New York City, United States

New York

Foldable slice, slightly chewy, gloss of oil.

Hydration
60–65%
Bake temp
550–650°F
Bake time
6–10 min
Ferment
24–72 h cold
Oven
gas or coal deck oven
Flour
Bread flour, High-gluten flour

Defining characteristics

14–18" round, foldable slice, lightly crisped bottom, modest cheese pull, light oil sheen. The crust is an evolution of Neapolitan: more bread flour, longer cold ferment, more sugar and oil for browning at lower temperatures.

Classic examples

History

The New York slice's lineage runs from Lombardi's at 53½ Spring Street, opened in 1905 as the first licensed pizzeria in the United States. Lombardi's used a coal oven — a holdover from the bakery the building had been before — and the high, dry heat from coal produced a crisper, slightly drier bottom than Naples' wood. From Lombardi's tree fall the canonical NY pizzerie: Patsy's (1933), John's of Bleecker Street (1929), and Totonno's (1924).

The slice as a unit — sold from a window, by the slice, foldable for one-hand eating — emerged in the postwar boom, when gas-fired deck ovens replaced coal in most shops and round 18" pies could be made cheaply by chain shops. The slice-shop economy that defines outer-borough New York pizza came together in the 1960s–70s: a hot deck oven, a stack of pre-baked-then-finished slices, and pepperoni or cheese on demand for a buck or two.

Common riffs

Sicilian-influenced grandma pizza (square, thin, cooked in a sheet pan) is the NY home-cook variant. Pepperoni — especially the cup-and-char Ezzo or Margherita brand — is the highest-volume topping. The vodka pizza wave (Lucali, L'industrie) added a pink cream-vodka sauce as a viable third sauce alongside red and white.

Other New York recipes