Pizza at Peperoncino
Spurred by word-of-mouth and NewYorkMetro's latest pizza spotlight, I tried Park Slope's Peperoncino last night with some friends. While the pizza was good--excellent even--I must dispell one myth, Peperoncino is not a pizza restaurant, or at least it doesn't want to be one. We picked up on this cue after being handed four menus but only one pizza menu. Our request for a second pizza menu was met with a raised eyebrow. The regular menu lists lots of yummy sounding Italian pasta and antipasto, but we stuck with pizza.
Of the pizzas sampled, the margherita best showcased the circles of rich di latte cheese and subtly sweet tomato sauce lavished on the pie. No doubt the beautiful, gigantic wood-burning oven (probably about four times the size of my kitchen) plays a big role in the lightly charred thick crusts and paper-thin undercarriage. Each pizza (one with spicy sausage, one with clams, mussels and calamari, and one with ham, artichoke hearts and olives) had very distinct flavors, a feat considering the artful sparcity of ingredients. Probably one of the best pies of its type I've had in a while, but I couldn't shake the feeling that we were breaking an unwritten rule by only ordering pizza.
The cesar salad was an unexpectedly pleasant starter, due to what tasted like a touch of lemon in its light dressing. We also sampled a brushetta topped in a heavy layer of goat cheese, caramelized onions and a smattering of olives, but the onion and olives were overpowered by the cheese. Best to stick with table bread.
Our biggest disappointment was the service. Though the staff was friendly enough, our experience was peppered with odd occurences. Early in the meal, a bus boy came and rearranged everyone's silverwear, moving two table settings around, removing an extra one and taking away one person's napkin but leaving his silverwear. When the appetizers arrived, we asked the same bus boy for a napkin, and he looked genuinely confused. When the bill arrived, we all sat around silently contemplating how four people who ordered four $10-$14 pizzas could have spent $100 (it's BYOB at the moment). Turns out we had been presented someone else's bill. No apology came with the new bill. And then our request for two take-home pizza boxes for two separate households was met with another confused look. After much explaining that two pieces go in one box and the extra was to be boxed separately, all arrived in one box. When we again asked for a second box, a metal tin with a plastic top was returned. Peperoncino is not letting those boxes leave without a fight!
Peperoncino is at 72 Fifth Avenue in Park Slope. The phone is (718) 638-4760 and according to a posted sign, a liquor license is close at hand.
5 Comments
Leave a comment
I tried the seafood pizza with mussles, clams, and scallops. It arrives at the table uncut and you are supposed to eat the seafood from the shell then eat the pizza underneath. Overall it was tasty, but not the best I've had. Their regular menu looked interesting. If I were to go back there again, I probably wouldn't get another pizza.
Yes the service was entertaining for sure, to say the least. I think the best part of this meal was sharing the interesting experience with good friends. While I did enjoy my ceasar salad and spicy sausage pizza, and I would say that high quality ingredients were obviously used, I still found myself thinking of the pizza place around the corner from my apartment and how it could have cost me much less to have had a great slice of pizza. But I enjoyed my meal nonetheless and we had a laugh at the service quirks.
so i promised to comment on this restaurant, but to be honest, the only 3 things i remember were: 1) the cesar salad and how good it was (and i HATE cesar salad); 2) how brutally cold it was that night. Those people sitting by the door were not too pleased every time someone opened it, were they? The restaurant should invest in a double door system to prevent their guests at glaring at anyone who enters and exits the restaurant. 3) I loved the company I was with :)
The service at this restaurant truly sucks. Amateurs.
My fiance and I were recently looking for a restaurant in Brooklyn to host a dinner the night before our wedding. We went to Peperoncino -- a place we had been to before and liked -- and met with Nino, the owner, to discuss a possible menu/dinner arrangements. He (the owner!) treated us so rudely and disrespectfully. Apparently, he is completely uninterested in good business from nice people, and just doesn't know how to treat potential customers (or maybe even people in general!) We left angrily and will NEVER return - especially for a special occasion! Spare yourself the maltreatment... the food/ambiance aren't that good anyway.