Wood & Fire Pizza, Pleasantville
Taking the traditional pizza concept to a new level and putting a more modern twist to regular Italian fare is a concept that five businessmen, each with a diverse background in restaurant management, have helped create in Pleasantville.
Wood & Fire Pizza opened its doors a year ago with a Neapolitan wood-fired pizza oven as its focal point. It replaced A’Mangiare, which had been a Pleasantville fixture for close to 20 years.
Freddy Dolgetta, A’Mangiare’s owner, is one of the five partners who devised the Wood & Fire concept, which aims to combine authentic Neapolitan-style cuisine using a wood-fired pizza oven and combine it with homemade pasta and traditional Italian specialties.
The other partners include Franco Carenzo, the proprietor of Mezza Luna in Scarsdale; Mike Ferrara, who worked as a teenager for Dolgetta at A’Mangiare in Bronxville and managed several restaurants in Florida; Gerry Petraglia, the owner of the Station Café & Grille in Hawthorne; and Warren Katz, who brings construction expertise to the partnership.
Customers can choose a variety of pizzas that are cooked in an 800-degree wood-fired oven every three minutes. Ferrara said the pizza dough is prepared using imported Caputo “00” flour, a silky, ultra-milled Neapolitan flour that is commonly used in pizzerias in Italy.
There are at least 20 types of pizza to choose from, including the classic, marinara and margherita pizzas. For those with a more adventurous palette, there’s the Bianca & Tartufo pizza, which consists of ricotta, mozzarella and parmigiano reggiano cheeses with sautéed spinach and truffle; the Brussels Sprout (shaved Brussels sprout, mozzarella, pancetta and egg); and the Wood & Fire pizza, consisting of homemade burrata, marinated cherry tomatoes, fresh garlic and basil.
Customers can choose from an array of different toppings for an additional $2 each. Toppings include meatballs, pepperoni, mushrooms, peppers, onions, sausage, artichokes, fresh tomato and spinach. A gluten free or whole wheat pizza is available for an additional $3.
The restaurant is more than a pizzeria, however. Wood & Fire lives up to what the partners had envisioned, said Ferrara, which is to provide customers with “good quality food and great service.”
Ferrara said the concept has been so successful in Pleasantville that they decided to open a second restaurant in Del Ray, Fla. He said the intention is to expand the brand across the country.
At its Pleasantville location, brunch specials include the Three Eggs One Yolk, comprised of egg whites, vegetables, arugula, pesto and an egg yolk; Jumbo Shrimp Benedict, consisting of grilled prosciutto, poached eggs, crispy capers and homemade hollandaise sauce; a pancetta egg and cheese pizza, waffles and burgers.
A wide selection of salads, paninis, cortini (side dishes), piattini (small plates) and pasta dishes are also available.
Adding to Wood & Fire’s appeal is a 1,500-square-foot expansion that turned what was once an eight-person bar into an area that accommodates up to 30 people. There is also an expansive outdoor patio.
The restaurant has a variety of dinner specials each night. There is Margarita Mondays from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Happy Hour Monday through Sunday, from 4 to 7 p.m., includes 50 percent off every pizza, and Wind down Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., features half-priced bottles of wine for every selection at $100 or less.
Wood & Fire Pizza is located at 59 Marble Ave. and is open Monday through Thursday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Fridays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. For more information or to make a reservation, call 914-747-2611.
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