Chef Nicholas’s Top Pizza Ranking

As a chef, my life has revolved around food for as long as I can remember. Or, I should say, my entire life has revolved around food (and arguing about it!). When it comes to me and my buddies, there always seems to be the need to determine a ranking of what’s best… regardless of the cuisine. It drive my wife Melissa crazy.

Even my bachelor party was a tour through NYC eateries to settle a dispute of the “best tasting/ most unhealthy food.” Let me suggest avoiding any event that starts by eating appetizers at Virgil’s BBQ and ends with entrees at Peter Lugers. The 2 things that I distinctly remember from that evening was answering “yes” to the question,”Do you want extra grease?” and comedian Bill Murray (a frequent customer at Jean-Georges) joining the party and bringing us to a place that had absolutely nothing to do with food.

I guess I haven’t really matured. Last Monday, some friends and I revisited 7 different pizzerias from New Haven, Connecticut to 5 of the 4 Boroughs: Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens & Manhattan to settle our most heated dispute. This summer, I’ve made a lot of pizza, so the “Best Pizza” debate continues to come up weekly. Recently, my friends went wild when I said, “I think Denino’s in Manhattan might be better than the one in Staten Island.”

It ain’t often that I say “maybe this is better than the original” about anything! Turns out, they agreed.

Below is THE RANKING of what we thought tasted the best on our pizza tour:

1. Denino’s –Manhattan
2. New Park- Queens
3. Frank Pepe’s –New Haven Ct.
4. Denino’s Staten Island
5. Joe’s- Manhattan
6. DeFaras- Brooklyn
7. Joe & Pat’s- Staten Island