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Pizza Lunch: Pizzetteria Brunetti opens location in Greenwich Village NYC

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From left: the San Gennaro (tomato sauce, onion, peppers, ricotta) and the pizzeria's signature Vongole pizza (a white clam pie).
From left: the San Gennaro (tomato sauce, onion, peppers, ricotta) and the pizzeria’s signature Vongole pizza (a white clam pie).

New Yorkers are known for leaving the city in summer to visit the Hamptons. Here is a case of a Hamptonite visiting, and settling in, New York City.

Pizzetteria Brunetti NYC is the Greenwich Village outpost of the original Westhampton Beach–based Neapolitan pizzeria that my wife and I visited in May 2011.

Pizzetteria Brunetti Exterior
You know Myers of Keswick? Yeah, this is like 3 doors down from there.

This Pizza Lunch excursion coincided nicely with my friend Sean Taylor‘s 31 Days of Pizza project, in which he eats pizza for at least one meal a day each day in the month of October (which is National Pizza Month). The lunchtime company was great, and it was a bonus that neither of us had been to this pizzeria yet.

I didn't realize Sean was an avid baseball fan. I probably insulted him with a joke along the lines of "the Mets are almost a form of improv comedy."
I didn’t realize Sean was an avid baseball fan. I probably insulted him with a joke along the lines of “the Mets are almost a form of improv comedy.”

As you can see in the photo at top, the pizzas at Brunetti are marked by a decidedly puffy, almost cartoonishly puffy, rim. I’m guessing this is the lasting influence of co-owner Jason Brunetti’s having apprenticed at Motorino, which too is known for its outsize cornicione. (Jason Brunetti and his father, Michael, own and operate the original Westhampton Beach location. For their Manhattan branch, they’ve taken on two partners.)

Of the two pizzas we had, I liked the Vongole most. It’s one of the best clam pies I’ve had in the last couple of years and is itself clearly influenced by Motorino’s own clam pie. I was lured by the sausage, pepper, and onion combo of the San Gennaro, though, truth be told I am not a huge fan of ricotta on pizza. While the flavors were good on this pizza, I think I would have preferred mozzarella.

Pizzetteria Brunetti Crust
Not a bad trick indeed.

The crust here. Look what they’re doing. See above? See the salt on the rim? Yeah, it definitely makes a difference. I hadn’t noticed it right off, but as I was eating I was like, “Damn, this crust is good. Salty. Nice!” And then I looked closer. Ah ha! I see what you did there, Brunetti. Smart.

Anyway, these pizza lunches are not so much “reviews”* as they are just a snapshot of pizza I’ve eaten recently. So I’m not getting all that technical here. I will however encourage you to try this place. They’re doing something good here. And “good” may be an understatement. Time and future visits will tell the whole tale.