Don Antonio By Starita

Montanara Starita

Pizza is one of my favorite foods. And when I heard that Don Antonio makes some of the best pizza NYC has to offer, I made a beeline for the restaurant for lunch this week. The restaurant itself is cozy and inviting, and it was very busy on a Monday afternoon. I wanted to try their specialty: the Montanara Starita. This pizza actually gets its own section on the menu. Now let me explain why it’s so special. First, the dough is deep-fried before the toppings are added. Then comes the smoked buffalo mozzarella. This cheese is homemade and is perfectly creamy, exactly what you want in mozzarella. The tomatoes used on this pizza are fresh and tasty. The pizza is then finished off in their wood oven. What a masterpiece. I scolded myself for worrying that the pizza would be too plain before I ordered. This pizza is packed with so much flavor it doesn’t need any other toppings.  It was accompanied with a side salad, the Fresca, which consisted of baby arugula, grape tomatoes, Parmigianno-Reggiano cheese, balsamic vinegar glaze and extra virgin olive oil. The perfect lunch for a chilly day.

Montanaro Starita with Fresca salad

My friend and I share an insatiable sweet tooth so we asked to see the dessert menu even though we barely had room. But hey, there’s always room for dessert, right?! The waiter nodded and left the table, but instead of coming back with menus he must have read our minds. Nutella! He presented a plate of Angioletti Nutella, which is small pieces of fried dough drizzled with Nutella. I thought this was a very nice gesture, to give us complimentary dessert when obviously they don’t have a dessert menu for lunch. We left happy and satisfied and I’m already planning my next trip back so I can try the panini sandwiches, which look like giant calzones.

Angioletti Nutella

Don Antonio by Starita is located at 309 W. 50th St, New York, NY 10016.