“We see that with all the awesome slices you’ve ingested you have yet to ingest the best…because you never stopped by our restaurant! We’d love to have you in and try a slice…,” emailed Joe Calcagno. “Welcome to Heaven in Hell..”
Hell’s Kitchen that is, where I did stop by to sample Joe’s pizza and other goodies as their guest. Capizzi’s is a welcoming Italian neighborhood-style restaurant, with it’s big bright red Coca Cola refrigerator reminiscent of an old soda shop … or — I should say — pizza parlor …with super friendly service.
We started with an arugula salad with tomatoes, onions, green apples, mild goat cheese, cranberries and walnuts all in a balsamic and olive oil dressing ($9.50). I’d recommend, as I would their Italian burrata ($12.95) served with artichoke hearts, roasted red pepper strips, thinly sliced speck, sliced grape tomatoes, all garnished with basil. Skip the fried spinach rice balls ($8.95 for 4); the bread crumb coating was not fresh; that and I just returned from Sicily where I had indulged in moister, more flavorful arancini (as they are called in Italian). Wines are by the glass ($8) .
And of course, don’t miss their wood-buring brick oven pizza. (That oven, BTW, was built by Joe.) If you love garlic, the eggplant parmigiana pizza ($16.95) is for you, as it’s topped with whole cloves of roasted garlic in addition to sliced roasted eggplant, tomato sauce, mozzarella and Pecorino cheese. The one I’d recommend is the prosciutto & arugula topped margarita pizza with shaved Parmidiano Reggiano cheese and drizzled with olive oil ($18.95).
Do save room for their dessert ($7 each). I’d recommend both the cannoli and tiramisu.
And…I’d recommend Capizzi as a nice place to grab a bite pre-theatre…or to just hang out.
– bonnie
Capizzi Pizza and Wine Bar
Hell’s Kitchen
547 Ninth Avenue (Between 41st & 40th Sts.)
New York, NY 10018
(212) 695-6900
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