SLICE Pizzeria (****) ($ 1/2)1513 Saint Charles Ave.
New Orleans, Louisiana
(504) 525-7437
Every now and then, as a pizza lover, you might pass a place that has such curb appeal that you make a u-turn, park semi-illegally and dash right in! Well, that’s exactly the response SLICE Pizzeria elicited from me, as I drove down St. Charles Avenue on a balmy Gulf Coast afternoon.
SLICE Pizzeria is nothing less than excellent. At least one local event paper has recently listed it as one of the top three pizzerias in New Orleans. Well, I eaten at all three of those ranked, and I’ll have to say SLICE certainly deserves that ranking. In fact, their only real competition, at this time, is New York Pizza (not ranked) and Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza (ranked among the three), both on Magazine Street.
When I visited SLICE, I ordered my standard “control pie or slice” for Neapolitan pizza, the basic, thin crust, Italian sausage and mozzarella cheese pie/slice, and the Mesclun salad. I won’t discuss the salad except to say that this light, extremely fresh salad, made with delicate organic greens is phenomenal.
The sauce at SLICE is best described as delicate with a hint of fresh tomato and subtle spices. I noticed that the sauce was neither too salty nor acidic, both common pizza sauce pitfalls. Virtually every basic pizza ingredient contains some salt, therefore there’s a fine line, not to be crossed, when adding salt to a basic sauce. I don’t have to tell you how an overly salty sauce can mask all the other flavors of a pie.
Now, at the risk of raising the eyebrows of you cheese lovers, cheese can be over-present on a pizza, and depending on the type of mozzarella used, can add a variety of undesirable characteristics ranging from textural problems to an overpowering cheese flavor often found in pies from “scientific kitchens” (your local pizza franchises and some chains) that tend to use more highly processed and stabilized cheeses. Even pizza joints that use natural or near-natural mozzarella can over apply the cheese and negatively affect the balance and texture of the pie. The cheese at SLICE was of excellent quality. Although not a truly natural mozzarella, best made with water buffalo milk, the cheese had a delicate flavor, consistency and was adequately interspersed among the ingredients, contributing to the balanced flavor.
The sausage on my slice was a mild, link Italian sausage. The sausage was thinly sliced, but not so thin as to dry out, and added just the right amount of sausage flavor to the slice without any grease residue taste or standout spices.
I did find one ever so slight flaw with the slice, at SLICE…the very back edge of the crust. Now, this could have been a procedural error or oversight on the park of the baker, but the back edge was just slightly thick and wide, adding just a hint of that bready taste as opposed to the crispy and lightly charred taste a Neapolitan crust should have. This could have been easily fixed by simply removing some dough and throwing that edge out thinner. The crust, in every other aspect was as good as it could have been, having baked in a commercial gas oven. It was thin, slightly crisp and charred, and a platform, not an overly-present flavor. We know that a coal or wood fire oven will put a crust over the top.
The service was very professional and easy going, the place being staffed mainly by a younger, hip crowd. Once you are seated, drink service is immediate and the staff is very patient and willing to answer questions about the day’s offerings and, of course, the pizza! The napkins were of good quality and the utensils sturdy, all making for a very pleasant experience.
If you are a true pizza lover, you should definitely seek out SLICE when in New Orleans. Here, you will enjoy one of the best pizza experiences the Crescent City has to offer.
Enjoy!
SLICE Pizzeria is nothing less than excellent. At least one local event paper has recently listed it as one of the top three pizzerias in New Orleans. Well, I eaten at all three of those ranked, and I’ll have to say SLICE certainly deserves that ranking. In fact, their only real competition, at this time, is New York Pizza (not ranked) and Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza (ranked among the three), both on Magazine Street.
When I visited SLICE, I ordered my standard “control pie or slice” for Neapolitan pizza, the basic, thin crust, Italian sausage and mozzarella cheese pie/slice, and the Mesclun salad. I won’t discuss the salad except to say that this light, extremely fresh salad, made with delicate organic greens is phenomenal.The sauce at SLICE is best described as delicate with a hint of fresh tomato and subtle spices. I noticed that the sauce was neither too salty nor acidic, both common pizza sauce pitfalls. Virtually every basic pizza ingredient contains some salt, therefore there’s a fine line, not to be crossed, when adding salt to a basic sauce. I don’t have to tell you how an overly salty sauce can mask all the other flavors of a pie.
Now, at the risk of raising the eyebrows of you cheese lovers, cheese can be over-present on a pizza, and depending on the type of mozzarella used, can add a variety of undesirable characteristics ranging from textural problems to an overpowering cheese flavor often found in pies from “scientific kitchens” (your local pizza franchises and some chains) that tend to use more highly processed and stabilized cheeses. Even pizza joints that use natural or near-natural mozzarella can over apply the cheese and negatively affect the balance and texture of the pie. The cheese at SLICE was of excellent quality. Although not a truly natural mozzarella, best made with water buffalo milk, the cheese had a delicate flavor, consistency and was adequately interspersed among the ingredients, contributing to the balanced flavor.The sausage on my slice was a mild, link Italian sausage. The sausage was thinly sliced, but not so thin as to dry out, and added just the right amount of sausage flavor to the slice without any grease residue taste or standout spices.
I did find one ever so slight flaw with the slice, at SLICE…the very back edge of the crust. Now, this could have been a procedural error or oversight on the park of the baker, but the back edge was just slightly thick and wide, adding just a hint of that bready taste as opposed to the crispy and lightly charred taste a Neapolitan crust should have. This could have been easily fixed by simply removing some dough and throwing that edge out thinner. The crust, in every other aspect was as good as it could have been, having baked in a commercial gas oven. It was thin, slightly crisp and charred, and a platform, not an overly-present flavor. We know that a coal or wood fire oven will put a crust over the top.
The service was very professional and easy going, the place being staffed mainly by a younger, hip crowd. Once you are seated, drink service is immediate and the staff is very patient and willing to answer questions about the day’s offerings and, of course, the pizza! The napkins were of good quality and the utensils sturdy, all making for a very pleasant experience.
If you are a true pizza lover, you should definitely seek out SLICE when in New Orleans. Here, you will enjoy one of the best pizza experiences the Crescent City has to offer.
Enjoy!
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