• Reviews

A Terrific Pizza Restaurant

Dining | East Lyme

The New York Times

New Haven has a long tradition of pizza-making to which its adherents are fiercely loyal; they will put their crisp, thin-crusted pizza up against any New York contender without hesitation.

I like a thin crust and have gotten spoiled living in nearby Guilford, an easy drive into New Haven. But I didn’t expect to get that quality elsewhere in my area, so it was delightful to find a pretty terrific pizza joint in East Lyme.

Pizza Cucina is a family-run operation, owned by Robert and Naima D’Agostino. Robert D’Agostino’s ancestors are from Abruzzo, a mountainous region of central Italy bordered on the east by the Adriatic Sea. Mr. D’Agostino, whose great-grandparents immigrated to America in the late 19th century, learned to cook from his grandmother.

Unlike some thin-crusted pizza that is thin all the way to the edges, the pizzas here are made with a very thin, crisp crust that gets thicker around the perimeter, where it remains appealingly crusty and chewy without being doughy. There is a modest amount of topping, so the bottom of the pizza is entirely cooked through, and crisp rather than soggy.

The pizza menu at Pizza Cucina is gigantic and includes some American innovations that one would be hard pressed to find in Italy, like Hawaiian (honey-baked ham and pineapple), Barbecue chicken, Shrimp scampi, and Buffalo chicken (chicken, cheddar, mozzarella and hot sauce)

My favorites remain the more straightforward selections. The fresh tomato pizza is just that, with Romano cheese and fresh garlic. The Gorgonzola has a sparse layer of the pungent, salty cheese, which dresses the crust just right. A combo of mozzarella, onions, mushrooms and black olives one night was delicious.

The other half of the menu is pasta in the Italian-American style, with flavors more robust than subtle, and lots of garlic. Mr. D’Agostino looks to highlight the simplicity of his ingredients, an inheritance from his Italian ancestry. In many cases, Pizza Cucina does this as well as any place around. The ravioli are homemade, stuffed with a mild cheese filling, but the lovely, fennel-scented homemade meat sauce takes them to a higher level. The marinara sauce paired with the tender, savory and well-seasoned meatballs, works just fine.

Friends of mine love the Sicilian pasta, tossed with spinach, artichokes, feta cheese, garlic and black olives. Others at my table wanted more. I wouldn’t have ordered dessert here if it were not my job to eat it. That would have been a mistake. Two desserts, a Tiramisù and an Oreo chocolate mousse cake are excellent. The Tiramisù — thin layers of cake drenched in coffee, with sweet cream filling — perfectly balances sweet and bitter, and the cake is soaked just enough to make the layers come together into a moist, creamy dessert. The chocolate mousse cake, built on an Oreo crust, is absolutely cloudlike, and luscious.

The D’Agostino family is selling inexpensive, competent, family-style food, and the hospitable atmosphere in which it is served shows how much they care.

THE SPACE Casual, homey, bright and family-run. Walk in through the kitchen to two small dining rooms. No wheelchair access; there are three steps up to the dining room.

THE CROWD Lots of Regulars and families. The young waitress is efficient, knows half the room by name and treats everyone like family.

THE BAR Beer and wine only; wines are good and inexpensive.

THE BILL 12-inch pizzas: $8.75 and up. Pastas: $10.95 to $14.95.

WHAT WE LIKE Broccoli Romana appetizer (with garlic); any pizza, but particularly the Gorgonzola; meatballs, cheese ravioli, anything with the meat sauce; Tiramisú, Oreo chocolate mousse cake.