New York Pizza

My husband and I were talking yesterday about foods that we "miss." Either foods that we don't eat much of anymore, or foods that we just can't get down here in the southern part of Texas.

When my husband asked me what food I missed, I told him "a slice of good old New York pizza." We have a considerable number of Italian restaurants here, and some restaurants that just serve pizza. None of them have New York-style pizza, although a couple of them come pretty close. But if you've lived in NY and have had real New York pizza, then "close" just isn't close enough.

After doing a search on the Internet, my husband found a restaurant in Pearland called "New York Pizza." We went there for lunch today... took us nearly an hour to drive there, because the restaurant's location in Pearland is such that it's not near the major highways. We had to take backroads all the way, passing from one end of Pearland to the other-- we had no idea that Pearland was so big. So many traffic lights along the way made the ride slow-going, but we got to see parts of the town that we hadn't seen before, so it was an adventure. (We're just full of adventures these days.)

We found the restaurant..... and their menu consisted of pizza, salads, and hero sandwiches (large Italian sandwiches on long loaf-bread). Instead of getting a regular slice of cheese pizza, I ordered the "heart healthy vegetarian pizza slice." (Okay, okay... the little angel on my shoulder who watches what I eat gave me a nudge at the last minute.) The pizza slices came with a tossed salad, vinegarette dressing on the side.

They gave us the salads first.... fresh and crisp, with small squares of pizza dough bread on the side. Then came the pizza slices--- large slices, about the equivalent of one and a half slices of "real" NY pizza. My heart-healthy slice had cheese, tomatoes, spinach, artichoke hearts and onions. The vegetables were delicious, the crust was delicious, the sauce and the cheese were outstanding.....and it was bubbling hot, the way pizza should be---- by far, the best slice of pizza we've had since we've been here.

Even though the pizza slice was oversized, and even though I always bring home half of whatever I order at a restaurant, I was determined to eat that entire slice of pizza. I knew that if I brought it home and tried to reheat it, the just-cooked deliciousness would be gone. So I sat there and ate every bite, except for just part of the crust, when my stomach just couldn't hold anymore.

We'd love to go back there again for more pizza, but being that it's such a long ride away, it won't be a place we'll go to on a weekly basis. Which is a good thing.... too much heart-healthy pizza will quickly become heart-unhealthy. Sure was good, though. And I'd still get the vegetarian slice.... I love all the spinach and artichoke slices on top of pizza.