![]() The pepperoni, in thin flat and wide slices, was not at all like the thick, small, curled cups found on my recent pie at Lombardi's in NYC ( full review HERE). Pica's fans swear by this style - but I would prefer the cheese on top. The cheese was kind of lost under the sauce. The sauce was, much like the best Philly tomato pies, the star of this pie. The airy bakery style crust will never be my favorite - I like a more doughy chew - but this was executed about perfectly for the genre. This crust was delightfully crisp and browned on the bottom and edges. Distant cousin, also, to the celebrated squares at L&B Spumoni Gardens in Brooklyn (full review of L&B HERE ). How is Pica's pizza like a Philly tomato pie? It is rectangular, baked in a pan, and the crust is the light and airy bakery style. ![]() The cheese peeked out from under the sauce in only a few places. While the mushroom side looked mostly like a Philly tomato pie, the pepperoni under the sauce was visible in the way that the sauce had pooled atop each big circle (two per slice) of thin pepperoni. The pie arrived quickly, and one glance confirmed its unique nature. We ordered a pie with half pepperoni, and half mushrooms. It has the advantage of cooling quickly to avoid burning the roof of your mouth, but the distinct drawback (like a Chicago deep dish) in that the cheese never gets any delicious browning from exposure to oven air. ![]() "Upside down" pizza is simply pizza where the sauce rides atop the cheese. I plan to go back to sample the other fare, but this visit was all about the pizza. Pica's is indeed a big, old-school, red-gravy Italian restaurant. I met two colleagues for dinner there on a slow Monday evening in summer. I was finally prompted to visit Pica's and sample their famous "upside down" rectangular pizza. It sounded like the kind of old-world place I would enjoy, and it's been on my pizza radar for a while. I remember 80s-vintage Philadelphia radio ads (on the Sundays with Sinatra show, hosted by Sid Mark ) for Pica's Italian Restaurant. In March of 2014, Philly native Tina Fey appeared on the Tonight Show, where she surprised host Jimmy Fallon with a delivery of pizza from Pica's, her hometown favorite. Pica's makes a pizza that is a cousin to the Philly tomato pie. The Philly tomato pie (defined HERE - also known as the Conshy tomato pie) is rectangular, pan baked, with sauce, but with just a sprinkle of cheese post-bake. Louis style, New Haven apizza, Midwestern thin party-cut, Trenton tomato pie (my favorite), and the nearby but entirely different Philly tomato pie. Some background for my visit to Pica's Restaurant :īeyond the conventional pizza varieties, there are thick-crusted rectangular Sicilians, thin and crisp bar pies, puffy and charred Neapolitans, thin squares of Grandma pizza, flatbread pizza, pan pizza, and endless topping varieties.Īdding even more pizza diversity are the countless regional styles.
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