Review Recap: Motorino

The Times posted tomorrow’s restaurant review (one star for Motorino) before we gamblers could place our bets. For the record, one star is exactly what we would have predicted.

Sifty loves the place:

Motorino is having a moment. That seems fair. It serves the city’s best pizza.

It does so consistently, at both locations, whether Mr. Palombino is cooking or not. Made to his specifications and cooked in the tempering heat of a wood fire, his crust emerges from the oven as a Neapolitan fantasy of crispness that is also pillowy and soft, sweet but not sugared, tangy without too much salt.

Multiple visits to the restaurants conform: Motorino pies are great hot out of the oven, 5 minutes later, 10. You can order too much, watch a pie go cool on the plate, eat it anyway and discover: terrific.

We aren’t so sure that any one guy could really know whether Motorino is serving the best pizza. Given the vast range of restaurants he covers, how many of the candidates could Sifton have tried recently? Beyond that, given the wide range of pizza-making styles, are they all even comparable?

Anyhow, we haven’t been to Motorino, but the review is certainly consistent with everything we’ve read, and Sifton is entertaining as always.