Pizza Pizza!

 {All images via}

Last weekend, a friend's parents were gracious enough to take me out to lunch with them, to an amazing new pizza place they had found, "close your eyes and you'll swear you're in Italy" they promised. And this family would know, Italian to the core, the father owned a restaurant in the city for years and trips are still made as a family back to Italy to visit family and friends. But, back to it, the pizza place with the incredible pies was Forcello Eatery, located on the north side of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, and may I just say that it did not disappoint. Owned by 2 Italians, it was pointed out with obvious disappointment that already the restaurant was not employing Italian waitstaff or cooks, the undercurrent of the notification being that soon enough the flavors of this shop would start to slip, presumably as others had before it. Authenticity requires a certain bit of upkeep I suppose. Still, the interior of the restaurant was delightfully simple and bright, with mirrors on one wall and a mish-mash of photos on another showcasing a pizza cook in a venetian mask, shots of Italian streets, and one photo of three boys happily eating pizza that my friend's father smiled at, saying that the photo could have been of he and his brothers.

 Refreshing decor aside, onto the food! Now, I prefer my pizza crust to be crispy, but it would appear I am all kindsa wrong on that point, because this pizza was not crispy in the least. Thin-crusted and almost sweet, with a wonderful sauce and just the right amount of fresh mozzarella. Fantastic bruscetta was our appetizer and - obviously - I picked off of everyone else's plates so I can vouch for the house salad as well as an arugula Panini and my own escarole fried pizza which was rather like a Stromboli but with incredibly delicious, chewy dough and stuffed to the brim with escarole (a leafy green rather like arugula that I had never hear of prior to my dish), anchovies and capers. Trust me when I tell you the rest of the table was shocked at my order, and that it was absolutely divine. Even reheated days later, it was delightful.

I will forever insist that Williamsburg has the best Italian food out there - New York claims itself to have the best pizza all over the island, but a neighborhood so steeped in traditional Italian families, heritage, language, food and history just cannot be topped - and I am happy to report that Forcello is a definite go-to spot! Pop in for a meal, I promise you won't be disappointed.


Forcello is located at 485 Lorimer St. (between Grand St & Powers St), Brooklyn, NY 11211 or they can be reached at (718) 388-8820.

PS - I am very aware, whoever-may-still-be-reading, that this blog has been mopey of late. I am doing my darndest to pull it - and myself - out of those doldrums. A point will be made to keep mopey posts - and moments in life - to a minimum from here on out.