With summer coming to a close, we decided to try something new! We’d not been out in the camper since the gravel bike races had ended in early August, and I really wanted to go to the Upstate NY “Pizza Meccas” of Utica and Schenectady, NY.
So, off we went on a 3 day bike tour of about 70 miles per day zig zagging through Upstate NY to capture PO’s for my collection and eating pizza while making our way east.
American-Italian Word of the Day – Tomato Pie
Both Utica and Schenectady are known for Tomato Pie. But there are two controversies!
First, there’s some debate, “Is Tomato Pie a pizza or bread with sauce topping?” I DON’T CARE…TOMATO PIE IS SIMPLY OUTSTANDING! I’ve had it once. Thanks to the parents of one of Lil’ Spicy’s teammates brought some to a game for me last year. I’ve been dying to have another ever since!
The second controversy is “What do you call it?” Tomato Pie or Reverse Pizza? Hmm…this is a problem!
— Reverse Pizza has its tomato sauce on top of the cheese. Lots of tomato sauce, but on top.
— Tomato Pie has the sauce directly on top of the dough, no mozzedell, but light dusting parmagian. And most importantly, the sauce is thick like TOMATO PASTE. Aunt Theresa made this kind of pizza…my heart yearns for this pizza!!!
So, off we went to see if I could put an END TO THE CONTROVERSY!!!
Day 1 – Cato to Verona Beach, NY – 16 PO’s & GPS #33!
Day 1 started in Cato, NY, about an hour from home. We’d driven through Cato many, many times when Lil’ Spicy played on her Syracuse team. I remember it’s cool Post Office and made it our start spot.
The day was overcast and cool (STRAVA LINK of Day 1), but it was my first time in that area that yielded a chance to see Oneida Lake (Wikipedia info). Oneida Lake is HUGE! Additionally, I captured 16 Post Offices; the most that I’ve done on a ride!
The ones that I like the most were in Verona Beach and two tiny PO’s in Vienna and Mallory, NY.
I have a “thing” for tiny PO’s. Both Vienna and Mallory PO’s seem like they can only fit one employee and one customer!
The Verona Beach PO was a cool Art Deco design that shared the building with two apartments!
As I rode through Sylvan Beach, I spotted a pizza place on the corner just before the bridge leaving town on the way to Verona Beach.
GPS #33 – Pizza King, Sylvan Beach, NY = Good
The Great Pizza search (GPS) #33 took us to Pizza King in Sylvan Beach, NY directly on the eastern shore of Oneida Lake. A pizza place called “Pizza King” is rather presumptuous! So, living up to the title of “King” is HUGE!
ASIDE – HUGE! This part of NY is home of Billy Fucillo, the “HUGE” car guy. His tag line is “HUGE”. His commercials run constantly. So, I was kinda’ pissed when I saw a HUGE commercial in FL. He’s there too…not huge! END ASIDE
Ambiance and Presentation = MEH (which is not good)
Even though Pizza King is on a corner, it’s not brick, and It’s not a joint. It’s a resort restaurant. We were not permitted inside, but since it’s a resort, there were service windows along the outside.
The pizza was delivered to us in a nice, hard cardboard box but without specific branding graphics.
Just as we started to eat, the owner came out! He was very talkative and interested in our campervan. He talked about the shop, it’s history, Sylvan and Verona Beaches, the Indian Reservation, and the new casino immediately across the street.
Dough and Crust = Good
The crust was very soft and had lots of tip sag. Because it was so soft, there was little crunch, but there was a nice crunch at the cornicione!
Sauce = Good
Once again, there was not a lot of sauce. But, what little there was, was good. It had a nice tangy taste! The owner said that he put parmiagian in the sauce which I’m sure helped the taste and saltiness.
Cheese = GREAT
There was a nice amount of moozedell. In addition, I could taste a sharp hint parmiagian in the cheese. This made the cheese fabulous!
Overall Rating = Good. There was not enough greatness there to be called great.
Would I Go Back = Yes
Though Pizza King in Sylvan Beach, NY is only “good” (versus great), it was “good, good” that I would go back. Given that I’ve rated others as good but wouldn’t go back, this is a good thing for Pizza King!
We ended the day at Foodhill Hops Farm and Brewery as part of our Harvest Host membership. I had a Peanut Butter Dark Ale, it was incredible! Highly recommended!
Tomorrow….UTICA TOMATO PIE!
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