New York is the pizza capital of the world. Based on our homegrown charcoal ovens, stacked ovens, and focaccia styles, we’ve used pizza from the US, Italy, and other parts of the world, including Argentina and France (although Tunisian Tunisian tuna and canned hard-boiled egg pizza still shy away from us).
New York is also a place where a new style of pizza can easily catch on, as evidenced by Oma Grasse, whose new Fort Greene pizzeria opened in July. bake.
Oma Grassa occupies an iron-shaped building with many panoramic windows on the corner of Fulton and South Portland streets. The room is open and airy, with black and white honeycomb floor tiles and Tiffany hanging lampshades. A pair of stacked pizza ovens stand out behind the counter in the middle of the back of the iron.
The Baumgart oven is unique for pizza baking because it runs on electricity rather than gas or wood, and it’s set to 650°F – 100°F higher than a traditional gas oven that combines gas and wood. The average temperature is divided into two parts. What’s more, the top and bottom of each oven can be set to different temperatures, and the floor is made of stone to absorb and dissipate heat. Oma Grassa is one of the few restaurants that use an electric oven to cook pizza, including Leo and L’Industrie in Brooklyn.
So what makes this oven different? It browns the bottom of a pie that might otherwise be soggy like a Neapolitan pizza, allowing for more toppings on a firm base. Essentially, this method creates a pizza style hybrid between Naples and New York. Electric ovens also guarantee greater precision and consistency in pizza baking. This is a pizza that jumps into the modern era.
Baumgart’s track record includes such big establishments as Prune and Roman’s, where he runs restaurants like a lone actor, churns sourdough dough, sprinkles toppings, and—peel in hand—discussing pies in the oven. Sometimes he even happily brings the finished product to the table.
There are currently eight pies and I have tried five in two visits. Margherita ($20) is the default dish, and it’s always the perfect test for a pizzeria anyway. The cheese was denser than usual, the pecorino cheese corrected the mozzarella and there was a hint of oregano in the tomato sauce. These are large 14-inch pies that one person can easily feed two.
Even better is the Anchovy Pie ($19), a cheese-free spicy move that also contains capers and olives to make it look like puttanesca. I liked it so much that I still think about it in the subway. With the help of the ubiquitous roni cupping, the pepperoni pie was perfect, although my palate got a little burnt at one point. The best option is cherry tomato pie, which adds a sweet element, as well as some creamy ricotta as a great dairy alternative.
While Baumgart’s toppings are mostly traditional, there’s an unusual three-cheese pie with roasted garlic and lemon served at the last minute with really good vegetables. Oma Grassa also offers a range of toppings, including fennel sausage and pickled peppers, but use these sparingly as the cake is already well balanced and well thought out.
Only three apps are offered, but they showcase Baumgart’s experience as a chef. The most unusual was the plate with pickles, olives and a hard-boiled egg – it’s hard to imagine a better dish while waiting for pizza, its main advantage is that it is as different from pizza as possible. For $9, that’s a steal too.
The other two starters are also enticing. I tried a large salad ($15) similar to caesar but without the anchovies. Perfect lettuce leaves remain uncut, which encourages you to pick them up with your fingers. Balsamic vinegar is simple and classic, covering every leaf without overpowering it. All apps can be shared with a bottle of wine for a group of people – another great feature of Oma Grassa.
Yes, there are other pizzerias that serve as natural wine bars, but the wines here are especially good for pizza. In any case, in Naples, most people drink Coke with pizza, and wine lovers usually opt for a chilled carbonated red. So, Oma Grassa offers a skin-to-skin Lambrusco ($50), which smells like cherry cola, but other fancy wines are even better, like Primo Incontro ($14 a glass, $56 a bottle), a straw-yellow sparkling wine. white grapes give Soava a double fermentation and a taste of volcanic soils. Let the bubbles tickle your nose as you enjoy Baumgart’s delicious pies.
Post time: Oct-12-2022