Escape From New York

First, I’d like to point out that I consider myself somewhat of a single slice connoisseur (more buff than expert), though some would attest that my affinity for the single slice verges on obsession. I eat a slice at least a couple of times a week and have occasionally made it a daily staple, so I feel I can speak with at least a modicum of authority on the subject. It is important to note that pizza by the slice is much better than by the pie for one simple reason: generally, unless the pizza is fresh from the oven, the pizzeria from which you ordered slips your slice back in the oven where the crust becomes a slight more crisp yet maintains its soft, doughy insides.

So it was that Hilary and I went to Escape From New York City for lunch today. The restaurant is a pizzeria ostensibly named for the Kurt Russell classic and because it is New York style pizza in San Francisco – the old clever double meaning. As far as pizza by the slice goes, it was about average. They offer the same tried and true standards: pesto, Mediterranean, pepperoni, etc. I had a slice of cheese and a slice of mushroom, as you might’ve noticed. At $2.99 apiece, they weren’t exorbitantly priced. The sauce was decent but no better. Thankfully they avoided one of the biggest mistakes many pizzerias make, adding sugar to the sauce. I’d rather eat pickled eggs than sweet pizza sauce. Instead they made the second biggest mistake. My pizza sat in the oven on the re-heat too long and came out far too crisp. They might as well have made it on a digestive cracker. However, I don’t want to be too harsh as a result. The person working the counter did appear entirely disinterested in her job anyway. But maybe I confused disinterest with hipster aloofness. I’m not good at distinguishing those things.

On the whole, I’d give the pizza 3 forks. I’d recommend it to someone looking for a slice without any high expectations. I’m fairly certain I’ll eat there once again at some point. By then maybe the hipsters will have moved on to Dim Sum or some other trendy cuisine, instead of plaguing pizzerias with their masked incompetence. Probably not, though. What is it about pizzerias that attracts these people? Is it the hours? The connection to that hipster Mecca NYC? I don’t know. All I want is for them to properly re-heat my pizza. Damn.