Expanding the Pizza Possibilities at Co.

Jim Lahey's new spot, Co. (or Company) has been the talk of the town for the past few months. A delayed opening, continual packed dinner service, Jean-Georges backing it, and the good and bad first takes. Recently opened for lunch, walking into Co. during the day is a breeze. None of those lines around the block or bad service and "we're out of dough" scenarios I've heard of in the past. Lunch offers a serene, casual atmosphere and the opportunity to try some of the great new pizza in the city. There are certainly stumbles here and there, but I'll get to that.

The space reminds me of Ssam Bar or Ko, minimalist decor, with a heavy emphasis on modern wood paneling. Large windows allow plenty of sunlight, and the dreary views of 9th Ave, while a small bar offers seating for close to 12 people. Sitting in the corner at a large 5 top, we had a great view of the space and quickly settled in and scanned the menu. The offerings have changed a few times since the spot first opened, but for the most part there are always 7 pies with a rotating special. Fortunately for us, being a large party allowed for the opportunity to try a number of pies so we quickly ordered up.

To start we had two salads, the Butter Lettuce and Escarole salads. The Escarole salad came with bread crumbs, anchovies, capers, lemon and olive oil, while the Butter Lettuce came with roasted butternut squash, pumpkin seeds, lemon and olive oil. I was glad we ordered these salad to help provide some greens in our lunch diet, but neither was remarkable and at $7, they were quite similar and small.

We came here for pizza and that's what we looked forward too. Each pizza came out at a different time, not too sure why, but it worked to our benefit, allowing us to enjoy each creation straight out of the oven. We first attacked the Flambe, a gooey, cheesey creation with plenty of large bacon chunks scattered atop it. The bechamel, parmesan and buffalo mozzarella melded perfectly with the sweet carmelized onions and salty bacon. The Flambe, in my opinion, is enough reason to visit Jim Lahey's Co.. Next on the docket was the special pie, topped with sausage, leeks and breadcrumbs (the other details escape me) and a pretty intense char around one side of the pie. Despite the char, which for the most part I enjoyed, the pizza was good, but just missing something. A little salt would have gone a long way here, but the combination of ingedients did work well. Halfway through our pizza fest the much talked about Ham and Cheese pie was plopped down in the center of the table. A gorgeous pie, blanketed by paper-thin slices of proscuitto, you could actually see the charred spots through the delicious strands of pork. Beneath the meat was pecorino, gruyere, buffalo mozzarella and caraway seeds, which added a creamy, sweet and salty note to the pizza. The fatty ends of the proscuitto melted into the crust, a beautiful sight we quickly gobbled up.

The tail end of our lunch featured the simplest pies, the Amalfi and Margherita. The Amalfi, described as having green olives, anchovies and chilis was remarkably underwhelming. It was presented by Chef/Breadmaker/Pizza Guy Jim Lahey with the comment "we tried something a little different here", but we were never really told what was different. Regardless, the pungent anchovies we longed for were hiding somewhere we couldn't find them and the chilis overpowered every flavor of the pie. The Margherita, the standard to which I hold all pizzeria's against, was unfortunately dissappointing. A slightly different dough preparation than the others, which by the way were all very delicious, crispy and thin, this dough was a bit more pillowy. The dough wasn't the problem though, an overly sweet and watery tomato sauce left pools of liquid scattered over the pie and the lack of sufficient cheese left half the pie relatively naked. The saving grace was when we bit into a cheesy, basil topped bite with a thin layer of sauce, but these were few and far between.

Overall Co. offers some superb pizzas, albeit expensive, the restaurant has plenty of promise. Service during lunch was good, attentive and kind, and when split amongst a few diners it is easy to keep the cost down and try a number of items. Ordering wine quickly rises the price, but it's all about the pizza here, and of the five we had, two of them were amazing, one was good, one mediocre and one quite poor; not bad for only a month old. I expect to be drawn back for those two great ones and with Lahey's creative mind it is no doubt there will be other delicious creations on the menu soon. If you are looking for a comparison to other pizzerias don't try to compare it to the big name slice or traditional joints, think more L'asso or Frannys (which in my opinion Co. is much better than), the creative, contemporary pizza spots with plenty of high-quality ingredients. Enjoy, and keep eating.
230 9th Ave, New York, NY 10001, 212-243-1105, Reservations - Not Available, Price - Moderate