Troy McNaughtonNYPD Pizza, Oxford St--Bring it Back!
December 22nd 2007 06:56
NYPD New York Style Pizza & Hotdogs, come back!
Another great hole-in the wall eatery has disappeared, and Sydney is the poorer for it.
NYPD Pizza, which served New York-style pizza by the slice, is gone. Gone the way of The Pop Shop and dozens of other unique businesses that used to make Oxford Street a magnet for all sorts of people, not just gays and clubbers.
Not being a foodie, I don't have the vocabulary to describe what made me regularly break a bus journey or even cross the Harbour just to get one of their monster-size pepperoni slices. The sauce was heavenly. The crust had that perfect balance of chewiness and crispiness. The two sisters who ran the place were friendly and chatty, and always remembered my usual order.
A newer pizza place has opened at NYPD's former location. Unfortunately, it has the featureless look, feel, and taste of a franchise. This is what McDonald's would do to pizza. Bland pies with bases that look pre-formed, displayed in a sterile plastic case. The sauce is tasteless and has a slimy mouthfeel. The allotment of cheese (and toppings) is so skimpy that I left feeling hungry. The slices are served too hot--let it cool or risk a blistered tongue.
At the new place, I didn't try chatting with the clerk, a dreadlocked teenager with dead eyes who burnt the first slice I ordered. She put the slice in the oven, then disappeared into the back of the shop and forgot I was there. Not that much conversation would have been possible over the noise of the offensive rap music that was playing.
To the former owners of NYPD, if you're out there, I'm holding on to my loyalty card in the forlorn hope that you will return.
Another great hole-in the wall eatery has disappeared, and Sydney is the poorer for it.
NYPD Pizza, which served New York-style pizza by the slice, is gone. Gone the way of The Pop Shop and dozens of other unique businesses that used to make Oxford Street a magnet for all sorts of people, not just gays and clubbers.
Not being a foodie, I don't have the vocabulary to describe what made me regularly break a bus journey or even cross the Harbour just to get one of their monster-size pepperoni slices. The sauce was heavenly. The crust had that perfect balance of chewiness and crispiness. The two sisters who ran the place were friendly and chatty, and always remembered my usual order.
A newer pizza place has opened at NYPD's former location. Unfortunately, it has the featureless look, feel, and taste of a franchise. This is what McDonald's would do to pizza. Bland pies with bases that look pre-formed, displayed in a sterile plastic case. The sauce is tasteless and has a slimy mouthfeel. The allotment of cheese (and toppings) is so skimpy that I left feeling hungry. The slices are served too hot--let it cool or risk a blistered tongue.
At the new place, I didn't try chatting with the clerk, a dreadlocked teenager with dead eyes who burnt the first slice I ordered. She put the slice in the oven, then disappeared into the back of the shop and forgot I was there. Not that much conversation would have been possible over the noise of the offensive rap music that was playing.
To the former owners of NYPD, if you're out there, I'm holding on to my loyalty card in the forlorn hope that you will return.
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Comment by Stanley
Comment by Mitchell Hooter
Yes, it is a shame. Do you remember the guy (bi-polar, I think) who danced with a boom box on Oxford St and helped out at NYPD? Just by chance I saw him today, way down on Crown St, Surry Hills, going into a menswear store across from the Crown Hotel. He looked like he was doing all right.