asiago melty, the balsamic adding a hit a sweetness and tang. Of course, any place that puts Pizzoteca in its name lives and dies by its pies, and Ovest delivers in this brick-ovened arena as well. The pizzas here are fired up Neopolitan style--thin crust, somewhat sparse but fresh and flavorful toppings, baked to a nice char--and the variety we tried, the Arugola, was a solid addition to the increasingly crowded field. True, the pizzaficionado at our table wished for more mozzarella, but the tomato sauce was just sweet enough, the arugula plentiful, the prosciutto on the good side of gamey, and the shaved parmigiano and leaves of basil nice finishing touches.
Ovest Pizzoteca is located on the somewhat unlovely block of 27th Street between 10th and 11th Avenues, but the restaurant itself is bright, pretty and fun, with a surprisingly lively bar area up front (with, by the way, an amazing spread of free food during weekday happy hours, see below), and a comfortable dining room in the back. For more information and a look at the complete menu, please see the Ovest website, here.
Posted at 11:01PM Jun 15, 2010 by Scott in 10010 |