The Magnificent

Getting inexpesive Italian food in the East Village is easy. For year's Ive been going to the same 3-4 places, getting the same 3-4 dishes with the same 3-4 people. Until recently, when I was introduced to the 2 year old Luzzo's, barely noticebale under a wood sign reading "la pizza di napoli" on 1st Avenue between 13th and 14th.

Over my third Sunday night dinner there in as many weeks, I commented to my friend Justin that the pizza may be the best I've ever had. Crazy talk, given the first part of my life spent in Brooklyn, a place with arguably the best pizza anywhere. The pizza in question from Luzzo's though, "The Martha," is made with truffle oil, truffle pate, proccuitto, and buffala mozzarella and it is, in a word, awesome.

Justin shared with me his father's profound insight that pizza can be either white collar or blue collar. I had to concede that, covered in truffle pate and oil, buffala and with warm prosciutto oozing off, Luzzo's thin crusted masterpiece could not reasonably be compared to some of the incredible "blue collar" pizza I grew up eating in BK.

And it costs a bit more too. Still, blue collar, white collar, its no matter. This is the stuff dreams are made of. Literally, Ive been dreaming about going back for my "Martha" (plus a bottle of the chilled Gragnano).