Bronx

Whenever a media outlet anoints a place “the best new U.S. pizzeria,” as Bloomberg.com did with Zero Otto Nove in 2008, the debate begins. Pizza aficionados descend to check it out, analyzing the pies according to precise calibrations like sauce-to-crust ratio and “tip sag,” Slice’s measurement of crispness. Is this pizza really the best? Inevitably the pizza shop will be compared to the legendary Una Pizza Napoletana.

Now that Zero Otto Nove is opening a branch in Manhattan in about two months, the stakes are even higher. But the Arthur Avenue original is no pizza joint. It’s first and foremost a restaurant, brought to us by Roberto Paciullo of Roberto’s around the corner. The center of attention may be the huge wood burning oven in the center of the room, but don’t let that distract you from everything else going on here. (more…)