Demian Repucci content

The pizza quest continues!  Aunt and uncle were in town so we took the opportunity to drag them to Williamsburg (and who doesn’t love to take their relatives to Brooklyn?) to try out Motorino.  After Frank Bruni’s extensive pizza article in the New York Times, I have felt compelled to try them all.  So Motorino was next on the list.  And I will say that, for the most part, it ranks up there with some of the best.

To begin with, even though it was completely busy we didn’t have to wait long for a table, which was very nice.  The space is totally casual with an open pizza prep / oven area in the back.  A good vibe and a good crowd.  Presented with a menu we were pleasantly surprised to find that Motorino has a bit more in terms of selection than a typical pizza place.  We immediately ordered the fingerlings & anchovies and a selection of cheeses to nibble on while awaiting our pies.  This actually proved helpful in that the wait for our pizza was a bit… on the long side.  I know that they were busy but I was always under the impression that super-hot bad-ass brick pizza ovens belched out pizza in record time.  Maybe it was just a table timing misstep.  Whatever.  Anyway, the pizzas came and we dug in.  I loved my Margherita DOC.  Good pliable crust.  Good ingredient proportions. Really yummy.  The sauce could have used a touch more salt.  But otherwise really good.  The other pizzas at the table, however, were a little more varied in successfulness.  After eating a piece of the wifes’ brussel sprout and speck pizza, I question the use of the sprouts.  I like sprouts and think it is an interesting concept…  But the sprout leaves are thin and tended to burn leaving the pizza speckled with char.  Which ended up overpowering the speck and cheese.

I think the main issue with Motorino is that the more creatively endowed pizzas can be sometimes less than totally successful and end up blurring the restaurant’s focus.  It is hard to balance a restaurant that is super serious about great pizza with the expectations of the typical diner.  Most people can get annoyed if the menu has a choice of only two pizzas, no matter that they are the best two pizzas in the world.  Sometimes a salad is all I want.  Well… maybe some people would say that.  Not me.  Especially when pizza is around.  But I think some people may.  So I applaud Motorino for trying to build a well-rounded menu.  They are well on their way.  Not to mention that the pizza is pretty dern good.  And for that I will definitely come back.