Wylie Dufresne is\u00a0a self-proclaimed tinkerer. This is the man who invented fried mayonnaise cubes and wispy, thin bacon strips at wd~50, his legendary New York restaurant in the Lower East Side.\u00a0Now he’s taking\u00a0a similar approach at Stretch Pizza, going big with everything bagel spice and cream cheese sauce on slices and pies that taste like dan dan noodles. Don’t be mistaken: Stretch knows how to do simple well too,\u00a0serving a classic NY slice anchored by an airy,\u00a0crunchy crust that will make any New Yorker tip their hat.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The vibe: The Stretch Pizza location in Williamsburg feels like a grab-and-go shop, since it sits just a stone’s throw from the waterfront on Kent Avenue. But sitting with your slice is definitely an option, with a modest number of wooden tables and red chairs spread across the gray-and-white checkered floor of the triangle-shaped dining room.\u00a0Decor is minimal, with the most eye-catching piece being a framed collection of international pizza boxes on loan from Scott Weiner of Scott’s Pizza Tours. Order at the counter, take a gander at the pizza action back there, then find\u00a0a seat.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The food: Yes, Dufrense has been known to put carnitas and fingerling potatoes on pizzas. But for us, a benchmark of a good New York pizza is perfecting the New York slice, something that the Stretch team has done incredibly well. The classic slice keeps things simple with a tart ladle of tomato sauce, mozzarella, a few sprigs of basil and\u00a0curls upon curls of Parmesan cheese. The crust folds with a crunch you can hear, and you will hear it, each and every time you take a bite. As for the\u00a0Metro Slice, the breaded bits of spicy chicken parm could easily be thrown into a sandwich, served up with a slather of red sauce and we wouldn’t be mad. But we are also happy that it is on a pie,\u00a0served a touch brighter with dollops of pesto cream. As for dessert, something is always swirling in the soft serve machine, and the current seasonal scoop spoons\u00a0like the custardy\u00a0insides of a\u00a0pumpkin pie. Get it\u2014you won’t be disappointed.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The drink: There are a few cocktails to take advantage of here, some of which are on tap, plus beers and wines by the glass. <\/p>\n
Time Out tip: The XXL mozzarella schtick was once a joke item. But it seems it found its audience, as the forearm-sized stick is here to say. Despite its size, the mozzarella stick stays consistent: coated in a shower of cheese, crunchy and hot, with a damn good cheese pull. It is so big it comes in a churro sleeve, or rather a modesty sleeve, if you don\u2019t want to show off your foot-long bite to the rest of the crowd. All we can say is, bring a friend or two to share this one. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wylie Dufresne is\u00a0a self-proclaimed tinkerer. This is the man who invented fried mayonnaise cubes and wispy, thin bacon…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":385452,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[2590,20226,9,24,55,54,56,821],"class_list":["post-385451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-categories-restaurants","tag-more-recommended","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-ny","tag-restaurants"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=385451"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385451\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/385452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=385451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=385451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=385451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}