Co.

Last weekend after visiting the High Line for the first time (can't believe it took me that long to actually visit), my friend and I walked a few blocks over to 24th Street and 9th Avenue and went to Co. (pronounced "company").  Co. is a pizzeria owned by Jim Lahey (who also owns Sullivan Street Bakery), although I don't know if I really want to use the term "pizzeria," because it just felt a little too sleek.  But sleek isn't the right word either.  The whole atmosphere had a clean, natural beauty to it, without it feeling trendy.  Long wood tables fill the space, where guests sit communal style.  I really enjoyed sitting like this at Busaba in London, and Saturday I felt the same way.  It nice to see what other people are getting and eavesdropping on their comments about the food or their life.

Our waitress was very friendly and informative since this was our first visit there.  She gave us the low down - Jim makes Roman style pizzas - meaning they are thin, crispy, and baked in a brick oven.  Each pizza is considered the appropriate size for one person, but the pizzas come out as soon as they are ready, instead of waiting for the entire group's order.  This obviously encourages sharing - unless you have no compassion for your starving friend staring at you as you eat your scrumptious pizza.  Our waitress also suggested getting an appetizer, but we weren't hungry enough to indulge - the artichoke salad sounded pretty tasty though.

The first pizza we got was the simple Rosa pizza, which has crushed tomatoes, slivers of garlic, fresh oregano, and chilis.  I am not the biggest fan of cheese.  In fact growing up I ripped most of my cheese off the pizza.  Although most people think I am freak, now that I look back on it - does Pizza Hut even use real cheese?  Maybe I just already had a refined palette back then.  The point is the Rosa pizza was right up my alley.  It was light, fresh, a touch of heat, and really showcased the tomatoes.

About five minutes later, or approximately two slices into the Rosa pizza, came the Stracciatella pizza.  Okay, this took me a couple of read-throughs to understand the pronunciation, but once again the waitress was very helpful and convinced us to try this pizza because it was her favorite.  Stracciatella is actually a type of cheese, and she described it as a less sweet mascarpone.  The pizza is topped with crushed tomatoes, stracciatella, black pepper, and fresh arugula.

The arugula gave the pizza a peppery flavor, but the slightly sweet cheese mellowed it out.  It was good too, but I think I liked the simplicity of the Rosa pizza better.  We didn't end with dessert because we were too full, but they have a banana split on the menu!  Ummm - yum!  Next time I am definitely saving room for dessert.  I would definitely recommend giving Co. a try if you want delicious, crispy pizza.  To view the menu, click here.