L'Antica Pizzeria Da Michele NYC

L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele Is as Good as Naples if You Keep It Simple | Eater NY

"I visited the newly opened L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele at the corner of Greenwich Avenue and 2 Bank Street in the West Village and tried the margherita ($20), which seemed nearly identical to the original in Naples and comes closer to replicating true Neapolitan pizza in New York than anything I’ve had here. The crust was soft and stippled with char with a puffy cornicione, the middle damp and thin so you can’t fold a slice New York–style, the cheese was cow’s-milk mozzarella applied in tiny dollops, and the sauce was a simple canned-tomato puree with fresh basil strewn before baking. The restaurant is huge compared with the original—around 6,000 square feet across three storefronts with an airy barroom, open prep area, a giant dining room with a view of the domed pizza oven, and a downstairs room not yet open—and the menu is refreshingly simple (eight pies at the moment) anchored by marinara and margherita (also offered as a double margherita). Some nonpizza items are quite good—little gnocchi sandwiches with mozzarella and prosciutto—and the Aglianico rosato from Campania pairs exceptionally well with the margherita; Mexican Coke ($7) is the closest thing to what you’d drink in Naples. But the menu has missteps: the double margherita adds unnecessary cheese, the pesto pie (with burrata) is a disaster—burrata doesn’t belong on a pizza—and I worry planned expansions toward a larger, more sprawling Italian/American menu could eclipse the pizza that should remain the focus; for now, the margherita is not to be missed." - Robert Sietsema