What to Eat This Weekend: $10 Deep Fried “Montanara” Pizza at Forcella on Bowery

Date November 11, 2011

Forcella

Forcella

If you’ve ever wondered what the finest funnel cake would taste like topped with cheese and sauce instead of powdered sugar, this is it, only much, much better.  In order to achieve this state fair food gone deliciously wrong, Forcella’s owner and pizzaiola Giulio Adriani deep fries the stretched dough until almost cooked through. Then he places it in a pan and tops it with San Marzano tomatoes, house made fresh mozzarella, grated grana padano, and basil, before sliding it into a wood burning oven.  It figures then that “Montanara” in Italian translates to “mountain,” because the result is a small pizza that delivers a mountain of flavor; the consistency – crisp and chewy yet delicate – and slight sweetness of the dough bring fresh donuts to mind while the quality of the toppings – creamy mozzarella, bright tomatoes and grana padano-crusted basil leaves – allows their simplicity to shine.  Work fast though because like any Neapolitan pizza, the center of the pizza tends to get soggy quickly.  A necessary evil for a pizza unlike any you’ve experienced before.

Forcella Bowery Link 334 Bowery St at Bond St New York, NY 10012 (212) 466-3300 Forcella Brooklyn 485 Lorimer St b/t Powers St & Grand St Brooklyn, NY 11211 (718) 388-8820 Hours Mon-Fri 12pm-4:30pm for Lunch, Closed 4:30pm-5:30pm, Open 5:30pm-11pm for dinner, Sat-Sun Open 12pm-12am