Varasanos' Pizzeria - Buckhead

On a warm summer day and a slow work day my wife and I decided to drive into Buckhead to try Varasanos Pizzeria (http://www.varasanos.com/). The pictures, the owner's focus, the passion, the worlwide attention on the online recipe and the Jezebel Magazine #1 rating was finally going to be put to the test by the Atlanta Pizza Enthusiast.

My hopes were high that finally after nearly 18 years true NY pizza had come to Atlanta. With excitement we parked the car and entered the restaurant. First impressions. Much more "shi-shi (aka fancy)" than I would have expected or wanted from a NY pizzeria. OK, I'll look past that. I mean we are in the middle of Buckhead, Atlanta. Fact is if I was skeptical before (remember this is an 18 year quest) I am now even more skeptical at this point. My wife (not me) pointed out (and she isn't the one from NY) that there was no Parmesan cheese on the table, sure enough she was right, no cheese, no pepper flakes, no oregano, no garlic powder. Not off to a good start.

We ordered. The Nana (The original) and a salad. The salad arrives and my wife loved it. Loved the dressing, and fresh grated parmesan at table side. Nice touch but now more concerned as a true NY Pizza place would not have grated parmesan....I know we are in Buckhead.

The pizza arrived. It's so small. Arghh. NY pizza pies are not small. The cheese is blotched throughout and not uniform. I'm getting upset. However given the pizza's size the crust looked perfectly thin, and it had the perfect "under char" and airy "crust bubbles". The sauce was a little pink colored from the cheese spillover (red and white make pink). The cheese must have been "shi-shi" mozzarella instead of shredded mozzarella (as used in what I view as a true NY pizza).

Now that's a lot of angst going on above. The truth is this pizza was good. The crust was good, the sauce and cheese were good but this was not a true NY pizza. My wife explained that Jeff Varasano (the owner) was trying to achieve a blend between Italy and NY. If that was the goal I think he did this. I would be hard pressed to argue that the pizza wasn't good. It was good. It's just the slices were small (and to the Blissful Glutton's point of not the perfect slice to fold - http://blissfulglutton.blogspot.com/2009/08/my-fiery-latina-rant-of-week.html; I can't agree more.), the sauce was compromised by the cheese, and although oily it was infused olive oil vs. the natural oil from the cheese and sauce. The crust was perfect.

Would I eat there again? Probably so, but not because I want to but because my wife's family (non NY originated) and who like Fritti (which I don't like at all) would like it so I am sure I will come along for the ride.

So the quest continues. Good meal (and the warm Italian donuts were very good) but not NY Pizza.