When my fiancé revealed we were jetting off to New York as an anniversary surprise, my immediate reaction was to research dining destinations. I'm not exaggerating when I say that within 48 hours of learning about our trip, I'd created my own Google Map featuring 72 points of interest... 34 of which were restaurants.
Some might consider it excessive for a four-day break, but my strategy was simple: if we felt hungry whilst exploring various neighbourhoods, we'd have numerous outstanding culinary options readily available. Following conversations with friends and family about our destination, certain suggestions kept appearing repeatedly, with Joe's Pizza being amongst the most frequent.
Joe's was already on my list, particularly after its appearance in Spider-Man 2 where Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) lost his job as a pizza courier for being too sluggish with deliveries.
Numerous A-listers are also devotees of Joe's Pizza, including Kim Kardashian. She famously ordered 10 boxes from Joe's following the 2022 Met Gala, where she donned Marilyn Monroe's legendary dress alongside Pete Davidson.
Kim sported the Jean Louis creation that Marilyn had worn in 1962 for JFK's 45th birthday celebration. The translucent gown shocked America at the time by creating the impression that Marilyn was nude with diamond-encrusted skin.
The pizza signalled the conclusion of her rigorous three-week, carbohydrate and sugar-free regime that enabled her to squeeze into Marilyn Monroe's famous dress. So if the pizza meets Kim Kardashian's standards, it was certainly worth sampling, wasn't it?
The evening before, there was an enormous queue stretching from the Joe's Pizza branch near Times Square, so when I spotted just a dozen customers inside the Fulton Street outlet, I dashed straight through the door.
Within moments I was asked for my order, and the staff member behind the counter grabbed a slice and popped it into the oven for about a minute. At this stage I realised I was onto a winner as even though it would have been incredibly simple to just pass over a slice, they made the extra effort to ensure it was piping hot.
The pizza slice, which was larger than my head, cost $4.50 which was extremely reasonable given the price of some of the other food I consumed during the trip. I was more than delighted to pay less than the cost of a meal deal for something warm that would keep me satisfied for ages.
Once I received the pizza, the first thing I observed was that it wasn't drenched in oil and grease, it was perfectly crisp with loads of cheese on top.
The sauce and cheese balance was absolutely perfect, and you could tell the dough was fresh, and the establishment doesn't cut corners when it comes to ingredients. My sole criticism was that the pizza lacked much seasoning beyond the tomato base.
You might say that I made a beginner's mistake and didn't request a slice with toppings - which is likely accurate - but I felt the pizza could have been taken to the next level with some herbs. All things considered, I'd award Joe's Pizza a solid 7/10 rating.
On a day when temperatures plummeted to what felt like -21c, it proved precisely what was required to stay warm and continue with the 22,000-plus steps we clocked up that day.
