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During a recent trip to Japan, experiencing an omakase at one of Tokyo’s best sushi restaurants was at the top of my bucket list. The promise of beautiful and flavorful nigiri was alluring and turned out to be one of the most memorable moments of my trip.
So when I heard there's a new pizza “omakase” in New York City, my curiosity was piqued. How could this Lower East Side Italian restaurant, Biga Bite, possibly take on the omakase experience?
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“Pizza Omakase is a way for me to connect with guests on a deeper level,” says Biga Bite’s chef Giovanni Barbieri. “It’s an opportunity to showcase the versatility of Roman-style pizza and share my love for innovative flavor combinations.”
And since pizza is my favorite food, I was obligated to try it out.
I walked into Biga Bite at 1 Clinton Street and quickly found out that the moody corner spot usually dishes out 10-foot-long rectangular pies, so serving narrow bites of pizza omakase style immediately seemed a little more within their wheelhouse to me.
When we were seated, we were given a complimentary glass of Glera Prosecco to kick off the eight-course tasting experience which takes place in one-hour seatings on Mondays through Thursdays.
My friend and I chose each of the options—vegetarian ($40) and non-vegetarian ($55)—to try out. The vegetarian menu includes a crunchy pizza crust and marinara course, a classic Margherita slice, a Margherita upside down piece, a burrata and olives panino, an eggplant parmigiana slice, a pumpkin gorgonzola and walnuts slice, a cacio e pepe slice, and a Nutella and marshmallow piece for dessert.
My non-veggie friend was served the same pieces until the fourth course, when she got a beef tartare panino pizza slice (the best, in my opinion), a prosciutto and burrata (with black truffle for $15 extra), a duck breast pumpkin cream and Parmesan, a burrata and Mazzara red prawns (with caviar for $20 extra), and of course, the Nutella and roasted marshmallows for the finale.
We split each piece so we could try everything (a Time Out tip) and the true highlights of the tasting were the fresh marinara sauce, the out-of-this-world beef tartare slice and the tasty duck breast, pumpkin cream and Parmesan slice. An honorable mention goes to the prawn and burrata slice for an inventive homage to the Japanese omakase (ever had a dancing prawn?). It must be said that the crust and bread the courses were served on was airy and crunchy on the outside and soft in the middle—the perfect base for these bites.
We did a wine pairing with the omakase (for an additional $30), and we enjoyed about half a glass of a white, Pra’Soave Otto, and No Es Pituko Orange, as well as two reds—Côtes du Rhône and De Angelis Montepulciano—in addition to our welcome Prosecco.
The meal was a delight to my senses, which is what I believe makes a great “omakase.” Plus, it’s a new way to eat pizza at a time when it feels like it’s all been done before. Turns out, pizza is delicious any way you slice it.