Il Leone<\/a> \u2014 the Lion \u2014 confirmed that Wexler-Waite is acquitting himself admirably, even in this more competitive market, and without the added advantages of Casco Bay scenery. (He\u2019ll return to Maine in the summers and keep Il Leone going up there, too.) The narrow space that last housed Bar Vinazo has been softened a bit with hanging platters, but the room maintains its twilight illumination, fills early with what appeared to be more friend groups and double dates than single ones, and emptied, Park Slopeishly, by ten to eleven.<\/p>\nA few local adjustments have been made for the move. In Maine, Il Leone\u2019s pies are cooked over wood, whereas here, an electric Italforni oven does the work. But the crusts are still naturally fermented sourdough and some ingredients are being imported from the Pine Tree State, for better or worse. The traditional Margherita, one of Il Leone\u2019s short list of pies, is made with San Marzano tomatoes, but the house-special Margherita del Leone is made with greenhouse-grown Maine cherry tomatoes \u2014\u00a0usually. \u201cThey\u2019re back ordered right now,\u201d our server admitted, dropping off a hot platter. He lowered his voice conspiratorially. \u201cBut these might be even better.\u201d<\/p>\n
With no disrespect to Maine agriculture, I can\u2019t imagine missing them, not when the Brooklyn cherry tomato sauce \u2014\u00a0milled daily, and uncooked until goes into the pizza oven, making a rosier, tangier sauce \u2014\u00a0is as bright and fresh as it is. Wexler-Waite\u2019s pizzas lean toward the wet side, with a more judicious application of cheese, and the upshot is that you can eat the better part of two or three without feeling quite as overloaded as you might otherwise. Plan to order at least one pie per person, as the menu doesn\u2019t at this point encompass much else: an appetizer of fried artichokes, some cheese, an arugula salad, and a bowlful of soft, tennis-ball-sized meatballs are about it. Of those, I wouldn\u2019t skip the meatballs.<\/p>\n
What does feel irreplaceably Maine is the Isola (\u201cisland\u201d) pizza, with Maine\u2019s favorite ingredient: lobster. The inspiration was apparently lobster fra diavola, and there\u2019s not much more on Wexler-Waite\u2019s stretchy crust than chile-flecked tomato sauce and a truly impressive quantity of claw. The menu lists the pie as the dreaded \u201cMP,\u201d and the night we visited, it rang up at $48, a splurge to be sure, but for more lobster than I\u2019ve sometimes had out at twice that price. \u201cOh, this is naughty,\u201d a dinner companion of mine said when the Isola was dropped off, after our Margherita del Leone, and a mushroom pie. My only word of warning would be to get your own pincers ready:\u00a0I didn\u2019t miss the cheese except that, without it, the lobster meat slid around my slice with total abandon.<\/p>\n
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