Adrienne’s

54 Stone Street
Financial District

After hearing good things about Adrienne’s from various sources (including this one), I attempted with coworkers to try it last week.  Alas, it was not to be; we entered at 1:10 and the place was packed.  The harried “hostess” informed us it was 45 minutes to get a table, but worse was when I tried to place an order to go- she said the wait would be anywhere from 30-45 minutes for the pie!  Basically, if we’d waited for a table, the wait for a pizza would have been even longer.  I was convinced at this point that the pizza was good, and I must come back. 

Last night, I decided what the heck, why not give it a shot.  At 5:40, the place was empty, so I placed my order to go (I’d read numerous reviews online about how poor their delivery service was, and didn’t want to risk sullying my first impression of the food with bad service).  The waiter who took my order said it’d be about 10-15 minutes, so I returned in 15, but had to wait another 10 because he said there’d been a problem with the dough, and in order to give me the best pizza possible (I zoned out here) blah blah.  While I waited on the side, he packed me up a bag with two small containers each of hot pepper flakes, and long curls of parmesan cheese, along with paper plates, two knife/fork packets, and a few napkins, which I thought was pretty cool.  Not every place will just throw these things in without being asked and without charging you extra. 

Finally, our orders were ready.  I’d chosen the Margherita (crushed tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and basil), while my boytoy had chosen a quattro formaggi (four cheese). 

The smell of the freshly cut basil wafting up to my nostrils was almost enough for me to just start tearing into the pizza while I walked, but I waited until I got to our apartment.  I have to emphasize here that before eating the pizzas, I thought they were uber expensive- $10 for my 10″ round pie, and $12 for the four cheese (also 10″). 

But boy, were they delicious!  I *cough* piggily enough ate my entire pie and a slice of the four cheese as well.  The fresh basil was delicious on my Margherita pie, and the whole thing was not very greasy or oily, with a super thin crust.  I’d never had Margherita style pizza anywhere (though I’ve seen it on the menu at other places) but this was definitely one of the best pizzas I’d ever eaten. 

As for the quattro formaggi (mozzarella, fontina, parmesan, and gorgonzola), I strongly recommend that unless you’re familiar with gorgonzola cheese (which I believe is a blue veined, pungent/strong cheese), you do not order this.  I really love most cheeses, and when I bit into this, it was good, but I don’t think I could eat a whole pie of this nor even more than 1-2 slices.  Gorgonzola is really in-your-face with its taste. 

Yvo says: Yummy, and I would go back to try more stuff.  Despite the expensive price tag, I think it was worth it, so yummy it was.  Don’t go during lunch on a weekday unless you can take as much time as you want… after work, though, it seems to be dead so I suggest going during that time.  They request all delivery orders for lunch during the workweek be put in by 11:00 for delivery after 12:30, but even then I wouldn’t chance it.  YUMMY!!!

PS They supposedly have an extensive wine list (I didn’t check it) and a full bar.  Oh yes, and if anyone’s wondering or interested, we paired the pizza with a bottle of Martini & Rossi Asti, and the acidity of the tomato sauce (in mine) enhanced the sweetness of the champagne perfectly.  Fantastic.