NYC hotspot only makes 15 pizzas a week — and the secret menu item is served on a $500 Versace plate
You dough-‘nt want to miss this one.
One of NYC’s best new pizzas is currently one of the hardest to snag in town — and the meticulous makers of the prized $28 pie, served up on designer dinnerware, wouldn’t have it any other way.
Only 15 of the rare, Naples-meets-NYC mashups are available, on just one night per week — Mondays — at Cucina Alba, a classy Italian eatery in Chelsea.
And despite the cost, demand for the fussed-over Neapolitan-style creation — miraculously boasting a crispy New York slice-style bottom — has been so high, guests need to get themselves to the W. 18th St. restaurant at the early opening time of 5 p.m.
Within the hour, typically, all of the dough is gone.
This past Monday, the final 12″ pie — one size pleases all, or all who get one — was ordered by a lucky table at 6:22 p.m.
Is this a shameless ploy to fill up the dining room on a traditionally quiet night?
Absolutely — not that fans of the weekly event, which began about a month ago, are concerned.
“I hope they make more pizzas, I’d come every Monday,” Jake Taub, a 27-year-old neighbor who first tried the pie last week, told The Post.
Taub and other folks from the neighborhood said they first heard about the off-menu deal through word of mouth and on social media.
“We talked about the idea of pizza and how fun it is to have something that you can’t always have,” chef Adam Leonti, bread baking whiz and author of home baking guide “The Flour Lab,” told The Post.
The restaurant, hoping to boost numbers, decided to toss the proverbial dough ball at the wall — it stuck.
“I would say the crowd has over doubled on Mondays,” Leonti said.
And what exactly makes this prized pizza stand out from the thousands of competitors in close proximity?
Leonti wanted to evoke that classic, crispy crust old-school NYC pizzerias serving by the slice are known for.
He’s especially partial to Sal & Carmine’s on the Upper West Side — he told The Post the beloved Broadway staple served as inspiration to Cucina Alba’s latest addition.
Beyond that, everything is as modern as can be — the sourdough is ultra-hydrated and twice-baked, for a total of around 18 minutes.
This, Leonti explained, is to avoid the inevitable result when trying to eat most gourmet pizzas — cheese and sauce sliding right off of a soggy pie.
“It’s amazing … it’s very crispy but can be soft at the same time,” Taub said.
Atop the sauce and Leonti’s sourdough crust — his favorite recipe for over 15 years — is a blend of three different mozzarella cheeses and fresh, raw tomato chunks.
Fellow pizza first-timer Graysen Airth, 24, of Chelsea, was particularly fond of the tomatoes for their texture. “They make it great,” the enthused customer told The Post.
The pizza also has a blend of herbs and spices that give a kick similar to the flavor of hot soppressata.
Why only a few pizzas per night?
And while the restaurant has managed to draw attention to its Monday night offering, it’s unlikely they’ll be making many more of the six-slice pizzas anytime soon.
There’s a simple explanation for this.
Down a hallway behind Cucina Alba’s main kitchen, Leonti can be seen making the pies himself — the dough alone takes up to three days to prep — and throwing them into the restaurant’s Castelli Roman ovens, before moving on to other duties.
“If you did this in a pizzeria it would take all night,” joked Leonti, who lived and trained in Bergamo, Italy, for a year and a half.
“In New York, luxury is everywhere — I think it is interesting for luxury to be something that’s not expensive … we’re not trying to do a $50 pizza here,” he assured.
However, a glimpse of upper-crust high life is presented beneath the standard-priced pie, which is served on black and gold, authentic Versace platters, imported from the old country. They retail for about $500.
“Pizza is kind of the dish of Naples, right? So why not serve Versace with their food,” Leonti said with a smile.
“Everybody always has the same reaction [to the servingware], thinking it’s not real. Like, ‘oh, you made that, right?'” Leonti revealed.
And, while maintaining that air of exclusivity, “we try to be as democratic as possible,” Leonti added.
Alba even goes to great lengths to aid patrons who miss the narrow pie window by helping them nab a reservation for the next week.
Sometimes they make a note that a customer tried to come for a pie previously.
For his next chef’s hat trick, Leonti plans to turn Sunday into dessert day, making it the one day a week customers can enjoy a lavish dessert cart, paying homage to mouth-watering Italian pastries like sfogliatelle and many other goodies.
But for now, Mondays are bringing a whole week’s worth of buzz.
“We just made another reservation for next Monday at 5 p.m.,” diner Alysha Kamat told The Post, after her first time having the pizza.
