Co.

Co. is one of the many restaurants in NYC that I visited with friends and then never got around to revisiting with Alex.  Luckily this weekend I finally had my chance!  After the Get Real NY Craft Beer & Food Festival we were heading home when Alex asked me if I wanted a slice of pizza for dinner.  It occurred to me that we were only a few blocks away from Co. - Jim Lahey's pizza restaurant in Chelsea, so we headed over there to share a pie (they don't serve pizza by the slice and call all of their pizzas "pies").  And once we were there Alex requested the stracciatella pizza with crushed tomato, stracciatella cheese, arugula and black pepper.  I had been thinking of something more along the lines of their meatball pizza or the fennel and coppa pizza, but sure.  I love arugula.  And I have been talking about eating less meat (or at least about eating more vegetables), so I figured why not.  Then we got the pizza bianca appetizer with ricotta (because you absolutely have to get that if you are there), and the beet salad (pictured above) to squeeze in a few more veggies.  I loved the beet salad - I thought that the combination of the beets, scallions, arugula and pumpkin seeds was pure genius.  I might steal it and try to make something similar at home!  Beets can seem a little heavy, but the entire salad just tasted so bright and fresh.  The pizza was similarly delicious.  I really love arugula on pizza and I love the crust at Co.  It's blistered and charred to perfection, with a crisp exterior and a tender, chewy interior.  Some fancy pizza places tend to have crusts that get all floppy and soggy in the center from the toppings, but not Co.

Another picture after the jump!