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John's Pizzeria, a Familiar Taste
Whats the big whoop about using canned tomatoes? Any respectable chef knows that there is no shame in using perfectly ripened, canned tomatoes anytime outside of August/Sept/October. A restaurant needs to be consistient, after all..
Snapshots from Asia: Tropical Fruit Feast, the Jackfruit
Jackfruit may be the most delicious fruit that is virtually unknown in America. If anyone knows where you can get it in NYC..please do tell!
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Snapshots from Asia: Tropical Fruit Feast, the Jackfruit
Just happened to be in canal Street in Chinatown NYC today and came across for the first time in 15 years..natural whole jackfruit....delicious!
was not cheap, $4 pound, with a realistic 3 lb minimum but worth it..oh so sweet and delicous. Funny I do not and never have detected the durian smell at all on these...
John's Pizzeria, a Familiar Taste
Whats the big whoop about using canned tomatoes? Any respectable chef knows that there is no shame in using perfectly ripened, canned tomatoes anytime outside of August/Sept/October. A restaurant needs to be consistient, after all..
Snapshots from Asia: Tropical Fruit Feast, the Jackfruit
Jackfruit may be the most delicious fruit that is virtually unknown in America. If anyone knows where you can get it in NYC..please do tell!
John's Pizzeria, a Familiar Taste
I moved to nyc in late june and have been to some pizza places. so far co. takes the prize.
the best pizza I have ever had in my entire life was at pinocchios off harvard square in cambridge ma
John's Pizzeria, a Familiar Taste
i went to john's last night after reading so much about it all over the internet. I was utterly dissapointed. the pizza was below average by a huge margin. the crust was as plain as cardboard. the tomato sauce tasted like nothing (which is the case with bad canned brands) the ricotta and mozzarella tasted like nothing and the meatball was bland as well. even the onions were kind of tasteless which leads me to the conclusion that he probably got really bad ingredients from his providers recently or jus has bad providers. big dissapointment
Snapshots from Asia: Tropical Fruit Feast, the Jackfruit
I found some at a grocery store once canned in light syrup. It was really good! And the texture is like nothing else.
John's Pizzeria, a Familiar Taste
I've always loved John's on Bleeker Street. I've been there several times. I think they have more combinations than anyone on the planet.
I agree that it would most likely be much better with fresh sauce BUT that being said, I still think that their crust rocks. I love the fact that they don't use a ton of cheese, just like Totonno's in Coney Island.
I was born only a couple of blocks from Totonno's and know good pizza. I've eaten at most of the famous places in NYC (except for 2). I have eaten pizza in every state on the East Coast of U.S. (and in Nova Scotia too) and can say that John's is wonderful. I love the really thin crust, the taste of the sauce that they do use, and the smaller amount of cheese. I also love how many toppings combinations they have. I love reading their menu. It is so much fun. It may be crowded but isn't the whole thing that if a place is crowded than you know it is good? If it was empty, we wouldn't go in, would we? No we wouldn't. Stop dissing John's. It rocks!
John's Pizzeria, a Familiar Taste
@adam I'm sorry I didn't take any photos of the outside. I left my camera in the car and didn't want to go back for it. It's a very attractive place in a relatively quiet spot. I'm sure they are relying on their name recognition for traffic.. It was quiet in there at 3pm, while the restaurants over on Grove street were doing a brisk business.
@scottweiner I had stop s young couple with a baby stroller and asked them if there was any high quality pizza in the area and they told me about John's. I was very surprised. They also told me about La Rustique and said they had liked it better than John's. I forgot about when I drove over that way, but I never spotted it or it would have jogged my memory. I'm gonna head back there soon on a weekend evening and check them out. This time camera in hand. I'll get a few shots of John's too. Outside only. I ain't goin' in.
Ciao,
Paulie Gee
John's Pizzeria, a Familiar Taste
Be kind with the Jersey City location. It's a new oven so you can't judge it as you would a seasoned oven. I tried it a few months back and found it to be so so. When in Jersey City, try La Rustique. It's a wood-fired brick oven that used to be located a block from the new John's but has since moved to 611 Jersey Ave.
John's Pizzeria, a Familiar Taste
Paulie Gee: I was not aware. Thanks for the tip. I'll blog this up on the site so it gets wider recognition (not everyone reads comments). Also will dig up that link you sent me a while back about a place you mentioned. I want to blog that, too.
John's Pizzeria, a Familiar Taste
Are you aware the John's has opened a new location just west of the Exchange Place Financial District in Jersey City? I happened upon it yesterday. It's not listed on their website, but it's definitely them. They have the same "No Slices" logo on the sign hanging outside, a coal oven and the menu looks like the Times Square Menu. It's a very nice looking place outside and in, but as folks like to say these days, it is what it is. It's located at 87 Sussex Street.
Ciao,
Paulie Gee
John's Pizzeria, a Familiar Taste
I've never been to John's but I can tell just from looking at the picture that it's good. The quality of the crust is 3/4's of a pizza, and the quality of the cheese the other 1/4th. Whether sauce is fresh or canned is inconsequential, provided the pie has been adequately seasoned with oregano and garlic.
Notice the charred quality imparted by the very hot coal fire. People in New England (who like all baked goods to be UNDERbaked) would consider this pizza to be "burned." I would call it, "well done, to perfection"!
This would only be consider very UN-New York if you compare it to the Times Square joints run by non-Italians. John's, along with Lombardi's, etc., is typical of the original "Napolitan" (how Neapolitans pronounce "Neapolitan," in their dialect) New York pizza. I've been to the Midwest (lived in Wisconsin for 7 years) and there is nothing resembling this pizza in the Midwest. Pizza Hut is a perfect representation of Midwestern pizza, with its blonde-looking, colorless crust.
Snapshots from Asia: Tropical Fruit Feast, the Jackfruit
Ughh..I hate the smell of it..this is why I never eat it.
Snapshots from Asia: Tropical Fruit Feast, the Jackfruit
We bought some at the Asian supermarket here in town - I never noticed an "odor", just that luscious sweet pineapple/banana aroma that drove me nuts. We all agreed that it was wonderful. They had lots of them whole, cut in various size "chunks", or prepared in the shrink wrapped packages. Yummm.
John's Pizzeria, a Familiar Taste
Absolutely great pie, better than their Times Square location and I hear there's another one in the UES.
After I saw that video with the rats when they got shut down, I don't know that I want to go back to Bleecker. I still get chills.
Snapshots from Asia: Tropical Fruit Feast, the Jackfruit
@wprice620 - I have seen it in the little-indian-supermarkets in Jersey City/Journal Sq on Newark Ave. I haven't had the guts to buy one though. Maybe I'll give it a whirl this weekend.
John's Pizzeria, a Familiar Taste
I don't care what anyone says, my girlfriend and I love John's. It's not fancy-pants pizza, it's just great. Same with Vinny Vincenz, that place is another of my NYC favorites.
Snapshots from Asia: Tropical Fruit Feast, the Jackfruit
@wprice620: The Whole Foods on the Bowery had one for sale a couple of weeks ago. The price: $19 a pound. I weighed it but before I could do the math in my head, a store employee told me it would cost about $220!
I had one smuggled into Florida in 2000 for a chef at the Food Network (don't tell the Dept of Agriculture!). A coworker of mine had friends coming from Jamaica and they brought a nice 8 pound fruit for me.
John's Pizzeria, a Familiar Taste
Despite everyone's supposed beef with canned sauce, the John's pie is still one of the best in the city. I always appreciated it for not being too cheesy. An oasis of mozzy in a sea of sweet sauce is just what I need sometimes.
-The Ubereater
www.ubereater.com
Snapshots from Asia: Tropical Fruit Feast, the Jackfruit
Pure Luck, a vegan restaurant in LA, has jackfruit "carnitas" that are really tasty and actually very meat-like. Jackfruit is truly magical.
Snapshots from Asia: Tropical Fruit Feast, the Jackfruit
Here in Madison, on the Library Mall on campus there's a smoothie cart run my this cute woman. One of my favorite smoothies is jackfruit and soursop. Yum.
Snapshots from Asia: Tropical Fruit Feast, the Jackfruit
When I lived in Ann Arbor there was a produce shop that kept Jackfruit and Durian on hand in their natural state. They were freakish to look at.
I never tried the durian, but he was handing out samples of jackfruit one day and my daughter and I gave it a go. We both thought it tasted like and acid-free pineapple and loved it.
John's Pizzeria, a Familiar Taste
^ err, except that we have two opinions on what kind of tomatos they use.
despite it being inconsistent over the years and often slagged on by some, i still happen to like pizza joints like JOHNS and SAMS in brooklyn, too (the latter also somewhat midwestern style in that the crust is thick). anyway they are among my favorite places to huff an old school meatball/garlic pie.
John's Pizzeria, a Familiar Taste
I think the distinction here is they are using canned SAUCE, not just canned tomatoes. While canned tomatoes are great, pre-made sauce is disgusting.
Snapshots from Asia: Tropical Fruit Feast, the Jackfruit
Jackfruit is love. That's all there is too it. Chop it up, mix with some coconut strings, red beans, and shaved ice, and top it off with some evaporated milk. I'm drooling just thinking about it...
Jackfruit is the good twin to durian's evil.
Snapshots from Asia: Tropical Fruit Feast, the Jackfruit
I love jackfruit. I didn't taste it until last year when I traveled to Vietnam. There, we were lucky enough to get it already cut in small plastic bags on the street. The hotels often had signs asking guests to not bring durian or jackfruit into their rooms.
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Just happened to be in canal Street in Chinatown NYC today and came across for the first time in 15 years..natural whole jackfruit....delicious!
was not cheap, $4 pound, with a realistic 3 lb minimum but worth it..oh so sweet and delicous. Funny I do not and never have detected the durian smell at all on these...