Is Lucali the Best Pizza in New York City?

Intro Yeah, it's a little creaky. So good people in here drinking 40 g's on wine and their table is like f*cking hanging together by a couple of nails. About Lucali There is almost one thing that every chef in New York agrees on. Best pizza is found at Lucali. Lucali is one of the most iconic restaurants in New York. It's been a 17 years and it's a BYOB. And what a BYOB is. Why has Lucali become this thing? Why has Lucali become this thing It's humble, it's relaxed, and yet people like flock here, celebrate here. What happened? I don't know. What happened Maybe the pizza is that good. I'm starting to believe in it, you know. After 17 years. Yeah. I'm finally starting to believe that the pizza might be that good. Why did you choose to do BYOB. Growing up in Brooklyn, you know, went to these pizzerias and it was like, we didn't drink wine with pizza people, you know, we'd go in there, get a Pepsi or A Coke or the fountain soda, you know. Me and all my friends.... Wait my phones buzzing here. Oh, Anthony Rizzo. New York Yankee. Old, Rizzo. And it's gone. A home run for Anthony Rizzo. Anthony Rizzo Hello, Mr Rizzo. How we doing? I'm sitting here with TOPJAW and they want to know one of your favourite pizza spots in New York. Lucalis. How's everything going? Good, you? Where are you at? Are you in the back? We're in front of Lucali's. The back is set up, your table is set up. Nice. Rizzo. Where's the best burger? Red Hook is really good. Yeah. The one restaurant in New York that you sent someone to, what would it be? 4 Charles. 4 Charles, yeah. Yes. I'll see you later, bro. Thanks, bro. Bye. Later. So Lucali is small. No Reservations It's a ten table restaurant. There's no reservations. So you have to just be lucky and get a table or queue up. Put your name forward and they'll give you an allocated time. So what's with the wine bottle? Wine Bottle We have a really low hydration. The dough is really tough to stretch by hand. We start it off with this and then we let it sit, let the dough relax, and then it becomes easier to stretch. Where'd you grow up? Right here in this neighbourhood. Really? Yeah. I used to come here as a kid. My parents came to this place as kids. This was Louie's Candy Store. Louie had passed away. Anthony and Rosemarie, you know, ran the store a few years, a few more years after he passed, and, like, every time I would drive by, you know, the place was, like, open sporadically, I was like, oh, listen, you know, if things don't work out, I would, you know, I'd be interested in the space. And she was like, oh, okay. An hour later, I get a phone call from her son Anthony. He was like, you know, my mum told me you might be interested in taking over the store. You know? You know, love for you to take it over. I was like, all right, I'll be right there. And next thing I know, I'm signing a lease, you know, $5,000 to my name. Miami It's this one, and it's Miami. Yes. What was the love affair genesis? The family getting together. You know, me, my brothers, my aunts, my uncles, you know, Sunday dinner. My grandmother cooked every single night. Back in the seventies, eighties, nineties, we had some amazing restaurants in this area. A lot of the old school sauce joints. You know, which is making a really big comeback right now. You know, I'm like, yo, it's chicken parmesan. What's the big deal? And someone said, you know, what's ordinary to you isn't to others. And it, you know, and I was like, yeah, I guess the Italian's get mad if we call it margarita. Why do they get mad when you call it margarita? Margarita Cause it's not strictly a margarita. No, it's not. That's a totally different pizza. There are all these rules and regulations. You know, it has to be made a specific way. So are you using American bread flour? Or do you use... Yeah, from what I was told, 90% of their flour is our wheat. That, you know, we send it over there, they mill it and sell it back to us. American Bread They love their double zero flour, and they love to hate on American bread flour. I could be wrong. No, I like it. I'm gonna. I'm gonna. You could be wrong. I usually am. Pizza Time All right, we're going in. I'm gonna stop. Gotta stand up straight. Crystal, remind me to suck my stomach in when I'm filming. Mark's made a pizza, but he's giving it away. Cause this is the first pizza that comes out the oven is never that great. No, we do it for, the lady next door that works in the deli. Ah, because I went there the other day, and she says, you never bring me pizza. Oh, okay. Yeah, she got a pizza. How Often Do You Eat Pizza How often do you eat your own pizza? Almost every day. Let me get your dish. Okay, here we go. Plain pie. I mean, it's gorgeous stuff. And you get a very crisp base, but it's super thin. It's almost like Neapolitan thin, but it has a lot of structure to it. Sometimes I'll go up to the customer's table and steal a slice. You stretch that dough out thinner than, like, knickers, you know? Than what? It's thin, it's crispy, and it's moreish and big slices, but you just chop it down because it's a really light dough. What's next, bro? Whats Next I think we got meatballs, and I love meatballs, and I love New York meatballs. What goes into your meatballs? They're brisket, short rib, and spicy sausage. They're serious meatballs. Then. I'll never say I have the best pizza, but we may have one of the best meatballs. Stick the knife in a little twist. They're very soft. Mmm. Oh, man. When you don't like something, do you still react like that? No. Beautiful. That sesame crumb. What? Pasta. There's three cheese, fusilli, pecorino, parmesan, and the kashkaval. It's got a little smoky paprika in it, and chilli. You're like a pasta somm. You getting the heat? Yeah, I love it. And these are always on the menu. You ask too many questions. Less questions, more eating. Thank you so much. Meatballs. Meatball. Two meatballs. While you don't eat meat. Nah, trust me. Two meatballs.