Millburn-Short Hills Magazine Spring 2020 | Page 36

dining out
Pizza Primer
A guide to the pies in the Millburn area
WRITTEN BY ESTHER DAVIDOWITZ
I
n the mood for pizza? Don’t
know about you, but there’s
barely a time when I will turn
down a slice of what is argu-
ably the best food combo ever:
bread, cheese, tomato.
However, it takes skill and talent
to combine those simple ingredients
into a creamy, crisp and chewy
heaven-for-your-palate slice or pie.
The following restaurants in and
around Millburn offer pizza.
Here’s our suggestions for getting
the most from their menus.
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SPRING 2020 MILLBURN & SHORT HILLS MAGAZINE
Arturo’s Osteria &
Pizzeria, Maplewood
Arturo’s is a humble pizzeria. It
looks pretty much like many other
pizza joints. But don’t let its modest
appearance fool you. This is a pizza
joint that strives to make terrific
Neapolitan-style pizza using top-
notch locally sourced ingredients
in a wood-fired oven. And, for the
most part, it succeeds.
Its beautifully blistered pizza is
darn good, especially the charred
crust that carries a hint of lovely sour
flavor. The dough is so good that
owner Fred Shandler launched The
Bread Stand, a bakery nearby.
To test the quality of any pizzeria,
always go for the gold standard of
pizza, the Margherita. There’s no
pepperoni, broccoli rabe, mushrooms
and/or sausage to mask the dough,
sauce and cheese. And Arturo’s is
darn good.
Many believe Arturo’s is the best
pizza place in the region. I’m not
arguing. But may I suggest that
besides pizza, you also order the
THE MARGHERITA PIZZA AT
ARTURO’S IN MAPLEWOOD