The antipasti at Pizza East was far, far better than the pizza (which was overly fussy and a little dry), and I was happy that I elected to fill up on starters and forego an entree. 

I briefly attended NYU Hospitality School, and one of my professors once described vacationing in Carrara and rapturously eating slabs of lardo, inspiring me to go on a quest to locate some (which I finally did at Momofuku, in New York). I was super-excited to see lardo on the menu at Pizza East (it’s the whitish stuff at the top of the antipasti plate). Lardo is basically fat…or, if you want to get technical, a pork product made from the layer of fat just below the skin and treated with spices for preservation purposes. It’s salty, rich, and decadent. I love.

My other favorite at Pizza East – and a recipe I will be trying to replicate back home – was the sheep’s milk ricotta cheese bruschetta with honeycomb, rocket (a kind of spicier arugula) and sea salt.