Latest news with #NinoConiglio
Forbes
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Two New Destination Worthy Pizzerias Open In Bushwick
A Detroit-style pie at Turbo Pizza For over a decade, Bushwick has been a destination for top notch pizza, strongly thanks to Roberta's. Open since early 2008, the world famous pizzeria continues to sling thin-crust pies, plus veggie-centric apps, pastas, and more. And though Bushwick has changed significantly in recent years, the North Brooklyn neighborhood is becoming a hotspot for specialty pizzerias. This summer, two new pizza spots have opened in Bushwick: Lucky Charlie and Turbo Pizza. Here's what to know about visiting each Lucky Charlie Open since late June 2025, Lucky Charlie is the latest project from award-winning chef Nino Coniglio of Williamsburg Pizza. Located at 254 Irving Ave. (between Bleecker and Menahan), the restaurant is home to the oldest coal oven in America. Newly renovated, the 42-seat dining room is inspired by New York pizzerias of the 1920s (think exposed brick and red leather bar stools) with a nod to the chef's Sicilian heritage. Coal-fired pizzas are made with Italian-imported ingredients, and menu also includes seasonal meat, seafood, and oven-baked pasta dishes. A coal-fired pizza at Lucky Charlie in Bushwick, Brooklyn Pizzas include the classic pie topped with fiori di latte, DOP San Marzano tomatoes, Sicilian oregano, and imported Italian sheep's milk pecorino, drizzled with Sicilian extra virgin olive oil and topped with finely grated parmigiano reggiano; and the white pie with stracciatella, caciocavallo, whipped sheep's milk ricotta, imported pecorino sardo, drizzled with Sicilian extra virgin olive oil. The lasagna verde features 20 layers of housemade pasta, cream sauce with parsley, zucchini, basil, locally-sourced fresh spinach, housemade mozzarella, pecorino romano and parmigiano reggiano. Additional summer dishes include a sicilian seafood salad with calamari, octopus, scungilli, clams, shrimp, and mussels; and steak pizzaiola with aged ribeye topped with Sunday sauce, oregano, heirloom tomatoes, and carmelized onions. To drink, Lucky Charlie's beverage program focuses on Italian flavors and exclusively offers imported Sicilian wines. Cocktail highlights include a Calabrian Martini with Sicilian olive oil washed vodka and Calabrian chili brine, and the Spaghett Americano with contratto rosso, red bitter, and Miller High Life. Lucky Charlie is open Wednesday through Sunday from 5 p.m. - 3 a.m. The kitchen closes at 10 p.m. nightly. Turbo Pizza A new Detroit-style pizzeria and full bar opened at 1540 Dekalb Avenue this July, Turbo Pizza. Run by Bushwick locals and brothers Max and Spencer Nelson and friend Jordan Dubey, the pizzeria aims to emulate your favorite dive bar, but with better food. The 40-seat space features checkered floors, vintage wood paneling, a UV-lit zodiac mural, photo booth, and a pool table. Chef John True, who spent over 13 years at Roberta's, leads the kitchen. His dough that nods to Detroit's 1940s era recipes, when auto workers baked pies in deep steel oil pans. A high-hydration focaccia-style base is par-baked for lift, then baked again to achieve a golden bottom and crisp, caramelized frico edge, that is, the perfect space when cheese melts and sizzles against the sides of the pan. Detroit-style pizzas at Turbo Pizza in Bushwick, Brooklyn The menu features Detroit-style pizzas in small (2 slices), medium (6 slices), and large (8 slices). Flavors include standard cheese or pepperoni plus more unique combinations like the Burrata and soppressata with hot honey, Hawaiian with capicola and pineapple, and Supreme with buffalo sauce, chicken, celery, blue cheese, red and green onions. Wings, salads, and sides are also on the menu, plus sauces to dip the crusts in. Jordan Dubey, formerly of Hotel Chantelle, developed the cocktail menu. Highlights include a roasted mint lemonade, Hibiki highball with Topo Chico, and a house dirty martini. Turbo Pizza also offers beer by can, bottle, and draft, beer-and-shot combos, non-alcoholic options, and a wine list featuring selections from Italy, Puerto Rico, and bubbly. Turbo Pizza is open from 2 p.m. - midnight on weekdays, until 2 a.m. on weekdays, and offers a takeout window until 4 a.m. every night, the perfect detour for late night commuters off the Dekalb L train.
Time Out
26-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
This new Bushwick pizza joint has the oldest coal oven in America, and it's opening tomorrow
Seeking out the best pizza places in NYC will lead you all over the five boroughs. Our city is home to second best slice in the world and still continues to churn out new 'za joints in every neighborhood. Some of the best restaurants in Brooklyn are also pizzerias, including a brand-new addition: Lucky Charlie, opening tomorrow at 254 Irving Avenue in Bushwick. Created by award-winning chef Nino Coniglio (of Williamsburg Pizza and Coniglio's fame), the restaurant takes inspiration from slice shops past, specifically the coal-oven pizzerias of the 1920s and Nino's own Sicilian heritage. But the true gem surrounding its debut sits in the corner of the kitchen: a coal oven built in 1890—the oldest in America!—which formerly provided fresh bread for the neighborhood's Italian immigrants. The building's landlord, Charlie Verde, discovered this iconic historical artifact in 2002, and thus, lucky Charlie became the restaurant's namesake. Scrawled on chalkboards, the menu highlights Italian imports (Sicilian olive oils, San Marzano tomatoes), seasonal rotations of meat (beef ragu, aged ribeye) and seafood (tuna crudo, clams casino), plus oven-baked pasta dishes. Ten-percent sourdough creates thin but fluffy crust for daily pizzas that include a classic pie with red sauce and Italian sheep's milk pecorino; a white pie laden in stracciatella, ricotta, and salty pecorino sardo; and a saucy red pie souped up with basil and breadcrumbs. You can always ask for additional toppings like locally sourced sausage, cup-and-char pepperoni, Sicilian olives, artichoke hearts, and even house-made meatballs. Alongside Sicilian wines, expect curated classic cocktails like martinis doused in Calabrian chili brine and a gin and tonic playfully called 'Tony & Geno' with house-made rosemary syrup. Most notably, chef Nino is the only pizza aficionado to ever apprentice with legendary chef Dom DeMarco (Di Fara Pizza) and has received numerous accolades abroad, in addition to championing Food Network's Chopped. Lucky Charlie is Nino's first project with a coal oven, where he applies techniques and ingredients pulled from pages of the O.G. NYC coal-oven joints of the 1900s. Across the tiled threshold guests are greeted with 'Va Eccati,' meaning 'Let's get outta here,' as the 42-seat space recalls throwback New York City: exposed original brick, stained glass sconces, red-leather bar stools, vintage posters and personal photographs galore depicting chef's family and ancestral roots.
