Local New York Restaurants are Getting Creative for Pope Francis The Brain September 24, 2015 Daily, Events, Featured, Festivals, Food Types, Lifestyle, NYC Happenings, Pizza Some Papal Pies for His Holiness If you’ve been living under a rock the past few weeks you may not have heard, the Pope is comin’ to town (tune of Santa Claus is coming to town?). And, political and spiritual views aside this man loves food — as a foodie, he’s one of us! In an interview with Fox5 Father Herman Paredes, long-time friend of Pope Francis, said his Holiness is excited to get down with a New York staple: a slice of pizza! Here are a couple of places around the city that are showcasing some creativity in the pizza department for the Pope’s arrival to the Big Apple. Ribalta at 42 East 12th Street Owner Rosario Procino says the idea for the Pope pizza was a nod to the Vatican Flag. The Pope-themed pizza is topped with yellow heirloom tomatoes, fresh basil, with a rim of white buffalo ricotta along the crust mimicking the Vatican Flag color-scheme. As charity is in the forefront of Pope Francis’ agenda, Ribalta will be donating $3 per Pope pie to No Kid Hungry. Bleecker Street Pizza The chef at Bleecker Street Pizza is taking the Papal pizza a step further than most with an edible likeness of Pope Francis. A staff of anchovies, robes of ricotta and bell pepper embroidery, with a ricotta/raspberry dressing for his skin — his Holiness comes to life out of the Bleecker Street oven. The Pope is looking forward to some New York pizza (even if he doesn’t get a chance to eat his likeness), and I’m looking forward to see how he tackles it. Are we going to see him getting handsy like a true New Yorker?
