PrintDean's Pizzeria: Semi-Serious
You've heard of semi-sweet chocolate, right? Well lately I've been encountering a lot of what I call semi-serious pizza, most recently at Dean's, yet another pizza "concept" from the folks that have given us Patsy's, Angelo's, and Goodburger. What is semi-serious pizza? It's pizza that has many of the characteristics of serious pizza; made with good (if not great) ingredients, baked in an oven that can hold temperatures as high as 800 degrees (either gas, wood, or coal-fired), and served as whole pies only. The only thing missing from semi-serious pizza is the presence of a passionate pizzaiola owner, someone who lives and dies with every pie. That's my problem with Dean's. Dean's is actually pretty damn good pizza. They make thin-crusted Neapolitan pies and Grandma pies, thin-crusted Sicilian-style pizza, with fresh mozzarella and decent canned tomatoes. It's certainly way better than the average New York sliceria (they only sell whole pies at Dean's, by the way), but it's not great, and the reason it's not great is that it's a concept, meant to be rolled out to multiple locations. It's faux-great, or semi-serious, like I said.
Dean's
215 W. 85th St. (bet Broadway and Amsterdam)
New York, NY 10024
Ph: 212-875-1100
801 Second Avenue (bet. 42nd and 43rd sts.
New York, NY
Ph: 212-878-9600
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1 Comment:
These types of places drive me nuts! I appreciate that they're at least trying to put out a good product, but while I can't speak for Dean's specifically, there are similar places up in the Boston area who are cut from the same cloth. They've been started not from a passion for the pie, but from a business plan. They're developed from the start to be rolled out as franchises, and they're very successful. They provide a decent place for a family to go for dinner, where the kids are happy because they're having pizza, and the parents can enjoy a nice glass of wine or a beer with their seemingly upscale and hand-crafted pie. But the pizza lacks soul! Like you said, there's no one with his blood, sweat, and tears in every piece of dough, agonizing over every single pie. It's passionless. My heart sinks every time I drive by the place, knowing how much better it could be.
pdc at 10:12AM on 07/10/07