figidini

This is hands down the best pizza I’ve ever had, and I’ve lived in nyc and Florence. It was recommended to me by a friend from Turin and I’m stilling thinking about the pizza a week later. I ordered the marinara because of lactose intolerance. Light, airy dough. Explosive flavors in the sauce. I have a gluten allergy and I didn’t feel my usual heaviness afterwards. Can’t recommend highly enough. It’s loud on the street if you’re sitting outside but nice interior. Great service.

I was having a 5-star time at figidini, right up to when they applied a hefty charge for a little olive oil for my pizza without warning, and were rude to me for the rest of my stay, after I dared protest. I had originally wanted to get take-out, but was told they were short-staffed and only dine-in would be possible. I decided to arrange to go there. When I arrived, there were three two-tops, one person sitting at the bar, a host/manager, a bartender, and a calm-looking kitchen - a little odd for “too busy for takeout,” but ok. I was welcomed an put in a cozy corner of the bar, so far so good. The bartender kindly told me there was vegan cashew cheese, but then told me they were out. Ok, no problem. Said was concerned the pizza would be slow since I was in a rush, but it came out very quickly. Great. I asked for olive oil and red pepper for my pizza - I have lived in NYC for years and this is a fairly standard request. She asked me if I wanted my oil “grassy” or “peppery”, which I thought was unusual, but did not lead me to believe I was about to slather high grade olive oil on my pizza. She brought a small saucer with oil and a ramekin of pepper flakes, which I mixed, not realizing I was choking fancy oil. She at no point thought to mention to me this tiny bit of oil was special, and going to cost a sizeable percentage of the price of my pizza I do not appreciate feeling misled or taken advantage of, and She never tried to educate me about what I was buying, despite her fairly slow, rainy weeknight. It seemed to me the bartender was just trying to improve her check average at my expense. I enjoyed my pizza very much. Really, some of the best I’ve had recently, suitable for most gluten-intolerant people. I think only a card-carrying celiac would have a problem with it. Thin pizza, doughy crust, good flavor to the tomato, overall very well made. I had a pleasant chat with the host/manager about it. All was well. When I got the check, I saw the charge, and it kind of soured my sense of enjoyment one should have after a $20+ pizza. It took me some time to get the bartender’s notice. She had been doing side work to leave, but now was chatting with the staff and then literally just standing there, so much so that the host/manager nearly intervened before she saw me. I was as conciliatory and polite as I could be about my complaint. I explained never in my life had I been charged for oil for a pizza, and would have appreciated an opportunity to say, No thank you. The bartender looked at me like I must be the hugest idiot she had possibly ever encountered. She pitched how special, expensive, imported their olive oil is, etc. I replied I appreciated the magic and value of the oil, but objected to having it explained after the fact, not before, I had clearly never been there before and could not have been expected to know, etc, etc. This went on while, I remained polite, as her disdain for me became increasingly visible. If she had been apologetic or understanding, I might have let it go, but she had clearly decided working with the customer was not on her to-do list for me. I finally said plainly, I am very sorry, but I will not be paying for this charge. She sighed loudly, grabbed my check roughly, huffed off to the register, huddled with the host/manager/owner?, came back, and slapped the check down in front of me in a manner I can safely say was the rudest I have ever witnessed at a full-service restaurant. And I have worked for years at full-service restaurants. My next appointment had been cancelled, so I sat a few minutes, but now the bartender was banging around loudly behind the bar for my benefit, while fully ignoring me. I tipped 20%, despite everything, but the host/manager also deliberately ignored me when I said thank you as I left. I read reviews of other brown-looking people feeling they were treated poorly here. Did the two blonds do it because this brown girl got uppity, or was it Equal Opportunity rudeness? I’ll never know. But it was an unfortunate encounter at an otherwise lovely establishment.