"Abandoned, boarded up behind drywall in the basement for years and only recently rediscovered, the Bushwick restaurant's massive coal oven dates all the way back to 1890 - even before near-ancient pizzerias like Lombardi's, John's of Bleecker and Grimaldi's made their debuts. Today, it's firing up some of NYC's best pies - and the neighborhood can't get enough. The sprawling, 18-foot by 15-foot space of sizzling real estate boasts 63 heat zones and can churn out the zestiest 'za in just five minutes."
"[That's] something you couldn't do with any other oven, Nino Coniglio, a co-owner of Lucky Charlie, told The Post. It just gives [the pizza] this kind of char - kind of like all the best of everything put together."
"Primarily used back in their heyday because burning coal was cheaper than wood, the outdated ovens went into decline nearly 100 years ago. First, gas became the norm in the 1930s - then came the stainless steel oven - and the rest was modern history. According to pizza expert Scott Wiener, at that point coal ovens could no longer compete - and the city went nearly 30 years, from the late 1950s all the way until 1990, without a new coal-fired pizzeria."
Lucky Charlie in Bushwick operates a massive coal oven dating to 1890 that was hidden behind basement drywall for years. The oven measures roughly 18 by 15 feet, contains 63 heat zones, and can cook pizzas in about five minutes, producing a distinctive char. Landlord Charlie Verde discovered the relic in 2002 and chose to preserve and reuse it rather than sell the building. Coal ovens fell out of favor after coal gave way to gas and stainless steel, and regulations around coal-fired cooking have become increasingly strict.
Read at New York Post
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]