
Barboncino's clam pizza. From my review on Slice.
Robert Sietsema reviews Barboncino this week in the Village Voice, and while I agree with most of his words, this passage jumped out at me:
There are a couple of inferior pies, too. Using clams on a pizza is always an iffy proposition. Sadly, Barboncino de-shells the bivalves first, depriving us of the clam broth that spills out when the shells open. The naked cherrystones are minced and placed on a cheese-saturated pie, overwhelming their briny flavor with dairy. Similarly, the boring marinara, priced at $8, represents the kind of pie made in Naples before the margherita was invented. It’s strictly for the lactose-intolerant.
I thought the clam pie at Barboncino was great. And I hate when places put the damn clams on in their shells. I don’t go to a pizzeria for a day at the shore shucking bivalves. Fuck that. A lot of these places that do clam pies take the clam broth and drizzle it back on the pie, anyway — I’m thinking of Franny’s and Motorino, whose clam pie Barboncino basically clones.
I do agree with Sietsema about the marinara pie. I know there’s been a vogue as of late among pizzaheads for marinara pies. With a couple rare exceptions, I have always found them boring as shit, too.
Tags: reviews elsewhere, Village Voice