Phoenix TasteCasting’s first tasting took place at NYPD Pizza last night. What a great inaugural spot for meeting new people, experiencing a bit of New York, and eating and eating and eating!If you’re from New York, and homesick for an authentic Brooklyn-style pizza experience, then drive to NYPD Pizza tonight for your fix. Not from New York, then do yourself a favor and transform yourself out of the Arizona heat and into a neighborhood pizza place with tons of pizzazz.
Our Host
Nikki West, the Director of Operations, was a gracious host. She pulled up a chair, had dinner with us and shared great stories about the restaurant with each course.
The pizza dough is made with New York filtered water. They swear it makes a difference. We agree.
And they 
serve New York filtered water to guests.
Every pizza is hand tossed the old fashioned way and baked in an old fashioned stone oven.
The marinara sauce is Greg Ziegler’s mother’s recipe. And rumor has it that she routinely checks in with the restaurants to make sure they are making it the right way. Now that’s quality control.
The Feast
And what a feast it was! We started off with Garlic Knots that are brushed with garlic, sesame and Romano cheese and baked with that delectable homemade marina sauce on the side. If I knew there was so much food coming, I would have limited myself to one. But I’m a sucker for fresh baked warm bread.
Then came the wings. We had two kinds – Honey BBQ Wings and Upstate Style Wings. My husband’s family is from Buffalo New York, so as you can imagine, there are many discussions about wings and sauce around our house. I asked Nikki if they use Frank’s Hot Sauce (since the New Yorkers in my life are die-hard fans of Frank’s Hot Sauce). NYPD makes their own sauce (no bottles and cans for these folks). And dare I say…their sauce might
have been even better than Frank’s! We were served the medium sauce – but I’m going back for the Hell’s Kitchen version.
While I’m a purist when it comes to wing sauce, the Honey BBQ wings were great. Think BBQ sauce and honey. They were great.
And then came the salad. We had two kinds – the Chelsea and Antipasto.
The Chelsea had sun dried tomatoes, gorgonzola cheese, sliced almonds, bacon, tomatoes and cucumbers topped with their own dressing, which is a combo of house
vinaigrette and ranch dressing. Heaven help me. Again, if I knew there was so much food coming I would’ve had just a little sample.
serve New York filtered water to guests.Every pizza is hand tossed the old fashioned way and baked in an old fashioned stone oven.
The marinara sauce is Greg Ziegler’s mother’s recipe. And rumor has it that she routinely checks in with the restaurants to make sure they are making it the right way. Now that’s quality control.
The Feast
And what a feast it was! We started off with Garlic Knots that are brushed with garlic, sesame and Romano cheese and baked with that delectable homemade marina sauce on the side. If I knew there was so much food coming, I would have limited myself to one. But I’m a sucker for fresh baked warm bread.
Then came the wings. We had two kinds – Honey BBQ Wings and Upstate Style Wings. My husband’s family is from Buffalo New York, so as you can imagine, there are many discussions about wings and sauce around our house. I asked Nikki if they use Frank’s Hot Sauce (since the New Yorkers in my life are die-hard fans of Frank’s Hot Sauce). NYPD makes their own sauce (no bottles and cans for these folks). And dare I say…their sauce might
have been even better than Frank’s! We were served the medium sauce – but I’m going back for the Hell’s Kitchen version.While I’m a purist when it comes to wing sauce, the Honey BBQ wings were great. Think BBQ sauce and honey. They were great.
And then came the salad. We had two kinds – the Chelsea and Antipasto.
The Chelsea had sun dried tomatoes, gorgonzola cheese, sliced almonds, bacon, tomatoes and cucumbers topped with their own dressing, which is a combo of house
vinaigrette and ranch dressing. Heaven help me. Again, if I knew there was so much food coming I would’ve had just a little sample.The tossed Antipasto was seriously the best I’ve ever had. Maybe it was the marinade. We were served a huge portion of this salad -- loads of marinated vegetables like mushrooms, pepperocinis, tomatoes, onion.
And then came the pizza. We had the Brooklyn Family pizza with pepperoni, sausage and fresh basil and the Pizza Blanca (a white pie) with olive oil, crushed garlic, ricotta, mozzarella and Roma tomatoes. At first, I tried to be all prim and proper and use a fork and knife. Maybe it was the music or possibly the NY water in the crust, but I said, “Fagetta ‘bought it” (to myself of course) and picked up my slice, folded it and indulged. Now that’s the way pizza should be eaten.
And the feast continued. Calzones were served. The Al Capone was filled with sausage, pepperoni, onions and a cheesy gooey combination of seasoned ricotta cheese and mozzarella. And that heavenly homemade marina was served on the side. Just when I thought I would burst, we had traditional
And then came the pizza. We had the Brooklyn Family pizza with pepperoni, sausage and fresh basil and the Pizza Blanca (a white pie) with olive oil, crushed garlic, ricotta, mozzarella and Roma tomatoes. At first, I tried to be all prim and proper and use a fork and knife. Maybe it was the music or possibly the NY water in the crust, but I said, “Fagetta ‘bought it” (to myself of course) and picked up my slice, folded it and indulged. Now that’s the way pizza should be eaten.
And the feast continued. Calzones were served. The Al Capone was filled with sausage, pepperoni, onions and a cheesy gooey combination of seasoned ricotta cheese and mozzarella. And that heavenly homemade marina was served on the side. Just when I thought I would burst, we had traditional
baked N
ew York Ziti with sliced meatballs.
ew York Ziti with sliced meatballs. The meatballs were a huge hit with the group.
Now, we’ve slipped into a food coma – a happy, blissful place. And then came the San Gennaro Zeppolis. These fried little nuggets of tasty pizza dough are topped with powdered sugar and served with Chocolate and Raspberry dipping sauces. We ohhh’d, we ahhhh’d.
Now, we’ve slipped into a food coma – a happy, blissful place. And then came the San Gennaro Zeppolis. These fried little nuggets of tasty pizza dough are topped with powdered sugar and served with Chocolate and Raspberry dipping sauces. We ohhh’d, we ahhhh’d.
I’m going back for these!
As were getting ready to leave, a couple (Debbie and Bill) came up to our table and shared a story. They were celebrating their 1-year wedding anniversary because their first date was at NYPD. Debbie went on the say that Bill had just gotten out of a comma due to a serious bike accident. So this evening was special for them on a lot of levels. A sweet ending to our evening.
From the exposed brick on the wall, to the Sinatra music in the background, for a brief time we left Arizona and were sitting at a neighborhood restaurant among friends indulging in wings, pasta, and pizza and telling stories.
Thank you NYPD for inviting us in and treating us like family.
Locations/Hours of Operation for the ten Phoenix locations:
Sun-Thur:11-9:30Fri-Sat:11-10
Some places deliver – check them out on line at http://www.aznypdpizza.com/ or follow them on Twitter: @NYPD_Pizza or
As were getting ready to leave, a couple (Debbie and Bill) came up to our table and shared a story. They were celebrating their 1-year wedding anniversary because their first date was at NYPD. Debbie went on the say that Bill had just gotten out of a comma due to a serious bike accident. So this evening was special for them on a lot of levels. A sweet ending to our evening.
From the exposed brick on the wall, to the Sinatra music in the background, for a brief time we left Arizona and were sitting at a neighborhood restaurant among friends indulging in wings, pasta, and pizza and telling stories.
Thank you NYPD for inviting us in and treating us like family.
Locations/Hours of Operation for the ten Phoenix locations:
Sun-Thur:11-9:30Fri-Sat:11-10
Some places deliver – check them out on line at http://www.aznypdpizza.com/ or follow them on Twitter: @NYPD_Pizza or
on Facebook: NewYorkPizza Department
