Monday, November 3, 2008
Restaurants Police Report: NYPD Pizzeria Warrants a Visit
Posted by Carrington Fox on Mon, Nov 3, 2008 at 5:05 AM
On a recent pilgrimage to Providence Mall in Mt. Juliet, City Between the Lakes, Fluffernutter and I stopped by NYPD Pizzeria for lunch. Having heard several positive reviews of the Florida-based chain’s pizza crust, we ordered a couple of individual pizzas, including a margarita pie (mozzarella, tomato sauce, basil leaves and minced garlic) and the thematically named APB Alfredo (cream sauce, herbs, mozzarella and garlic). Both recipes were fresh, hot and deliciously showcased on NYPD’s very thin hand-tossed crust.
As Fluff and I sat in the friendly, Big Apple-themed eatery, trying to articulate why we liked NYPD's crust more than so many other specimens, it came to me that a good pizza crust has a lot in common with my favorite jeans: a crisp surface, with just the right amount of stretch.
We worked our way through delicious, crackling cannoli and an intriguing bag of zeppoles—bits of the aforementioned dough deep-fried and tossed in a paper bag with cinnamon and powdered sugar. (When we saw a policeman dining at the bar, we asked if the officer was part of the fuzz-themed décor, but our server confirmed he was, in fact, an authentic member of law enforcement.)
Far be it from me to dispatch anyone to a chain pizza restaurant 17 miles from downtown. But I’m just saying if you ever find yourself at the T.J. Maxx in Mt. Juliet around lunchtime, looking for, say, a pair of green tights for a 5-year-old’s Peter Pan costume—or, you know, a new pair of jeans with just the right amount of stretch—NYPD Pizzeria is a safe bet for a bite to eat.
NYPD Pizzeria is located at 401 S. Mt. Juliet Road.
Comments (18)
Showing 1-18 of 18
wow. zeppoles in a bag. a blast from the past. every italian fest of my youth...
like
dislike
I'm not a fried-dough person, generally -- not a fan of doughnuts or funnel cakes. But these were simultaneously puffy and crunchy and warm and cinnamon-y. Everything tasted fresh and handmade. It was an impressive place. The TJ Maxx was better than ours, too. Green Hills is dead to me.
Providence has a lot of nice stores with good merchandise selection. I'd gladly trade 15 minutes of "Hey, that jerk is blocking the intersection" traffic in Green Hills for 15 minutes of peaceful interstate driving....plus, they have a Chick-Fil-A.
brentwood has a great tj maxx. and the only designer section in the state. anyway, the odds of a drive to mt. juliet is doubtful - it's almost an hour from me, so i may never know. maybe they'll open one closer to home. sounds wonderful though.
Claudia, you can fly to Cleveland and New York to eat, but you can't drive an hour to Mt. Juliet? Come on now. Would you fly to Mt. Juliet?
Here's a question: Does anyone ever buy the food at T.J. Maxx? Something about it creeps me out. But why? I have bought maple syrup there, because it's cheaper than anywhere else. And when Fluff bought us some Dagoba chocolate at the impulse-buy end-cap, there was nothing wrong with it. T.J. Maxx as specialty foods store: discuss.
I have found some amazing boutique teas at TJ Maxx. I am creeeped out by everything eles, though.
The chocolate logic was this: it's Dagoba, so you know the quality is probably fine. The flavors, not the condition, were pretty obviously why the chocolate was there. "Acai and currant" and "salted pumpkin and hemp seed" -- not the likeliest top sellers. Other foods, like cookies or even other chocolates, I'd pass.
I'd buy food there with the same prejudice as I do when I buy at Big Lots. But I like the selection, pricing, and the amusement of Big Lots food much better.
ps--I would like to fly to Mt. Juliet. That would be rad.
re food at TJ/Marshall's - heck yeah. If it's just food, though. I mean, when you price walnut oil at Whole Foods and then find it at TJ for half, why not? If the dried porcini mushrooms are just mushrooms, why not use theirs to figure out sauces before spending big bucks on someone else's? Now, the flavored stuff and the drink mixes are just odd and to be avoided, but if it's sitting in Williams and Sonoma one day and their place the next, what's creepy about it?
SL -- interesting idea to experiment with the cheap stuff before buying the pricey item. My criteria -- might the item be at TJ Maxx here because it went bad? -- would screen out oil, which can go rancid, but dried porcini would pass with flying colors.
