Fini Pizza

Fini is one of the city’s “new-classic” slice shops - places that keep the classic NY formats intact but try to perfect the execution - think @scarrspizza, @lindustriebk, @bestpizza33). These are some of my favorite pizzerias.

At Fini, we tried two slices: A classic NY triangle and a grandma slice (“that’s a thick grandma” I said when I received it). But, I really loved this slice. Classically, a grandma slice is a pan-baked rectangle - usually thinner than a Sicilian - built on a well‑oiled, crisp base with bright tomato sauce and restrained cheese (think of the pizza your Sicilian-American grandmother made). Fini’s is a thicker, long‑fermented version of a grandma: light, airy, deeply caramelized, and structurally cleaner than most. It feels like a slow-rise high‑hydration dough - open, even crumb, no gum line (that bit of undercooked dough under the sauce in lesser pizzas). The underside is uniformly browned, basically slightly fried - the oil fries the base to caramelize but doesn’t soak back up. That gives it a slight crispiness and a great olive oil flavor, without the interior of the crust being soggy. The toppings were perfectly balance to protect that structure. The sauce is bright and low-sugar, applied thin, so it doesn’t steam the crumb (a lot of such slices are soggy from the sauce - not necessarily a bad thing). With restrained mozzarella and pecorino romano for salt, the slice reads crust first, sauce second, dairy last.

Pulling back from the details: this is a truly great slice because the crust and bake are the point: a long ferment, full bake‑through, and oil that crisps the base without re‑saturating the crumb. The dough is seasoned, the toppings are rationed to protect structure, and the texture is perfect. Execution - fermentation, proofing, oil management, bake - wins over volume or gimmick - and make this an all-time great slice.

@finipizza is highly recommended.