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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