L&B Spumoni Gardens

All my life, I've lived near L&B Spumoni Gardens, known as one of NYC's best pizzerias, but haven't ventured there until this weekend.  With sunshine and blue skies on the forecast, we planned a 35-minute walk down 86th Street in search of pizza, especially after seeing Time Out New York's Best Pizza list.

We got two square Sicilian slices at L&B.  You can also get round slices (which...I didn't immediately realize meant came from round pizza, rather than actual round...slices...of pizza :-P), but you really only go to L&B for the Sicilian pizza.  We sat in the little outside dining area under the beaming spring sun and chowed down on delicious pizza.  Normally, I'm not a fan of Sicilian pizza because I much prefer thinner and crunchy crusts, but even though L&B's had a thicker crust, it had an amazingly crisp bottom and a pillowy fluffy center. Mozzarella cheese sits directly on top of the crust, which is covered by a sweet-tangy tomato sauce (more of an upside-down style of pizza), and finally dusted with pecorino romano cheese.  I didn't think I was going to like it as much as I did, but turns out they make amazing pizza!  After 70-odd years, they've definitely perfected pizza making.

...I nearly forgot about the second half of L&B!

Spumoni!

I've definitely had spumoni before but didn't realize it was called that. It's somewhere between ice cream and an icy granita, with chocolate, vanilla, and pistachio flavors. This little spumoni reminded me of something I had in my childhood somewhere in then -Italian Bensonhurst. Kind of fun, but I prefer full ice cream or gelato. 

We also got a creamsicle, a soft serve vanilla and orange ice cream. Amazing! Neon orange and white swirled around so neatly and screamed of artificial food coloring, but I didn't care. There's something so delicious about orange and vanilla. Don't think I've ever come across soft serve creamsicle and I'd absolutely swing by L&B for a Sicilian slice and swirl of creamsicle!