THIS IS QUEENSBOROUGH
queenschamber.org
A ‘SLICE’ OF QUEENS
SAMPLING THE SLICES OF SUNNYSIDE
BY ROBERT INTELISANO
could walk past and miss, they do almost strictly takeout as there The idea for the crawl started are only five seats in the cramped a few months ago at the Queens space. Chamber of Commerce networkSunnyside Pizza features an ing event at Shi, upside-down the Asian fusion Margherita style SUNNYSIDE PIZZA restaurant in Long with the tomatoes 40-01 Queens Boulevard Island City. above the cheese. sunnyside-pizza.com I ran into The sesame seed my friend John crust was crispy PHILOMENA’S 41-16 Queens Boulevard Renda, and I casuand crunchy, and philomenasqueens.com ally mentioned there were thinly that I had accepted sliced tomatoes SOTTO LE STELLE Tom Grech’s offer combined with 44-07 Queens Boulevard to write a monthsauce on top. sottolestelleny.com ly column dediSunnyside Pizza cated to Queens is owned by secpizza for This Is ond-generation Queensborough. Italian Americans who have expeRenda, who is a financial plan- rienced pizza in Naples, Rome, ner for Edward Jones in the Fresh and Florence. As per their website, Meadows office, had a big smile on “food has the power to connect his face. Who knew that his pas- people, unite cultures, and enrich sion for pizza matches mine? our daily lives.” He suggested Sunnyside Pizza Next, we walked to nearby Philo(ranked #13 in Queens by Four mena’s Pizza. Unlike many pizzeSquare), and since there are two rias, owner Dave Acocella creates other very good pizzerias within the pies himself. David, who is 75 a four-block radius - Philomena percent Neapolitan and 25 percent and Sotto Le Stelle - the crawl was Sicilian, first learned how to make hatched. square slices as a child with his In general, pizza is a person- mother. al preference, sweet vs. savory He has an impressive pizza and thin vs. background. thick dough For years, he and crust. We was a chef at decided to Da Silvano in focus on the Manhattan. Margherita When Da Silpizza, so we vano decided could compare to install a the three pizpizza oven, zerias. Dave honed We started his skills makour journey ing $100 trufat Sunnyside fle burrata pies Pizza, which for the rich and is known for famous. their sesame His Da Silvaseed crust. no experience About 150 feet was followed from the 40th Philomena’s Pizza Margherita and by apprenticestreet 7 train Pepperoni personal pies. ships at New stop, SunnyYork pizza side Pizza had guru Paulie been closed for two weeks because Gees and Neapolitan master Gino of a gas leak. A tiny storefront you Sorbillo. His dream of owning his
8
Robert Intelisano and John Renda at Sotto Le Stelle
own pizzeria in his hometown of Sunnyside came to fruition in 2018. A workaholic, he wanted to be close to his family “and the dough.” Philomena’s, named after one of his twin daughters, features personal pies with a very thin crunchy crust and the right ratio of sauce and cheese. Within minutes of speaking with Dave, this passionate pizzaiolo made us feel like family. We arrived at their 4 p.m. opening time and Dave opened the door for us as we walked in. One of his secrets is to let the dough ferment for “three days but no more than five.” He also adds a little baker’s yeast to the dough. We really enjoyed the Philomena’s Margherita pie. There is a small phrase under the sign that reads “Made with Love,” which was clear after our Philomena experience. Our final stop was Sotto Le Stelle (Italian for “under the stars”). Sotto is a result of a partnership among Valerio, a restauranteur from
Milan, Gina, a restauranteur from Cisternino, a small village in Puglia, Italy, and Manuel De Gregorio from Naples. In 2017, the owners of Sunnyside-based Italian restaurant Sole Luna decided to open a high-end pizzeria a few blocks away. Sotto Le Stelle features wood-fired personal pies and panini made by owner Manuel De Gregorio in an oven imported from Italy. Their dough rises for 48 hours, which creates a thin and light crust. Sotto Le Stelle has a full bar and 30 indoor seats. They were packed at 6:15 p.m. on the Monday night we were there. We had their Margherita and Soppresatta pies, which were both very good. Queens is full of quality authentic Italian pizzerias, many of which opened recently. Stay tuned next month as I review another “Slice of Queens.” Email Rob@InsuranceDoctor.us to share your favorite Queens pizzeria and slice.
