Ecce

Behold the square slice! @eccenyc is a new East Village shop with some of my favorite pizzeria decor: the walls are covered in dense handwritten notes and illustrations devoted to Herman Melville, Georges Bizet and Ferdinand Cheval. When I walked in, the owner was at the counter discussing dough fermentation - also an incredibly good sign for pizza quality.

I went with the spicy pepperoni. The slice is thick for a grandma-style square (or perhaps slightly thin for a Sicilian), but the cold-fermented dough was airy inside with an extremely crisp, deeply browned bottom. It’s very sauce-forward, with bright tomato, restrained cheese and cupped thin pepperoni. The fermentation comes through clearly and gives the crust a ton of flavor. Really just outstanding - I couldn’t find a flaw.

This is one of the best slices in the city, and there’s something especially satisfying about the fact that you can just walk up to the counter and order one. Get there before the line culture catches up!

Highly recommended.