Last time we got together in the city with Petiteseour, she suggested going to
Don Antonio's -- a midtown pizza place that her co-worker was a regular at.
The place was packed and we got seated in a cramped corner by the servers' station -- the first in a string of little annoyances that added up. There was also red wine served chilled, plates piled carelessly in people's faces, grumpiness at requests like more bread, stuff taken away too quickly,
We started off with the homemade burrata, and a salad with pancetta, apples and gorgonzola. Burrata was good (though not enough bread, nor balasamic); salad was forgettable.
Then we order 3 pizzas for the 5 of us -- the Vesuvio, a stuffed pizza with fresh ricotta, mozzarella and salami inside, topped with red sauce, ham, more mozzarella, mushrooms, and artichokes; the Pope's Pizza, with butternut squash, zucchini, roasted peppers, and smoked mozzarella; and lastly was one of the day's special which sounded really good with gorgonzola dolce, a bunch of other cheeses, figs, and prosciutto, but was disappointing. The figs were too sweet, the gorgonzola too strong.
I liked the butternut squash and smokey flavor of the Pope's pie, but it was not a hit with Petiteseour. Her favorite and Redneckhunter's favorite was the stuffed pie. I liked the pizza, but Petiteseour thought it suffered from too much volume where the oven doors being constantly opened and closed and not retaining heat led to a less crisp crust.
What really struck me to not recommend the place was really the service -- all around crappy. We learned that Petiteseour's friend tended to go on his own and sit at the bar - clearly the way to go - table service was subpar.
Don Antonio's
309 West 50th Street
New York NY
