A slice of Noo Yawk at Seattle pizza joint
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Yo, Bill from New York, whoever you are. Thanks for calling. You and your New York accent led me straight to Todd Peltz, the fast-tawking piece of work busting his buns behind the counter at A New York Pizza Place (8310 5th Ave. N.E., Seattle; 206-524-1355), where he works day and night, every day but Sunday. Your counsel sent me running - for pizza as it should be: thin-crusted, light on the sauce, with an ooze of oil courtesy of quality mozzarella.
"You must be Nancy from Downtown," jived Peltz, the hyper-hilarious Brooklyn-born pizza man, as I entered his doughy domain. "It'll be ready in 15 minutes," he'd said when I called. "I'm downtown, traffic's bad and it's raining," I complained, preparing to hit I-5 north at Mercer Street just after 5 p.m. "How's 5:45 sound?" he asked. "Sounds great," I said, thankful not to be cooking - or dining out - on this nasty night, and knowing I'd soon be home scarfing an 18-inch sausage-and-cheese pie in the comfort of my kitchen. That pizza was great, as Bill from New York had promised. But it was bested by the fresh-from-the-oven slice I sampled while schmoozing with Peltz at a counter seat.
Peltz and A New York Pizza Place may be newcomers to me and to the Maple Leaf neighborhood, but the man and his business are no strangers to Seattle. In 1984, he and a business partner opened the first New York Pizza Place (hold the "A") just off the corner of First and Columbia. There they garnered praise from East Coast-style pizza fanatic and former Seattle Times restaurant critic John Hinterberger, who claimed they served "a very authentic and very tasty pizza by any standard." Crowds responded.
In 1986, at developer Martin Selig's request, the pair moved to Selig's new Columbia Center, where they hawked hot, thin-crusted slices to hungry office-wonks. Shortly thereafter Peltz and partner split, leaving him to run the Columbia Center store with his wife, Kathy, for the next dozen years. So, what made him sell his midtown shop and head north to the residential zone? "When we moved into the Columbia Center there were - what? - three places in there serving food. Now there's like, 23! Business was rough!" said Peltz.
It may not be so easy here in Maple Leaf, either, even with the good karma of this small, off-the-beaten-track storefront, former home to the neighborhood's beloved Alekos Pizza. With Pagliacci delivery drivers only a phone call away, and Zeek's Pizza's recent takeover of Guido's locations at nearby Green Lake and Ravenna, the competition for pizza dollars is growing stiffer than a three-day-old slice of pepperoni pie. Good thing Peltz has a sideline: His frozen pizzas and roll-your-own dough balls can be found in supermarkets throughout the city, and first-class passengers flying Alaska Airlines can sample his product on the Seattle/L.A. route.
"So, whaddaya think?" asked Peltz, as I finished my cheesy slice. "Best pizza in town, right?" "It's great," I said, silently adding: "Better than Pagliacci, but not as good as Piecora's." But then, what do I know about New York pizza? I'm from Philadelphia.