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Didn't mean to imply that either you or Bauer cheated on your homework, Maven. Just thought it interesting that the 2 reviews came out on the same day and both said, more or less, that "this new place has the best pizza Napoletana in the area" - but were about different places. I hope Bauer chimes in on TPN.

Coincidentally, Michael Bauer's latest review came out today:

"sets standards for wood-oven Neapolitan style in the Bay Area"
"The crust could easily have been used in a training manual for the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana. It's airy and breadlike at the charred rim with a touch of chewiness and a hint of crispness."

Sounds like he's echoing LA Pizza Maven (or vice versa), except that his review wasn't for TPN, but Flour and Water:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/07/19/FDJM18KGQB.DTL&type=food

I guess places like A16, Pizzaiolo, and Pizzeria Delfina are old news now.

@Paulie: Yup, like Mozza, and, seemingly 90% of the wood-fired pizzerias in CA that have opened in the past 4 or 5 years, like Picco, Pizzaiolo, Diavolo, Local, Rosso, Marzano. Aside from whatever qualities the ovens may have, I think there are 3 factors in its popularity in CA: Mugnaini is local; the Chez Panisse influence; and the fact that they are made in Italy (these places go more for Napoletana than for NY).

The more "authentic" a place is, the less need there is for me to try it. I've already had the real deal. I thought this response was kind of ironic:

"So Tonda’s unique factor is that it will be truly authentic Italian pizza?
Yes, truly Italian. ...We’ve got ourselves a wonderful new technology—a pizza oven which rotates"

And, speaking of an authentic Italian experience:

"We will serve 12-inch pies, nothing bigger, nothing smaller, and no slices. It will be whole, thin-crusted pies. In Italy, the way they eat them is two and three at a time."

How about charging 4 Euros then?

Seems your map is missing several in Texas that opened recently: some Grimaldi'seses and a fairly new chain called "Russo's NY Coal-Fired Pizzeria"

http://www.nypizzeria.com/locations.html

@Stacey: lots of things are worth waiting that long. Whenever I go to Pizzeria Bianco, my whole day is really just waiting to eat pizza, whether or not I've gotten to the pizzeria yet. One of these days I'll time it so I can catch a Diamondbacks or spring training game while I wait.

I think the article gives the impression that Chris swears more than he does. He seems pretty amped up in those conversations, though, so maybe that's why.

'The point is that *all things being equal* we have seen time and time again a skilled NY pizza master unable to duplicate the same recipe in other parts of the country. We hear that often, in fact.'

Do we? I must be getting senile. I can't really even remember hearing about a skilled NY pizza master even _trying_ to duplicate the same recipe in other parts of the country.

It kinda sounds like Lahey didn't know he was on the record. In any case, I'll bet the conversation played better live than in print.

90 days is probably about the right amount of time to give a new restaurant. But, it's not just a restaurant, it's a pizzeria. Nobody has pizza down to a science in 90 days. Or ever, as far as I can tell. Not "good" pizza, that is.

I thought the toppings there were all pretty great (margherita included, @sloppy). I wasn't really crazy about the crust though. With the oversized cornicone and small area of toppings, the pies are almost more bialy than pizza. And the color and flavor of the crust come too much from oil than high heat. The hole structure was the best part of it - few places manage to do well with that, especially under the toppings.

I'll also add that I've eaten numerous times at various Arizona locations (mostly for lunch - that way I'm not starving to death while I wait for Bianco to open), and I've gotten quite a range of charredness.

OK, I'll stop talking about consistency. For a little while.

Whoa - where did the picture of the pizza on their website come from? Stock photo? Seems like they're doing themselves a disservice.

And what's the relationship with Salvatore's of Soho in the Bronx?

I didn't eat it or see it, but Pizzaiolo had a pizza called "The Obama" on its menu on Tuesday - it was pineapple and prosciutto (or maybe speck). Probably the only time they'll ever put pineapple on a pizza.

Eating at Pizzeria Delfina and Pizzaiolo on the same day would not be enough to pick one over the other. I've eaten dozens of pizzas from these places, and they are inconsistent from day to day (even the 4th pizza above looks pretty inconsistent with the other 3). The owner of Pizzaiolo is actually anti-consistency (and talks about it on his site: http://www.pizzaiolooakland.com/about/rants/). I've had pizzas from these places that rank amongst the best I've ever had. I also got one that I could only eat 2 bites of, and I only took the second bite because I couldn't believe the pizza was really as bad as the first bite indicated.

Most of the time, I think both of these places are more puffy and soft than crispy-chewy. Most of the decent pizza places in the Bay Area are that way. If you want something more New-York-y, go for Gioia, Arinell, Tomasso's. Nizza la Bella, too, except that her pies don't seem nearly as NYy as the menu makes them sound, or her background would imply; also, they're priced a bit too much like UPN.

For straight up VPN style, you'd want A16 or Picco, most likely. But, you (Adam) could probably make a pretty accurate guess as to what they're like without actually going. So, I wouldn't put them at the top of your list if you were visiting again. I would put Tomasso's there, because it's pretty good and has by far the best historical value out here.