The other night I met up with some girlfriends for dinner. I was the first to arrive at a pizza joint called Una Pizza Napoletana in the East Village of New York City. Tucked away on the tree-lined 12th street, I walked right by it on my first pass.
The black and white tiled floor, the gray-veined marble tables and the curved back wooden chairs could have been anywhere in Italy. Soft music was playing, which I couldn’t quite make out but added to the relaxed ambiance.
I was the first to arrive so I perused the wine list. 4 reds, 4 whites, none of which I recognized, were all $10/glass and $39/bottle. When asked for some help deciding on a white wine, the descriptors included “light and crisp”, “more body but definitely not sweet” and “fullest body and dry.” Not exactly what you’d print in a magazine but it told me all I needed to know.
As I settled into my “fullest body and dry” wine, a young family walks in – mother, father, a little girl of about 6 and a little boy around 3, both wearing what appears to be Catholic school uniforms. As they sit, I realize all 4 are speaking in Italian.
My girlfriends arrive and we sample both the “fizzy” and “full-bodied” red wines. Both wines are young and unique, with bursts of grapes and berries exploding in our mouths and, according to our waiter, would match perfectly with the pizza.
The menu is something to behold. Never, in my many years reading, writing or ordering from menus have I ever seen the word “No” so many times. In a stark contrast to the many NY restaurants catering to the ever finicky, entitled nature of so the American diner these days, Una offers 4 choices. That’s it.
No Substitutions, No Alterations, No Condiments (red pepper, oil, etc.) and No Slices. Like your grandmother, Una seems to come from the “you’ll eat what I give you and you’ll like it, or go hungry” school.
The 4 choices include no cheese, tomato sauce, fresh tomatoes or no tomatoes. Seeing as their sole choice of cheese is fresh Buffalo Mozzarella, we had to have cheese! To feed the 3 of us, we got a Margherita (San Marzano tomatoes, mozzarella di bufala, extra-virgin olive oil, fresh basil, sea salt) and a Bianca (Mozzarella di bufala, extra virgin olive oil, fresh garlic, fresh basil, sea salt).
As the pies were placed in front of us, we were enveloped by an aroma of fresh basil and wood oven-charred crust while our mouths began to water and stomachs growl.
We were so hungry at this point that I didn’t pause to take a picture before we dove in. Only about halfway through did we pause long enough to snap this shot.
Biting into the crisp yet chewy crust, the salty, tangy and fresh flavors were everything we’d hoped for. A sip of the young, fruity wine made it truly divine.
Only word of caution: The tables are very close together. Please be aware of where your chair is placed before leaning back in to your neighbor. Or I’ll sick my Sicilian friend on you!
