NYC Restaurants

Giovanni Barbieri, who hails from Italy's top pizza school, is celebrating his craft with BigA on the Lower East Side. Round pies called "tonda" and oval-shaped pies called "pala" are offered along with the "BigA Crunch," a Roman-style bread panini. Pies range from a traditional Margherita to the Veneta with hand-crushed tomato sauce, fior di latte, spicy salami, Italian ham, exotic mushrooms and a parsley emulsion. We tried the Sempre Bona with hand-crushed tomato sauce, sun dried tomatoes, fresh burrata, prosciutto San Daniele, and drizzled with extra virgin olive oil. It's an amazing pie served on multi-grain crust. The atmosphere at BigA is laid back. Service is friendly and accommodating.

- Thomas Rafael