Sunday, September 27, 2009

NOT Ray's

As the age-old debate and confusion ceaselessly rages over Ray's Pizza, raising common questions, "Where is the Original Ray's?" "Is Original Ray's the same as Famous Ray's?" "Who the hell is Ray anyway?" (27 Prince St.; there is no consistency between any of Ray's NY locations; there was no Ray, only a Ralph), one pizzeria sets itself apart from the dizzying crowd with a single word. Not.


See what I did there? Since the mid-90's, Not Ray's of Fort Greene, Brooklyn has been been steering clear of the misunderstood Manhattan pizza "chain" under the guidance of the restaurants founder, Ray ...? The irony is as thick as their square slice-


To reiterate, the only known man named Ray involved in the perplexing NY pizza franchise is the guy who founded Not Ray's Pizza. Just go with it, okay? The Sicilian square was a little on the bland side (break out the Parmesan and red pepper). In fact aside from a satisfying bottom crust crunch, this piece was downright boring.


The plain slice was a minor improvement over the square with a slightly 'peppy' sauce that had a bit of a kick. The cornicione was thin and typical but delicious nonetheless. The slice was on the greasy side- after folding for consumption, the "pizza canyon" yielded a waterfall of orange grease:


Woof. Greasy indeed, but honestly still tastier than 90% of the Ray's in Manhattan. After all, this is NOT Ray's! Though my vegetarian diet prevented me from trying, I was told the lasagna slice was delicious (and unique!).


The meat looks a bit sketch, but meat toppings on slices almost always look sketch in my humble opinion. The real winner of the outing was the fresh mozzarella slice-


I'm always happy when slice joints offer a 'mozzarella slice' in conjunction with their plain slices. While some places offer basil and chunky tomatoes to go with their higher-grade cheese, Not Ray's just threw on a healthy sprinking of oregano before baking, and it tastes fantastic.


Less greasy, more flavorful, and crispier than it's plain counterpart. I highly recommend it. Not Ray's may not have the notoriety or history or claim to fame held by it's misnomered rivals across the river, but at least it doesn't involve itself with the confusion and controversy.

Not.

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