A Pac-West pizza fave in the LES

Proudly carrying on the tradition of famed Seattle exports not delivering in NYC, Via Tribunali is a sit-down/take-out crust slinger famous in the foodie Pac-West for its Neapolitan flavor, also repped throughout the hybrid wine bar/slice joint, with everything right down to sconces influenced by the owner's fave spot in Naples

Cranking out the dough's a giant, wood-burning oven firing at 1000 degrees to crisp up pies in as little as 45 seconds; it's built entirely using materials shipped over from The Boot, including volcanic rocks, which, in case you missed it before, are like A-Rod in that they're used to blowing

The cadre of imported pizzaiolas manning said oven all began training as bambinos, meaning they're right at home working with authentic ingredients including the highest quality buffalo mozz, and "amazing tomatoes" used by all the top places in Italy, but nowhere here in America, probably because we were too busy inventing f***ing tomatoes

Touching down with a pair of scissors for cutting up slices, pies range from the straightforward prosciutto & cherry tomato Dante, to the tuna & fior di latte Tonno Cipolla, but the house specialty's a calzone/pizza mash-up: a sheet of dough rolled over rapini/sausage on one side, and ricotta/spinach on the other, while tomatoes/buffalo mozz/arugula line the open-air center, the only hidden valley they'll allow on their food

And unlike many pizza-centric operations, the wine program's no joke, with affordable glasses backed by a deep list focused on the Campagna region, helping to carry on another proud tradition of famed Seattle exports: purple lips.