Even without Motorino, Brooklyn pizza is so hot right now—just ask the Times. So combine that trend with the growing number of quirky pizza ovens out there and you've got yourself a sure-fire way to grab a hungry Brooklynite's attention. Enter Wild Rise, a new part-time pizza joint operating out of the back of the 68 Jay Street bar in DUMBO.
Available Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays Wild Rise offers "authentic Neapolitan pizza" baked at 900 degrees in a custom-made electric oven about the size of two stacked tires. Beyond the fancy oven, the guys behind the Rise are very, very proud of their ingredients. Specifically—since Neapolitan pizza is all about the crust—the wild yeast they use in their dough, which they describe as being "like eating wild-caught sushi versus factory-farmed salmon. The difference in taste is profound."
Now, we wouldn't go so far as to say the margherita pie we had last night was a profound experience, but it was a very good pie—if a touch small for $11 (there is a larger option available for $16). There is definitely a good pizza in there, though we won't be giving up our usual haunts for it just yet. Partially that is due to social programming: After years of going to bars where you can get a pie for free with your beer, there is something odd about going to a bar and paying so much for something not that much better. Still, the guys working the oven really are taking their craft seriously, and as they expand their days and hours (seriously—only Sunday, Monday and Tuesday?) this should be one to watch.
68 Jay Street, Brooklyn; (718) 260-8207
