Delicious Pizza at 900 Degrees

The other day, I had the pleasure of joining Jason from I Dream of Pizza for his monthly pizza club.  Pizza Club is basically a group of Jason’s friends who get together at a pizza joint for some ‘za.

We headed to the West Village to try out 900 Degrees – and if you are wondering why it’s named 900 Degrees, it’s because that’s the temperature of a commercial wood-burning brick pizza oven.  The restaurant is fairly large, with plenty of outdoor seating.  Our table of 13 though was pretty comfortable in the corner of the restaurant – so if you have a large party, 900 Degrees may be the perfect place for you.

The first dish that came out was compliments of the chef, and was mozzarella with balsamic vinegar and radicchio.  The buffalo mozzarella was delicious – I just quickly learned I wasn’t a radicchio fan since it was too bitter for my liking.  The mozzarella though was delicious!

We kept the meal pretty simple and just focused on the pies (and I’ll warn you, there was a lot).  We tried two of the Napoletana pies, the Margherita (which they only make 73 per day and was the pizza cup winner in 2007) and the Spacca Napoli.  The Margherita had about 6 triangle slices, so perfect if you wanted a personal pie for yourself, or to share with a friend with an appetizer.  The pie was $18, and I have to say, had a really delicious, sweet tomato sauce.  I also tried the Spacca Napoli ($16) which didn’t have sauce, but rather buffalo mozzarella and cherry tomatoes.  This too was good, but of the two pies, I liked the Margherita more, which is almost surprising since I usually adore white pies.

One pizza I was amazed with was the Pizza Romana.  This pizza is about 2.5 feet long, and 27 small square slices.  The pizza is then divided into thirds, with different toppings on each of the sections.  The goal is to have the three pizza sections act like an appetizer, salad and entrée.  We tried the Bennici for $35, and while I’m not sure if we ate it in the right order, we started with the section that had pesto, caramelized onion, robiola cheese, roasted tomatoes and mozzarella.  While I loved the flavor of the onions, this section of the pie was the least favorite of mine – I was not a big fan of the robiola cheese. The next section – ricotta, garlic, prosciutto crudo, piquante peppers and arugula – was my favorite.  I love the combination of the spicy peppers with the mozzarella.  At this point, we were eating so much pizza that I think we all failed to admit how awesome this section of the pie was.  The last section had sauce, pepperoni, sausage and mozzarella and was your pretty standard pizza.  Great, but not the most memorable combination.  This huge pizza could easily feed 4 people, so if you are looking to go out with a group of friend and not break the bank, you may want to try this pie.

Last week I told you about Spumoni Gardens, where the cheese is placed on the bottom of the pie and the sauce on top ($17).  We did order a tomato pie that was crafted this way at 900 Degrees but I was too full to sample it – I needed a little bit of a break. This pie, and the rest that followed, were round and contained 6 triangle slices.

The next pizza we sampled was the 900 ($20).  This was my favorite -  fire roasted pulled pork in tamarind, habanero and serrano peppers, citrus & tomato, topped with a fresh agave nectar cactus salsa and queso fresco.  Those peppers certainly had a kick to it! The pulled pork was delicious, and while this never would be a combination that I’d put together, it was actually pretty good.

We also tried the vodka pie ($13), which had penne and pancetta on it.  Honestly, this was probably my least favorite pie.  Every other pie was above average, so the fact that this wasn’t that unique, just made it easier to forget.

I like truffles, so we also sampled the pancetta porcini ($21) with wild mushrooms, ricotta, porcini, smoked pancetta, sea salt, smoked scamorza and truffle oil.  If you like truffles, you’ll like this pie.  The truffle flavor was not overwhelming but you could definitely taste it.

The last pie I tried was the Cal Italia, and winner of the Food Networks pizza champions challenge ($19). This pie had asiago, mozzarella, gorgonzola, sweet fig preserve from croatia, prosciutto di parma, parmigiano and balsamic reduction.  At this point, I was so incredibly full that I can honestly tell you I do not remember was this tasted like.  I remember it was good, but I remember more that I was thankful that I didn’t have pants on (I was in a dress).

At the end, tiramisu was served, compliments of the chef, in a beautiful mason jar.  This dessert could easily be split between 3-4 people.  I had a few spoonfuls and it was good.  I’m not a big tiramisu fan, so I probably wouldn’t order again, but as far as tiramisu goes, it was delicious – so much so that we kept saying we were done with it, and kept going back for more.

If you like pepperoni pizza or plain cheese – don’t go to 900 Degrees. If you like interesting combinations on your pie and being adventurous when it comes to ‘za, head to 900 Degrees.  I recommend the pancetta porcini, the 900 and any of the Pizza Romanas.  Also, I’d advise going in a big group.  This way you’ll be able to try so many pies without breaking the bank.  Between the 13 of us, it ended up only being $20 a person (we didn’t order drinks).