Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Midtown's Casa Nonna Boasts $44 Truffle Pizza

By Mathew Katz | October 22, 2012 6:56am

MIDTOWN — Your typical mushroom slice, it ain't.

Midtown restaurant Casa Nonna has introduced a decadent new black truffle pizza to its menu of Italian selections, allowing customers to indulge in a $44 fresh-made pie topped with nothing but the finest fungi.

The pizza features $375-a-pound wild Burgundy truffle mushrooms from the forests of Northern Italy, sliced thin on top of the pie just like pepperoni — though significantly more expensive.

As if that's not enough, the pizza is drizzled with truffle oil mixed with even more chopped truffles. Add fresh buffalo mozzarella cheese and a pinch of coarse sea salt, and the thin-crust specialty is sure to delight even the most serious of gourmands.

"It's a lot of natural flavors that come off of the pizza," said Julio Genao, executive chef at the restaurant located at 310 W. 38th St., who thought up the scintillating dish. "The truffles, they're beautiful and they give you a really nice bite."

The pizza is hand-crafted by a full-time pizzaiolo, who rolls out the dough, chops and slices the truffles, and cooks the pie in a wood-burning oven at 670 degrees at the eatery's 11-seat pizza bar.

"It can be a very nice experience for a diner to watch our pizza guys just making your pie before your eyes," Genao said. "Something like a truffle pizza is very, very special. These are very expensive ingredients, and you want to know that you're getting what you're paying for."

The relatively small, four-slice pie comes with about four ounces of sliced truffles on it, and while the $44 dish amounts to barely more than an appetizer — it packs a delectable punch, Genao explained.

"You have the earthiness of the chopped truffle peelings, you have the fragrant smell and taste of the truffles," he said. "When you get all those flavors in, it's very nice."