Review: Pulino’s Bar & Pizzeria
Saturday, Char and I made the score of the week. At about 3:30 p.m., we set out to get a late brunch (well, a late lunch technically, but this is New York, so brunch tends to last until dinner) and decided to swing by Pulino’s to see if we could nab a table. It’s been open for a couple weeks now, but between our vacation, busy schedules, and just plain old fear of waiting for a table on an empty stomach, I haven’t made it a priority to eat at the instantly-popular Keith McNally joint. But Saturday we were in luck - we were seated immediately at a booth next to the windows - perfect for crowd-watching and taking in the sunny weekend breeze.
We started off the meal with a salad, because it felt like the right thing to do. Albeit a little hard to eat, the cabbage/pecorino/bacon/orange/date salad was delicious and hit all the right notes - the bitter cabbage, salty pecorino and bacon, the sweet dates, and then the splash of citrus from the oranges was fresh, but still overall pretty hearty. But onto the reason we came - the pizza.
First up was one of the egg pizzas. For brunch, Pulino’s plays with pizzas that encorporate eggs, as well as sweet (dolci) pizzas, in addition to the standard meat, sauce and cheese fare. Our egg pizza had sausage, bacon, cheese (not sure on the kind, maybe mozzarella?) and an egg cracked open on top and baked in the wood-fire oven until the whites were just set. Incredible. If you know what’s good for you, you just crack open that yolk with your fork, spread it around, and yank out a slice and cry. Seriously great, and so simple. What I noticed right away was the quality of the dough/crust. Thin but still flavorful, and firm all the way through the center of the pie even with that yolk hanging around. Just expertly done. And I wasn’t kicking the blackened crust out of bed either. I highly reccommend.
Onto the sweet pizza - I honed in on the raspberry jam, ricotta, and bacon pizza right away, because I have a great fondness for jellies and jams at brunch. I just always crave something sweet after so much salt and savoriness. And Charlie loves bacon, so this pizza was a must-try. Lawd, I just about died. That crust! So firm and flavorful! It held that creamy cheese and tart jam right up. And then you chew more and the salty bacon kicks in. It’s almost too much. And again, so simple; nothing that you couldn’t do a slight variation on in your own kitchen with an English muffin or a piece of toasted sourdough.
Like I mentioned, there’s also traditional pizzas available, some baked egg dishes, a few pastas and entrees, and I’ve heard there are some great cocktails at night. But if you really want to get a feel for the place, you don’t need to get dressed to the nines, wait for 10 hours, and then eat the pizza half-drunk. Go sober, for a late brunch/lunch, when you can really take in the space and enjoy the great flavors of the food. It’s a pizza parlor, don’t forget. Anyone who forgets that should just move it right along over to Balthazar. But for those of you looking for a slice that’s just a notch up from the regular old stuff, or for those of you that are looking to combine two CRUCIAL-to-not-mess-up favorites - breakfast and pizza - as Charlie and I were, then Pulino’s is your place.
