Slice, Slice, Baby
When your friend from California arrives in NYC for the summer and her first request is to try New York Pizza, you book a Scott’s Pizza Tour! I signed us up for the 4:30 pm Walking Tour of East Village for $60 per person. It’s a great option to try out multiple styles of pizza and explore the East Village area. The Walking Tours are not set in stone – meaning you can take this tour multiple times and may never see the same pizzeria twice (minus Gnocco as that seems to be the starting point for East Village Tours – maybe). Our guide Amy Rothberger was incredible- she really does know her pizza and her pizza history – she even carries around pizza accessories which came in handy during our tour!
The Scott’s Pizza Walking Tour: East Village, NYC Experience
Our confirmation email and ticket both indicated we should meet our tour guide at 4:30 pm at Gnocco. Upon arrival, we spotted Amy Rotherberger easily as she was wearing her Scott’s Pizza Tour T-shirt. We checked in and she very enthusiastically gave us a quick rundown of what to expect on the tour and brought us to meet our fellow tour mates. We had 10 people in our group, which worked out for us all to divide slices and have some leftovers to share. Amy mentioned we will be visiting three different locations two being sit-down restaurants, with restrooms and water, as well as one standing, which will not include a restroom and no water (unless you purchase on your own). We were also given a Scott’s Pizza Tour Booklet to rank and describe our pizzas, a golf pencil, and an I Love Pizza bracelet.
Here’s What To Expect On your Pizza Tour:
First Pizza Stop: Gnocco
To begin our pizza tour, Amy led us to the pizza counter of Gnocco where she introduced us to our pizza chef and began taking us through how the sauce – or in this case, how the pizza is made. She took us through the various types of ovens used to make different styles of pizza, how they’re cleaned and prepared, the history of the pizza restaurant and pizza in general, along with the fundamentals of making pizza- specifically crust, sauce, and cheese. We were then given a step x step tutorial as we got an insider’s look at the chef making our pizzas in real-time. For a little competition, Amy quizzed us on how long we thought our pizza would take to cook in the oven – At 2 minutes and 18 seconds, our pizzas were ready to go and a couple of winners were praised for their great instincts.
After the pizza was cooked, we gathered around the table and enjoyed our fresh slice of pizza together. As we savored our slices and maybe even danced a little happy dance, everyone began filling out their booklets. The joy on everyone’s faces and the happy dances that began amongst some was a clear indication of how much we all loved the pizza.
Second Pizza Stop: Village Square Pizza
Third Pizza Stop: Motorino
The last stop and our second sit-down spot of the tour was Motorino. They placed us all in the back closest to the kitchen so we could see all the action closely. Compared to the other pizza spots we visited this afternoon, Motorino was hands down my favorite slice to eat. Despite this slice being thin and floppy, like Gnocco’s, what separated it from the other pizzas was the thicker sauce, the crust having burnt marks resulting in an extra crispy crunch, and the cheese was extra gooey and delicious. This was also a great time for us to see Amy whip out her pizza tools and use her personal pizza slicer to split the leftover pieces amongst the group. I will definitely visit Motorino again in the future.
My Scott’s Pizza Tour in East Village, NYC Review:
If you have a few hours to kill and are looking to try some new pizza spots with a walking tour of the city with friends, family, or solo, consider taking this tour. You really won’t regret it. If you can, try to snag a tour with Amy. She was a phenomenal tour guide who came with so much knowledge about pizza, the history behind the different pizza styles we tasted, and the restaurants we visited. Her spunky personality gets you excited to not only taste pizza but learn about the history and talk about pizza without it being a cheesy experience. One might think learning all of these fundamentals would be boring, but it was quite fascinating. I would go on this tour again and even consider it as an outing with coworkers. It was also great to check out the street art in the area! Below are two we saw on the tour.
Additional Information:
Scott’s Pizza Tour website: https://www.scottspizzatours.com/
Tour Schedule & Ticket: https://www.scottspizzatours.com/schedule/
Scott’s Pizza Tours is run by several team members – so there’s a chance your tour may not be conducted by the creator, Scott himself, but have no fear, the other tour guides are just as wonderful and full of knowledge. Here’s a profile of all who make Scott’s Pizza Tours great: https://www.scottspizzatours.com/about-us/
Scott’s Pizza Tours also has a variety of pizza tours to choose from – walking tours, bus tours, private tours, and even an online class. Based on which area you’d like to discover, there’s a tour that will likely take you there. You can also sign up for a private tour if the dates and times don’t work out for you or if you’d like to create an event with your work or friends.
Have you tried Scott’s Pizza Tour? If so, share in the comments what you thought!
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