Pizza Beach: A great addition to the Upper East Side!

Good pizza in NYC is easy to come by, but Pizza Beach (1426 3rd Ave., New York, NY) offers a whole new experience to good pizza. This new addition to the Upper Side of Manhattan is definitely a great one, as it isn't the traditional Italian brick oven pizza experience. Pizza Beach offers a more relaxing casual atmosphere where you feel as though you are at the beach with nautical decorations strewn all around the restaurant. The Martignetti Brothers who own the East Pole and also Brinkley's are the creators of this new concept and they yet again show that they know what they are doing! 

We had a reservation on a Friday night during the first or second week of the restaurant being open and it was already crowded with diners. I guess when something good opens up in NYC, it doesn't stay unknown for long. I was impressed with how crowded it was, that our reservation was honored and we didn't wait at all to be sat. They really knew what they were doing already and seemed to have ironed out all the kinks that new restaurants seem to always have. 

The wine list is very reasonable at Pizza Beach, where the glasses of wine are $10 and bottles of wine are $40. When the waitress suggested we order a bottle versus glasses, it was a no brainer to order bottles for our group, since you always end up getting a 5th glass out of the bottle.

Burrata -
Heirloom cherry tomatoes, rosemary flat bread

To start, our table shared the Burrata, which was extremely fresh with an abundance of heirloom tomatoes and rosemary flat bread. The heirloom tomatoes were lightly oiled and were extremely fresh and a great pairing to the extra creamy burrata. This burrata was somewhere in between mozzarella texture and burrata texture, since it wasn't oozing from the center like perfect burrata does, but it was pretty close. Very delicious!

Sunshine Salad -
Heirloom tomatoes, red onions, fresh basil, honey-apple cider vinaigrette

Each couple shared a salad. Ben and I made the mistake of ordering the sunshine salad, which consisted of all heirloom tomatoes, and since we already had tasted the heirloom tomatoes from the burrata appetizer, it probably wasn't necessary to have more. The salad was very fresh, and colorful with every color of heirloom tomatoes present. The onions gave the salad a bitterness and all in all, it was the perfect summer salad with a very light oil basting. I loved the salad, however, if we are having burrata again next time, we will opt for the more fruit based salad or the kale salad that was on the menu, as they all looked amazing!

Purple Kale & Butternut Squash Pizza - 
Kale, butternut squash mozzarella

For dinner, we all shared four pies, which was perfect since we were three couples, and everyone got a slice of each pie. It was the perfect way to try a variety of flavors, which at Pizza Beach, you definitely want to step out of the box and try the non-standard pies.
The Purple Kale & Butternut Squash pizza was probably the most interesting pie we ordered, as I can't say I have had butternut square on a pizza before. It was probably my third or second favorite pie.  This pie was a white pizza, with tons of squash and kale all over it. It was on the sweeter side due to the squash, which was then offset with bitterness from the kale. It was definitely delicious and some of the others at the table's favorite pie. It wasn't overly cheesy, which was nice because you could taste the vegetables that were on the pie. Also, the crust was amazing. It was sweet and crunchy, and I need to find out their recipe, as it was a cross between standard pie crust and a doughnut because of the subtle sweetness that existed. MMM.

Margherita - 
House made mozzarella, crushed tomatoes, fresh basil

The Margherita pizza was extra saucy and cheesy which I loved. Margherita pizza is one of my favorite types of pizza, so this definitely was a winner. The quality of the mozzarella you could tell was made fresh, while the sauce had a lot of flavor to add to the whole taste of the pie. Definitely worth ordering!

Thai Coconut Curry & Rock Shrimp - 
Ginger, fresh cilantro.  From Chef Joe Capozzi of the East Pole

The Thai Coconut Curry and Rock Shrimp pizza was my favorite that we ordered. It was the most interesting in style and definitely different than I have ever had before. I tend to prefer red sauce pies, so for me to like this the best, it says something. You could definitely taste the coconut curry flavor  without being too overpowering or too subtle. It was the perfect level of curry. The rock shrimp were a perfect pairing to this flavor, and added a nice crunchiness to each bite :) This pie combed two of my favorite things, Thai food and pizza into one great union!

Lamb Merguez & Oaxaca Cheese -
Catskill Farms grass fed lamb, shishito peppers, fresh cilantro

The Lamb Merguez and Oaxaca Cheese pizza was good, but not amazing. This pie was everyone's least favorite at the table. The lamb was tasty, but it didn't taste like the right kind of meat to put on pizza. It sounded interesting in conception, but definitely not in reality. I was also disappointed how the shishito peppers were not on every slice, or how there were tons on some slices, with one on another. I love spicy, and I unfortunately got a slice that had one shishito pepper on it, which was really disappointing, while others at the table had their slice covered in them :( We should have gone with our initial thought to order the Spicy Soppressata pie. I guess there is always next time, since I definitely will be back!