A pizza hot-spot for some time now, I finally got to experience what the hype has been about. Keste in the West Village was one of the first true Neapolitan pizza places to come about since the pizza craze. It's oven was even made from people who flew in from Naples. We thought that on a Tuesday night in the Summer we would have no problem arriving late and getting a table. We were wrong. People were lined outside on Bleeker Street waiting for their turn at the pizza gods. We then had a genius idea to take the pizza to-go and sit in Washington Square Park for their Music in the Park Tuesday nights. The heat had finally broken and you could be outside for more than 5 minutes without sweating.
Ten minutes later and a trip to the next door bodega for utensils and refreshments, we had our two pizzas and salad and made our way over to the crowded park. The heat was rising from the boxes throughout our detour filled excursion and were still hot when we found our place near the fountain.
The pies are on the small side with 4 average size slices in each. We got a four cheese and one with butternut squash cream, mozzarella, red and yellow peppers and artichokes. Even though neither pie came with my favorite ingredient, tomato sauce, both were delicious. The crust isn't super crunchy but still has that burnt taste to it and there is no grease in sight. I found myself eating the end crust first and then delving into the middle. The butternut squash cream added a sweet taste to the pizza but didn't overpower the other vegetables at all.
We also got a caprese salad with red and yellow tomatoes. The mozzarella was incredibly fresh as were the tomatoes. I decided last night that I'm a bigger fan of yellow tomatoes because I feel like they're a little firmer and not as gushy as red. It could have used a drizzle of balsamic but when eating in a moonlit park, you make sacrifices.
Our night didn't stop with pizza and salad, you have to eat dessert right? We were a close enough walk to Spot Dessert Bar on St. Marks so we headed on over. Our waiter was famed pastry chef Pichet Ong and the menu is heavily Asian influenced. They even have a Omakase (chef's tasting) for $49.00. After numerous questions we decided on the crowd pleaser Yuzu Eskimo and a chocolate chip coconut cookie.
The Eskimo was extremely creative and different. Three cheesecake looking rectangles made of yuzu (a citrus fruit) with an Oreo crust on top of a passion fruit foam. On the side were chocolate shavings with chocolate crunchies, fresh strawberries and a brush stroke of chocolate sauce. The plate was beautiful and it tasted good too! The yuzu was creamy and tangy and the passion fruit was a little too overpowering. All in all it was refreshing and I would recommend it to others to try.
The cookie was great also. Crunchy on the sides but warm and soft in the middle, chocolate was all over my fingers. The coconut was barely there but since I knew to pay attention, I could taste it.
The staff was extremely friendly and the prices aren't out of control for being a sit-down dessert restaurant.
I went to bed last night a happy camper, being able to cross two great places off of my list. Try our method of skipping the long waits at Keste and venture around the East Village for more dessert places I'm willing to admit I've tried.
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