New York Pizzerias are known for their crazy-ass pizza toppings (we’re looking at you baked ziti and buffalo chicken from Little Italy) but this might be the craziest, most carb laden topping of them all. Check out the latest addition to the Papa Perrone Truck… a grandma slice, topped with one of their rice balls. For those of you keeping score, that’s a cheese filled risotto ball, rolled in bread crumbs, deep fried, and pressed down onto a slice of pizza. This monstrosity will set you back $4.75 ($5.75 if you want it topped with parmesan) and will be available as long as they have the pizza and rice balls to make it. The truck has been parking on 55th btw. Mad+5th, but you can double check their twitter account just to be sure.

Thanks to Lunch’er Harry for posting this little tip in the forums… a new burger truck popped up on 55th and Park Ave. on Friday called Wall St. Burgers. All we know is what’s on their website. Grass fed angus burgers, crispy chicken wings, tempura battered onion rings, seasoned curly fries, and it’s called Wall St. Burgers because the owner quit his job on Wall Street to open the truck (a storyline we’re starting to get a little sick of, but we’ll reserve total judgement until we taste the burgers.)

Ironically enough, while this new truck was testing the waters of Midtown East, a few older trucks were getting kicked out of their spots…

From Lunch’er Emily:

I just spoke with JP from Papa Perrone who was asked to leave from his regular spot on 55th between Park and Mad. Lately there has been a big influx of trucks in the area (Luke’s on Park and Crisp parking in front of him on 55th) and he had mentioned that they were drawing negative attention. So they have! He was asked to leave today around noon but he’s sticking through the day…not sure what next week holds though… I am pretty sad about this news as I usually go once a week for his awesome calzones. Truly bummed…

This whole issue came up in the comments last week, but sadly what happened on Friday doesn’t appear to just be about Papa Perrone. On Friday Schnitzel & Things were kicked out of their regular spot on 52nd and Lex, and Mexicue was kicked out of 55th and Lex (the same spot Korilla was kicked out of on Thursday.) We’ll be keeping an eye on who comes back this week, and hoping that the virus that spread through Midtown West last month hasn’t made its way to Midtown East.

Way back in November, Papa Perrone started testing out panelle sandwiches (chickpea fritters on crusty bread with ricotta cheese, and parm). I braved the rain and cold to seek one out and dutifully wrote it up for a post. I waited to schedule the review until they offered it again. I waited and waited and waited. Finally last night, I noticed via the ML Twitter Tracker that they were planning on serving up panelle today, so without further ado, here’s your first look at the this traditional dish.

I didn’t grow up eating Panelle (it’s apparently a classic Sicilian dish and I’m Southern Italian), but the guy on the truck–I’m presuming Papa P himself, said that they serve it up as a sandwich at focacciarias and that he’s had more than a few customers ask for it specifically. Apparently it’s also a popular street food in Palermo (at least according to wikipedia).

The sandwich consists of a square fritter made from chickpea flour about the size of a filet o’ fish patty, an a generous amount of whole milk ricotta, and grated Parmesan on a crusty seeded roll. Papa Perrone put the sandwich in the oven briefly to warm it up. By the time I got back to the office the sandwich had gotten cold (stupid cold weather, stupid subway ride). Sad. I imagine it would have been better hot out of the oven. And better still if the patty could have been crispy and fresh.

The cheese stole the show–really there’s nothing that whole milk ricotta and Parm can’t make better. The day I got the sandwich was the very first day he was offering it and he said he expected he’d be making some tweaks and bringing it out again soon (which I guess was code for “in six months”!) Anyway, I love when trucks mix up their menu with specials and I’m glad to see this sandwich back in the mix. The panelle is available today from the Papa Perrone Truck, which normally parks on 55th btw. Park+Madison, but you’ll probably want to check their twitter or the ML Twitter Tracker just to be safe.

An interesting thing happened on 55th street today that other food truck vendors would be wise to pay attention to.  Because of all the UN madness on the east side, Eddie’s Pizza Truck was forced to find a new spot this morning for their Thursday service. Where did they choose?  55th btw. Park+Mad… right next to the Papa Perrone truck, who also sells pizza.  Naturally, Papa Perrone wasn’t too happy about it, not just because they both sell pizza but because he’s worked hard over the past few years to cultivate a relationship with the building on that block- who in turn have agreed not to complain to the cops, provided that the block doesn’t turn into a food truck parking lot.  So when Eddie’s showed up this morning, Jon Paul (aka “Papa Perrone”) explained the situation, hoping that they would find an alternate spot.  Obviously nobody wants to see a repeat of what happened on 48th Street a few weeks ago.

Eddie’s response?  Kill them with kindness…

Hmmm.  A true call for brotherhood?  Or a semi-disingenuous way to make up for not following the unwritten street vendor code?  We’ll let you decide!  Thankfully both vendors have managed to have a incident free day, but according to Papa Perrone the manager of the building did complain about all the Eddie’s pizza boxes people were throwing in the building’s garbage cans- and threatened to call the police.  Thankfully, once Papa Perrone explained that they would both be kicked out by the cops and the the block would probably be permanently off limits to food trucks, the building manager held back for Papa Perrone’s sake.  For today, at least.

In other words, hopefully this was just a one day thing caused by the U.N. and other trucks won’t be following Eddie’s lead to 55th street.  If they do, we’ll probably end up losing another food truck block to the cops.

My first thought when George Steinbrenner died two weeks ago wasn’t of Yankee Stadium or championship trophies, it was of Larry David’s voice. I guess I’m a bigger Seinfeld fan than Yankees fan. One of my favorite Steinbrenner episodes of Seinfeld is when he becomes obsessed with George’s lunchtime calzone stuffed with cheese, pepperoni and eggplant, and starts making George bring him one everyday. The spell that calzone casts on Steinbrenner always makes me crave one. So, to honor The Boss, I headed out to some of Midtown’s most notable pizzerias in search of Midtown’s best calzone. See what I found after the jump.

PAPA PERRONE TRUCK

Papa Perrone’s Pizza Truck (55th btw. Mad+Park) has been serving calzones as a special on Tuedays for a couple of weeks now. They have a normal cheese variety and a “Bensonhurst Special,” which comes with ham or meatballs. I went with the ham. Papa Perrone’s calzones are really loaded with cheese. The ricotta and mozzarella are so prevalent that I could actually feel my arteries clogging after a few bites. This is kind of a good problem though, because the cheese tasted great. Stringy mozzarella and creamy ricotta – just the way things should be. Papa Perrone’s had the best cheese of all the calzones I tried.

The ham was sliced thin like sandwich meat. I actually liked this more than the thicker chunks of ham I’m used to seeing in calzones. It does mean that the cheese and ham are basically in layers rather than mixed all together though. My calzone also could have used a little more time in the oven. The crust didn’t have that golden brown hue and was a little gummy. I don’t really mind that too much, but if you’re looking for a really crisp crust, you might be disappointed because they turn these around pretty fast in the truck. They give you some heated up marinara on the side (I really hate it when places give you a little cup of refrigerated tomato sauce).

Perrone’s charges $8.50 for their calzones. They’re quite large and offer a ton of cheese, but I got a little bored before I finished it. I’d be happy to split one and also get a slice or something else.

LAZZARA’S PIZZA

Next up is Lazzara’s (on 38th btw. 7+8). They have cheese, ham, broccoli and spinach options. I stuck with ham but I was very tempted by the spinach. Lazzara’s calzone isn’t nearly as big as Perrone’s, but it’s very well made. As you can see, the crust is a nice golden brown.

Inside, the cheese and ham are all mixed up offering a more consistent meal. Although I didn’t like the cheese or ham as much in Perrone’s calzone. Lazzara’s charges $6.50 for the ham calzone, but they also charge you 75 cents for a side of tomato sauce. That’s pretty lame but the sauce didn’t add a lot in this case so not getting it is a viable option. It was heated though, so that’s good. All in all, it was a nice, satisfying lunch but nothing spectacular. I will probably go back to try the spinach.

PATZERIA’S PERFECT PIZZA

Patzeria Perfect Pizza (46th btw. 7+8) hasn’t gotten much attention on Midtown Lunch, but it’s got a pretty good reputation (and it’s close to my office), so I decided to give their calzone a try. They list cheese, pepperoni, ham, meatball and sausage as options. They just take an already made calzone, slice it open and put the toppings in there though, so I bet they would put in anything that’s readily available behind the counter. I didn’t realize this before ordering so I just went with the sausage.

Patzeria’s calzone was very unremarkable. The crust was beyond crisp and was kind of hard. I don’t think sitting in the window for hours had done this thing any favors. The cheese was nothing special but the sausage was pretty tasty. It comes with a side of heavily seasoned (heated) tomato sauce. I’m a little suspicious of this sauce (like I think it might have come from a jar), but this calzone benefited more from its accompanying sauce than any of the others, so it’s a good thing it’s there.

Patzeria charges $7.95, which is definitely steep for what you’re getting. The calzone wasn’t terrible (I think it’s kind of hard to make a terrible calzone considering how much of it is simply melted mozzarella). I’d consider going back since it’s the closest to where I work, but I wouldn’t go out of my way for it.

PREVITI PIZZA

My calzone search seemed like a good reason to finally check out the very well liked Previti Pizza (41st btw. Park+Lex), and I’m extremely glad that I did. Their menu prompts you to choose any one of their toppings to go in your calzone. After perusing the list, I knew what I had to do; this was my chance to try The Costanza: cheese, pepperoni and eggplant. They charged me extra for the second topping (I fully expected this), but they didn’t give me any trouble. This opens up a whole world of calzone experimentation using Previti’s extensive list of toppings.

Obviously this is another place that cuts open the calzone and shoves your chosen toppings inside. Previti’s cheese was good, and I especially appreciated the ricotta cheese that had some kind of seasoning mixed in. The pepperoni and eggplant were a little on the skimpy side, but nothing offensive. In fact, I was happy that it wasn’t loaded with the toppings because the whole thing comes together really well. Previti gives you a side of tomato sauce and it was the freshest tasting tomato sauce I had at any of these places, but they didn’t heat it up! It’s very disappointing (and shocking) that the place that gets everything else right managed to get this wrong.

Previti’s calzones are $4.95 with one topping. Mine was $5.71 before tax so I guess they charged me 76 cents for that second topping. That’s a great deal considering the quality of the calzone and what I paid other places. I can’t wait to go back and experiment with different combinations.

LA BELLEZZA

My final stop was La Bellezza (49th btw. Lex+3rd). Their calzone looks more like some sort of cheese dome than what I expect a calzone to look like, with the top of the crust rising well above the rest of the ingredients. And the star of La Bellezza’s calzone is that crust. It’s great. The top portion was thin and perfectly crisp. I think all that space between the cheese and the crust might be the key. This is another place that slices open a calzone and tosses your toppings in there, but they only advertise cheese, ham, ground beef and sausage on their menu. I went with the sausage.

Maybe calling it a cheese volcano would have been more appropriate. Between the ocean of cheese flowing from the calzone and its unusual shape, it was a little difficult to eat and I definitely needed a fork and knife to start it off. The cheese was good and there was a ton of mozzarella, which is just how I like it. The sausage was pretty unnecessary as it is completely drowned in cheese and there isn’t enough of it to really stand out. The whole thing had some seasoning thrown in which really helps calzone from becoming monotonous. The cheese made this a difficult one to finish, although I think a large part of that is calzone fatique setting in. The calzone comes with a side of (heated) heavily seasoned tomato sauce.

At $5.75 La Bellezza’s calzone is a pretty good option for lunch especially if you really care about the crust. Just make sure you’re ready to eat a ton of cheese as well.

If I had to pick a winner from this group, it would definitely be Previti. Theirs came closest to the legendary status of the Seinfeld calzone. The price, quality and number of options makes them my go-to calzone provider for the time being, but I’ll keep my eyes open for challengers.

Papa Perrone’s Truck, 55th btw. Madison+Park, 917-880-1432
Lazzara’s, 221 West 38th St. (btw. 7+8), 212-944-7792
Patzeria Perfect Pizza, 231 West 46th St. (btw. B’way+7), 212-575-7646
Previti Pizza, 122 East 41st (btw. Lex+Park), 212-557-4992
La Bellezza’s, 145 East 49th (btw. Lex+3rd), 212-871-3223