PQR
Burrata and Basil Slice / Genovese Cherry Tomato Slice
Smoked Provolone, Bacon, Pumpkin Slice / Mozzarella and Marinara Slice
Soppressata Slice
Opened in March of 2018 by Rome’s Angelo Iezzi it was based on good word of mouth that PQR was visited on Christmas Eve, a location at 1631 Second Avenue near the 86th Street Subway creating just the sort of convenience needed to survive on New York’s Upper East Side, though the Pizza itself will decide whether long-term success will follow.
An acronym for Pizza Quadrata Romana and selling Roman-style Pizza by the slice, a style of service different from the weighing at Gabriele Bonci’s shops in Chicago, it is immediately upon entering PQR that guests are face-to-face with the end of a counter, at least twenty combinations of toppings widening eyeballs atop heavily fermented Dough both held and served at room temperature.
Considered by contemporaries to be pioneer of modern Roman Pizza, Iezzi even going so far as to start a school teaching his technique, it is by way of high hydration and lengthy leavening that squares achieve good rise, the bottom not crackling like Bonci but at the same time not Sicilian-soft and a Margherita wedge costing $4.50.
Also a runner-up to Bonci in terms of toppings, the Ingredient quality equal but not nearly as diverse, it was following creamy Burrata and Basil that Slices topped in Soppressata proved spicy yet herbaceous, the Cheese-free Genovese Cherry Tomato Slice additionally focusing on simplicity though unfortunately a bit damp from top to bottom, perhaps as a result of sitting out too long on a Holiday.
Finishing with Bacon and Caramelized Pumpkin covered by smoked Provolone, the suspicion that Slices had been baked several hours prior again roused by a rough texture to the Cheese, it was nonetheless with good service that Water was filled frequently on request as a party of four relaxed in a quiet back dining area that feels miles from the streets of Manhattan.
www.pqr-nyc.com
