DeFazio’s Pizzeria, Troy, NY

After hearing my Dad talk about DeFazio’s serving one of the best antipasto salads he’s ever had and terrific pizza I asked if we could go while I was home over the Thanksgiving holiday. This joint is small, there are four tables in total, but I never underestimate unassuming locations since I like to think the smaller the place the bigger the magic. And I will give them credit they do take reservations. With no discussion we order the DeFazio’s Italian Sausage Antipasto Salad, the salad came cluttered with goodness– homemade sausage (yes, cooked hot sausage), roasted red peppers, and fontinella cheese were the clear winners if I had to choose. Next we ordered the Puttanesca Pizza, which was topped with artichokes, fresh mushrooms, Kalamata olives, capers, mozzarella cheese and spices. The olives were real and the capers added to the salty goodness that was this pizza. The crust though was what solidified me as a bona fide fan. It was thin and chewy but still had the brick oven bottom. Finally it was cannoli time! Around this time you can either choose regular filling or pumpkin filling plus you have the option of having the shell covered with chocolate or plain. It must have taken a good five minutes before I knew which one I wanted but after much debate I got a Chocolate Covered Cannoli with regular filling. It was freshly filled so no soggy shell here! I was stuffed but that didn’t stop me from eating the whole thing and not sharing… not even one bite. It’s true there is great pizza everywhere these days but there is something about Pizza in New York that no other state manages to achieve.