Artichoke Basille

The lack of decent pizza slice joints in the East Village has been a long-standing gripe of mine. I’ve been eyeing Artichoke Basille, and the line snaking out its door, since it opened about a month ago. Although I usually avoid excruciating hype-fueled waits, I figured I’d should finally bite the bullet and get in the queue.

Twenty-six minutes, three rounds of phone tetris, and two passers-by wanting to know what the fuss was about later, I emerged bearing two slices. Since all that was left were a couple lonely sicilian slices when I got to the front of the line, that’s what I must base my review on. Fortunately, they were awesome.

I consider the make-or-break ingredient for stand-out pizza to be the sauce, and here it is tangy, sweet but not too sweet, and liberally glopped on. Topping the sauce is a mix of fresh mozzarella and grated Parmesean, with processed mozzarella pulling it all together and adding a firming crust, reminiscent of now-closed DeMarco‘s pizza squares. The twice-baked crust is just thick enough to hold up while maintaining its crunch, with a pleasant char around the edges, and a pan-grease veneer on the bottom that drives the indulgence all the way home to your belly.

I have since returned to sample the margherita and artichoke slices (fettuccine alfredo on a crust, deadly at that), and ultimately the sicilian slices are my favorite. Sometimes you get lucky on your first try.

Artichoke Basille 328 14th st. between First and Second Avenue