Foodie vs. Foodie

May 26, 2009 4:59 pm

After 13 years of not seeing each other, Facebook worked its magic connecting me with an old pal. A few email exchanges later my friend told me she's a food writer. What better way for a food entrepreneur and a food writer to connect than over casual bites in the West Village? Typical for both of us, we both submitted our top picks. I vetoed her choices. She vetoed mine. We landed on common ground at Keste.

I was fearful of the wait but we managed to get a table in minutes. The aroma of the fresh pizza was wafting through out the restaurant. Both hungry, we got to ordering before catching up. Our action plan: Arugula salad, Funghi pizza and Keste pizza. The salad arrived and we inhaled it, with a few words exchanged between mouthfuls. Mrs. Food Writer frowned while eating it. I gulped iced tea between bites. The salad was tasted like a bottle of salt. It was as if I had jumped into the ocean and left my mouth open during a long swim. Iced tea and water were not helping. Was it the dressing? Was it the cheese? We tried both and sure enough, it was both. A salty cheese coupled with a savory dressing equaled trouble.

A pizza lover at heart, I was pleased with my choice. The perfect balance of tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese and mushrooms satisfied my Neapolitan craving. The dough was a bit chewy and that was my only complaint. I stood alone in this camp as Mrs. Food Writer was far from happy. "This is not Neapolitian pizza" she proclaimed. "Too many toppings, the Italians don't make things complicated like this." Having spent years of her life traveling, particularly through Europe, I trusted her on this one.

Since nothing peaked her interest on the dessert menu, we headed over to The Waverly Inn for drinks with John DeLucie. John sprinkled in little anecdotes from of his new book The Hunger. A tale of this travels through the crazy world of gourmet cuisine and culinary characters The Hunger is now on sale and we are offering hand-signed copies of his book.

Who is the designer who ordered only omelets at The Waverly Inn? The media mogul who likes his chicken extra-crispy? How did John's brilliant-and-unique-menu-inspiration finally strike? We won't tell.

—Divya Gugnani

Keste Pizzeria
271 Bleecker Street
New York, NY 10014
212.243.1500

The Waverly Inn
16 Bank Street
New York, NY 10014
212.243.7900