Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Thanks Adam .I admire your honesty.It had bugged me for a while thinking that you had the luxury of doing a hatchet job of a review and then seemingly,unapologetically pulling it after the damage was done .Hindsight is 20/20 and though I'm neither a journalist nor restaurateur I think that the ethical and courteous thing to have done would be to have left the Story Header and put up a footnote disclaimer such as the explanation you have given here.
Yours respectfully,
seriouspizza

@Paulie Gee.....I look forward to seeing how you handle such a situation,should anyone EVER give your output such negative scrutiny.....being from Brooklyn and all !

@Slicemeister You have a talent for handling criticism with class and restraint. You obviously didn't grow up in Brooklyn.

Ciao,

Paulie Gee

@Adam Kuban "way before anyone of his stature took the site seriously. I've always remembered that and have had great respect for Robert and his work."

Adam,is that why you pulled the less than favorable review of Saraghina : A First Visit to Saraghina, Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn around 8/18/09 when he published a somewhat gushing commentary on that very same day? Did you fear your diametrically opposed opinions less credible than a blogger of his stature ? Maybe that is the point I should have stopped reading or at least taking your opinions seriously ?

http://www.villagevoice.com/2009-08-18/restaurants/please-welcome-saraghina/#Comments

My knee jerk reaction was probably exactly what Sietsema had desired ! I stand corrected about him eating pizza in Naples.In his original V V article that you referenced, he sounds as though he liked what he had in Naples ( "Sublimely bland" ) and IMO the whole piece on Roberta's is a machiavellian piece of journalism,that only contributes in a less than desirable way to the confusion over Neapolitan pizza and peoples understanding of what it really is.I must say,I have a problem with evaluating "Spirit" when it comes to pizza?.
Regarding the price structure of Neapolitan pizza in the US,I applaud UPN for having the balls to charge such exorbitant prices for his product and allowing New Yorkers the indulgence of supporting him in maintaining his limited work hours,and single handedly spearheading a change for restaurant employees. I hope he charges $50 in San Francisco.It would be refreshing to think that there are people out there more foolish with their hard earned money than gullible east coast foodies.A $10 Marinara seems obscene in Manhattan these days.How is a business supposed to survive?

@seriouspizza: Wha? I'm going to defend Robert Sietsema here. He has indeed eaten pizza in Naples and was in fact kind enough to contribute to Slice very early on with a photo essay of pizza in Napoli—and this was way before anyone of his stature took the site seriously. I've always remembered that and have had great respect for Robert and his work.

I myself have not eaten "the true pie of Naples." As I've said elsewhere, it's a serious hole in my pizza game. (@seriouspizza: You can stop reading Slice at this point.) But when I started Slice it was less about "Naples-style" pizza and more about kick-ass New York–style pizza. (Lately, with the Neapartisan pizza trend sweeping the nation, I've probably focused too much on Neapolitan and "artisan" pies. I know some readers have dinged me for that.) Anyway, I think Sietsema is partially correct: If you get a Neapolitan Margherita from a pizzeria that has a flavorless dough and a dull sauce, that thing is going to be unbelieveably bland. When I find myself eating pies like that, I yearn for some inventive toppings to ease the pain.

Shinolally yours,
Adam

@seriouspizza
Easy there! Not everyone digs the neapolitan style. Although it is strange for a writer who shows a distinct lack of love for the style to write about what they deem to be 'Best Naples Style Pizza'. Does the title even mean anything at that point?
The use of quotation marks as well as the context (rest of the article) indicates the writer was talking about the trend of neapolitan pizza in NY. What seems to have been the main thrust of the blurb, was their opinion that 'naples style' is being used to sell a more expensive pizza
It's a fair point that in a crowded market, terms like 'authentic neapolitan' are now common currency used to justify the existence and alleged ethos of any given 'neapolitan style' pizzeria.
I suspect these claims of authenticity are a red herring (which Napoletanaphiles get easily hung up on) when price and quality should be the real issues for any place that makes and sells pizza.

With you on this Adam. Went there a few months ago and was not impressed with the pizza either. Not bad, and certainly a nice atmosphere in that back garden, but I can think of a dozen better places off the top of my head.

I like Roberta's because it's not a Naples-style pizza. The crust has heft and substance without being doughy, and it can support itself rather than just turning into a revolting mass of wet dough at the center. Also, the lunch pie at Roberta's is magnificent -- more of a bread than a pizza, but so what? It's what Co should have been like.

I just got my first comment notification. I am friggin' stoked. Speaking of Nomad. Is everyone set for Saturday 5pm? It's BYO, BTW. Anyone else want to join us? If it's good enough for Mangieri.....

Ciao,

Paulie Gee

@Sean: As I mentioned above in the comments, adding things to an already cooked pizza is not allowed, so there will be wings or anything else tossed on after the fact. Our hero's wife and kids seem to be unaffected by his devotion to pizza.

He had a dinner out at a nice restaurant that only sells a couple of pizza appetizers, only one of which has sausage. While his wife had a full meal, he had the one sausage appetizer pizza on the menu and a second off-menu one that the restaurant made upon learning of his bet.

More recently, he was at a conference for work and he drank water at a large meal where everyone else feasted on prime rib before retiring to his room for some take-out pizza.

@realhound Perhaps it was because I couldn't take my eyes off those blonde beauties from Stan's. More likely though it was that there were only 6 places shown and I couldn't find a link to page two. And thanks for pointing out the misspelling. I spotted it after I posted, but since Slice doesn't have a comment editing feature I couldn't correct it. Perhap the next time they do an upgrade, they'll add it now that they've implimented their comment notification function. Is it my imagination or is that not happening?

Ciao,

Paulie Gee

You must have only read the story about yourself back in Feb., Paulie! :)
In the overall survey story, DeLucia's (not DeLuca's) was # 7 in the top ten

http://www.mycentraljersey.com/article/20090203/LIFE09/902030348