New York-style pizza gets a home in Chennai at ‘Za Pizza Cafe

The Hindu

2 days ago

In Crazy, Stupid, Love, Ryan Gosling's character Jacob, the effortlessly charming womaniser, eats a slice of New York pizza dressed in a blazer and formal pants. He leans on a railing, and the slice is folded just the way it is meant to be. It is casual, confident, unforgettable. This is not the only time a New York slice made it to the big screen. From Spiderman to Miss Congeniality, Hollywood has long cemented its cult status. And now, Chennai has another spot attempting to bring a slice of the Big Apple home.
'Za Pizza Cafe, located on the now-tattered Khader Nawaz Khan (KNK) Road, channels a classic American diner with dark blue and red accents and a geometric black-and-white tiled floor. One wall is filled with framed covers of The NewYorker. There is an open kitchen towards one end, where a 400-kilo pizza oven quietly churns out perfectly crisp pizzas once every six to eight minutes. 'In Chennai, a lot of people were doing Neapolitan-style pizza, so we decided to do something completely different, and that's how we decided on New York pizza,' says Ritvik Varun, one of the founders of 'Za.
So what makes a New York pizza? By definition, a New York pizza has a thin, crisp crust, that can hold its shape. It is topped with a simple uncooked tomato sauce, and low-moisture mozzarella cheese that melts without making the crust soggy. It is popularly sold by the slice, which is folded and eaten on the go. It is everything a Neapolitan pizza is not. 'In New York, they sell it by the slice. Here, we are still educating customers that reheated slices are not old food,' adds Ritvik.
Apart from pizza, the menu has a wide selection of small plates and salads. We try the Kentucky chicken tenders served with three house-made dips — spicy ranch, classic ranch, and hot honey. They are crisp on the outside and juicy on the inside, and pair perfectly with all three dips. For non-meat eaters, a similar small plate option is the crispy oyster mushroom wings.
The garlic parmesan pillows, brushed with garlic butter, come with a cheese dip but go great with the pesto dip that you can order separately. There are seven dips on the menu — ranch, spicy ranch, hot honey, chilli garlic oil, pesto, buffalo, and cheese — and each one can be ordered to go with different small plates, or even the pizzas. 'We call them crust dippers because a lot of people do not like eating the crusts of the pizzas, and these might help,' says Varun Sheth, the co-founder.
An Instagrammable small plate is the mozzarella triangle with a cheese pull that can stretch for days. Though under-seasoned, it goes best with the tangy, spicy buffalo sauce, rather than the chunky marinara sauce it is served with. From the pasta section of the menu, we try the spicy vodka macaroni with ricotta. Despite the name, the sauce contains no vodka, using white wine vinegar instead to mimic the flavour. The pasta is slightly overcooked and not al dente.
Currently being sold as full 12-inch pies, the pizza section has a range of vegetarian and non-vegetarian options. 'Usually New York pizzas are much larger — 16 or even 18 inches — but we have only started with 12 for now,' says Varun. 'Our aim is to evolve constantly.' We try the Umami Mami, which is topped with caramelised onions, mushrooms, truffle oil, confit garlic and parmesan, and stands up to its name. The Chicken Pizzaiola, topped with marinara sauce, grilled chicken, black olives, sun-dried tomatoes, and finished with garlic aioli, leans towards tangy and could benefit from a drizzle of hot honey.
One stand-out feature of 'Za is how seriously they take even home delivery. Each delivery includes a card with reheating instructions for a pan, a microwave, and an oven. 'After all, pizza tastes best when reheated,' says Ritvik.
'Za Pizza Cafe is located at 9, Oyster Building, 1st Floor, Khader Nawaz Khan Road, Chennai. A meal for two costs ₹1,000.