I’ve been wanting to go to Slice ever since I saw a Food Network show called “Recipe for Success” that featured owner Miki Agrawal opening this pizzeria in New York with the goal of serving healthy and delicious pizza. I just happened to walk by it today, so I walked in for a slice.

I ordered the “Novice” with a honey whole wheat crust, marinara sauce, and organic mozzarella. They must parbake the slices because the counterperson put a slice into the oven that was a little stiff, but with unmelted cheese on top. It emerged fresh and piping hot.

I liked it. The crust is very thin and with just a touch of sweetness, but what I liked most was the ratio of cheese to sauce. I’ve been searching the world for the pizza that has the highest ratio of tomato sauce to cheese, and this was an admirable entry. I make it this way at home (but even more extremely saucy) because I like how the juiciness of the sauce brightens every bite and I love the flavor of tomato sauce. The sauce is, arguably, the most flavorful component of a pizza, so why not showcase it? With this style, the cheese becomes more like a condiment that adds a little chewiness and flavor, and it doesn’t weigh down the pizza with grease. You feel good after eating a pizza like this, and not weighed down yourself.

I also liked how each slice is further cut into 4 triangles, but this detail especially calls attention to what makes this pizza so different from others and what would ultimately make you for it or against it. Since the crust is so thin and crunchy, picking up a whole slice would probably be awkwardly stiff, but picking up a triangle felt more like picking up a flatbread appetizer. It’s very light… almost delicate. I’ve never been the kind to consider pizza as a snack before — it’s usually way too full of fat and carbs for that — but this felt like a snack. I could only imagine a fraternity ordering a pie of this sort… and being confused. Of course, you could always just eat more slices than you usually would to feel satiated.

My only disappointment with Slice was that even though they offer 4 types of crusts, only the honey whole wheat and unbleached herb were available by the slice. You could only get the gluten-free rice flour crust or a wheat-free spelt crust if you designed your own pizza. I walked in wanting to try the gluten-free crust, but I didn’t want to order a whole pizza of it. When I think about it, it seems unlikely that a group of friends with one person allergic to gluten would really want to order a whole gluten-free pizza. The gluten-free crust would be a good individual option for that person, so it would make sense to have it available by the slice. Or maybe I just think that because it supports me getting what I want.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 7th, 2006 at 5:35 pm and is filed under New York, Restaurants. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.