As well as planning on meeting up with my blogging friends for brunch last weekend in NYC, I was excited to see Chef Sarah again who I met when I was “On the Menu” with Bertolli at the Foodbuzz Festival in November. We have kept in touch and I was thrilled when she agreed to come out for dinner with her husband John on our first night in New York.
I had had my eye on Co. Pizza since I saw it on an episode of No Reservations and Sarah was keen to check it out too! They don’t take reservations so we headed there relatively early around 7.30pm and we only had to wait about 5 minutes for a table.
To start, we ordered the chef’s selection ($27) of three meats and three cheeses with toast. Fabulous, delicious stinky cheese and wonderful charcuterie with a hint of spice.
And the pizzas?
Fennel & Sausage $18
fennel, sausage, mozzarella, crushed tomato, parmesan, red onions, chili bechamel, mozzarella, parmesan, rosemary, garlic
Popeye $17
pecorino, gruyère, mozzarella, spinach, black pepper, garlic
Flambé $16
béchamel, parmesan, mozzarella, caramelized onions, lardons
These pizzas were, simply put, perfect The crust was thin and crispy with a nice “chew factor” and the toppings were innovative flavours that really worked. I really enjoyed the Fennel and Sausage but think my favourite would have to be the Popeye (and not just because it’s got a great name!). So spinachey and creamy (and probably very good for you!!). These pizzas renewed my enthusiasm for perfecting pizza crust.
With our meal, we enjoyed a selection of beers $7:
Pikeshead Pils PA – Pilsner
Ommegang NY – Witte
Captain Lawrence NY – Liquid Gold
Sixpoint NY – Sweet Action
And Sarah and I enjoyed a glass of Gruner Veltliner NV Punkt Genau Weinviertal, Austria ($9) instead of dessert. Loved this, though slightly oddly it was served in what I would call a water tumbler.
If I lived near this place in New York, I would be there a few times a week getting takeaway. It’s close to some of the best pizzas I have tasted (those being in Italy).
Company
230 Ninth Ave
NY NY 10001
212 243 1105
After dinner, we headed to Clo Wine Bar, somewhere that has been on our NYC list for a while. It’s situated inside the Columbus Circle (admittedly very upscale) mall which makes for a bit of a odd experience at night when most of the rest of the mall is closed. According to their website, Clo Wine Bar combines sleek, modern design and 21st century technology in presenting a curated collection of 100 unique wines from around the world.The touch screen interactive table enables guests to choose their selections, which are dispensed from custom made machines that pour tastings using a debit style Clo Card.
(The machines are “Enomatics” – which allow wine bottles to remain open for up to 3 weeks by maintaining a layer of inert gas over the wine’s surface in the open bottle.)
It’s definitely very modern, yet due to its size, remains intimate at the same time.
The “touch screen interactive table” was in fact, more like a “no touch screen” as it reacts to the shadow of your hand as opposed to the touch of your finger. It took a while to get used to… You can choose your wine by colour, grape, region/ appellation and price. Each wine has comprehensive tasting notes.
A word of caution here. It’s easy to be overly eager with the “play money” chip card. There are definitely some bargains to be had but there are also some fairly expensive pours so if you are on a budget, it’s perhaps not the place to go. Because once you choose one wine, find it in the glass cabinets (enomatics) and have fun “pouring” it, you will definitely want another. Or ever two more. Know what I mean? 😉
This was my favourite:
Lucky it was my birthday. Not so lucky for Neil’s wallet… (ooops!)
There’s a lot of great information for those of you so inclined to read the tasting notes and they are accessible for those of you who haven’t been to sommelier school.
Would I recommend Clo? Absolutely – it’s a fun (probably once-off) experience that you will enjoy if you like great wines in an interesting setting. You can check out what they have on offer for tastings here and if you know someone who is seriously into wine, this would be a great little NYC field trip!
Clo Wine Bar
10 Columbus Circle
New York, NY 10019, United States
(212) 823-9898
Oh what a fun event!
That it was!
That bar is a walking iPad! I want to just try it out….
Indeed, it was!
I’ve read about Co. but have never been. The Flambe sounds amazing, but it also sounds like one might need a cardiac evaluation after eating that one.
It sounds like you had a fabulous birthday trip! Will you make it an annual one?
Actually the pizzas were fairly small and fairly light – tasty tho! You should check it out! And yes, we try to get to NYC every year at least once.
I want to hang out with you! Pizza, beer and then wine. My kind of night out.
I’ll be posting a review of Fonte, a wine bar in Seattle, in dining and drinking recap of the city over the weekend. Not as 21st century as Clo, but it has its own quirks!
Jason
http://ancientfirewineblog.blogspot.com/
Thanks Jason – the 21st century aspect was very novel indeed!
the spinach pizza looks like it would be my favorite too! and bechamel on a pizza? yum! the wine bar looks like so much fun – and a place one would totally get carried away in – hard to resist such a big selection and such a novel way of ordering/serving!
Yes Cat – I know we would be in trouble if we were there together…
Hi-Tec heaven:) Wow sounds like a great time… The pizza looks amazing, and I love the way you can choose your wine selections.
Yes it was fun, definitely but a one-off experience!
I am totally going to have to make a point to get to Co. Pizza Company. Those thin crust pizzas look awesome!!!
Oh you will love it Christine!
Enjoyed this post and the uniqueness of all this gadgetry. Makes for nice conversation and a bit of vino as well. What won’t they think of next. Beautifully captured with great pictures.
Penelope
Thanks Penelope – Yes it was a fun evening out for sure! And the “menu” does make for a great talking point!
The wine bar seems like the perfect foodie fieldtrip… and I am sure it was expensive – but as you say, a one time thing. And a blast. The pizza flavour combinations looked deadly – but heavy. I have been grilling all of my pizza doughs for about three years now, and have not found a better pizza dough or crust since I started that. But, we both prefer thin crusts. I make big batches of the dough in my Thermomix, freeze it, and use it as needed.
🙂
Valerie
Aaah, the Thermomix, absolutley adore my TM – Mardi you would love it too………….
Well unless someone wants to donate one to me and my cooking club, don’t think it’s gonna happen!
Actually the pizzas were very light and the crusts *were* thin crust – so delicious!
Hi Mardi – sounds like a great evening. Oh, those pizzas look fabulous. And I am going to steal that idea of serving cheese on parchment for my next party. We’re fond of Gruvy too. We would love that wine bar, next time NYC for sure! Thanks for the info.
LL
Cheers LL – glad you liked it!
Well both experiences WERE free for Miss Mardi. Ahem. 🙂
The Flambe pizza was by far the best. Or should I say Best. (You know who you are – Mr. Bacon.)
Clo was actually very well done, and I have to say they had a knowledgable sommellier on tap (so tp speak) as well. I started off with a somewhat obscure (over here) Irouleguy AOC – memories of our fortnight in the region a couple summers ago. It really seemed flat to me. I know it’s a more austere wine, but honestly thought there’d be more punch from the tannat/cab sauv combo. (Oh, and it was expensive!) As I mumbled into my glass, not disliking it compeltely but not having the passionate memory rekindled as hoped, Mardi waved the lady in charge over. She ran off to her PC (ironic given the Apple-like feel of the place) and pronounced it had just been opened the day before. Well right-o. Then she came through with thoughts on the wine. All-righty then. Mr. Neil nicely (and politely) put in his place. 😉
P.S. Can I just say I picked the Tokay for Mardi?
yes, right, you picked the really expensive wine for me!!
Looks like so much fun. I will definitely have to look up both of those places the next time I’m in NYC. Can I also blame you for the fact that I am now craving pizza at 10pm? 🙂
Sorry – but pizza at 10pm is totally ok!!!
Man, I’ve heard so much about Co, I really want to try it the next time I’m in NYC. And that wine bar looks so fun, especially the screen!
Oh you definitely will have to go to Co. So. Good!