When the Moon Hits Your Eye

You remember my friend Sam Sifton right? The food critic extraordinaire from the New York Times. Well he told us that Motorino is the best pizza in New York. This led to a fun little diversion on our way to DC the other night that I just had to share with Sam.

Sam,
I have to tell you that on our way to DC from Amherst the other night my dad made a spontaneous decision to stop at Motorino for pizza. We had quite a discussion as we approached NYC as to whether we should do it. You see we didn't leave Amherst until 5:30 in the evening and my dad had a very early meeting in DC. I wasn't sure he had the stamina necessary for a detour into Manhattan. But we were also hungry. Very hungry. So dad called Motorino and asked if there were any tables available. There weren't and there was a twenty minute wait. Dad then asked if they offered outdoor dining. They don't. I think he was thinking of me and my two pups, Angus and Roxie. He likes to take us everywhere. So my dad and I discussed parking, waiting for a table and leaving us dogs in the car in NYC. I think he was ready to keep on driving across the George Washington Bridge to the New Jersey turnpike and DC beyond. But then my dad said TAKE OUT and we had a brief discussion about that. Dad called Motorino again and asked if they did take out. They do and your pizza is ready in 10 MINUTES. Then my dad said "What would Julia Child do? WWJCD?" With that the decision was made and we were on our way to Motorino on East 12th Street. We called Motorino a third time (they were very nice, by the way) as we pulled off the FDR onto 23rd Street and ordered a Margarita pizza to go. We drove down 2nd Avenue to 12th Street and found that there were quite a few parking spaces near the restaurant. The pizza just came out of the oven as dad entered the restaurant. Dad ate his pizza off the hood of the car while we waited in the car behind the doggy divider. Luckily he left the windows down a crack so I could smell that lovely pie. I swear my dad finished it off in about 5 minutes. He had kind of a glazed euphoric look on his face during that short time. He was very happy after. He loves the squash blossom pizza with buratta at Pizza Mozza in LA. I am pretty sure he loves the Motorino Margarita too.
Thanks for making my dad happy.
Suddie, the blogging Tibetan Terrier

Sam says that Motorino is having a moment. I have to agree.