You’d think a new pizza spot in New York City would be written off as nothing special, but PN Wood Fired Pizza manages to make pizza interesting again in NYC. PN or Pecore Nere, which translates to Black Sheep in Italian, is located in the neighborhood of NoMad in Manhattan. Unlike most pizza restaurants, PN explores pizza from a new lens, not only offering high quality ingredients but also fourteen different specialty flours with dough that’s matured for at least five days, which breaks the sugars down and allows the gluten to digest more easily. This process is applied to the dough and gives PN pizza a more complex flavor while still managing to keep the crust very light. The dicoccum, or farro medio, is the lightest and most ubiquitous farro used in the preparation of bread and pasta. The gluten is easily digestible, and the protein and fiber levels make it virtually guilt-free.
PN’s commitment to quality doesn’t just end with the crust, as it also offers organic ingredients of the very highest quality that are mostly imported from Italy to top-off the one of a kind pizza experience. Staying on trend with the new support for vegan diets, PN recently added a vegan pizza called the Vegaccina to their menu. It features Kite Hill’s almond cream cheese, rainbow cherry tomatoes, house made vegan spinach pesto, vegan parmesan cheese, extra virgin olive oil and salt. In additional, they offer a variety of classic pizzas including sausage and proscuitto and a collection of gourmet pizzas as well. They include the Porcini, mozzarella, porcini mushroom, pine nuts, imported pancetta, fresh thyme, and the Tartufo, white pizza with artichoke and black truffle puree, fresh mozzarella, imported pancetta, and raw Tuscan sheep milk cheese.
PN also serves up handmade pastas, appetizers and burgers. Some featured dishes include cauliflower hummus appetizer made with organic tahini, lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil and house made focaccina; and Crostino with snap sugar pea puree, mint, hazelnuts and pecorino. Standout pasta dishes include toothsome Spaghetti with P.E.I. Mussels, cherry tomato puree, basil and garlic, Pappardelle with hearty Colorado lamb ragu, and Cavatelli with branzino and dill. The burgers include a Lamb Burger with Savini Tartufi black truffle puree mayo and the Mozzarella Di Bufala DOP that includes tomato and arugula also on a pretzel bun. The Beyond Meat option has a vegan burger patty (which faithfully mimics the taste/texture of beef), topped with vegan mayo, roasted tomato and micro greens on a pretzel bun.
If you are looking for a good place to get a drink, PN won’t disappoint. A cocktail lovers playground, you’ll find a full selection of craft and classic drinks, with new creations including the PN Mule (Gra’it Grappa, elderflower syrup, lime juice and ginger beer), and the Zio Alberto (almond Baileys, Hennessy cognac, vanilla bourbon extract, splash of red wine and cinnamon). There is also a wide selection of Italian beers, an extensive all-Italian wine list, and whiskeys from around the world including domestic bourbon and rye options.
The service at PN is top notch. Waiters work together to make sure each guest has a service experience that meets the product that they’re serving. Your glass is always filled, the staff is very friendly and the setting is chic. PN definitely lives up to its ‘Black Sheep’ name, as there are no other pizza spot like it.
By Brandy Cochrane, Plant Candy
