Native New Yorker Alex Guarnaschelli's Favorite Pizza Isn't Even From NYC

Chef, author, and Food Network regular, Alex Guarnaschelli, has strong ties to New York City. She grew up in Manhattan and still calls the Big Apple home. Like many New Yorkers, Guarnaschelli takes her pizza seriously, and considering that the city's best pizza places are some of the most famous in the world, one would assume her preferred pie comes from one of the thousands of spots in her hometown. But when she wants something special, the host of "Alex vs. America" heads across the Hudson River to Razza Pizza Artigianale in Jersey City, New Jersey.

As to what makes the pizza company owned by Dan Richer so special, Guarnaschelli told Tasting Table, "It's the whole thing. It's everything that Dan is doing there. He makes his own cultured butter. He makes his own bread. By the way, do not sleep on the desserts there. They are as good as the pizza." The pizza selections at Razza are incredibly creative, but Guarnaschelli specifically enjoys the restaurant's Margherita pies, suggesting, "I'm a Margherita person because I think a Margherita is the test of a place. It's the benchmark and I always have it and I love it."

Razza offers three different Margherita pizzas; the standard Margherita is made with tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, sea salt, basil, and California extra virgin olive oil; the East Coast Margherita features crushed tomatoes, Caputo Brothers fresh mozzarella, and basil; and the Yellow Margherita naturally comes with yellow tomato purée, basil, and Jersey Girl fresh mozzarella. 

Alex Guarnaschelli's career revolves around cooking and tasting food, and she's been in the culinary industry a long time. She cooked under legendary chefs like Guy Savoy and Daniel Boulud, and was the longtime executive chef at Manhattan's Butter Restaurant, where she remains involved in creating the menus. Needless to say, it's quite impressive to catch her attention and praise with any genre of food, much less pizza. But Razza Pizza Artigianale's Dan Richer has had some serious culinary training of his own. Born in New Jersey, he honed his skills in Italy before returning to the States where he opened a catering company and worked in professional kitchens before diving into the world of pizza.

Razza has been internationally recognized as a stand-out pizzeria from both The New York Times and Italy's "50 Top Pizza" guide, which once named the eatery as one of the best in the world. Richer's pizzas change with the season and showcase homemade dough and local ingredients. But if Guarnaschelli stays in for pizza, she's likely making different styles of pies than those at Razza. Of all the regional pizza styles across America, Guarnaschelli loves a Sicilian-style pizza that has a thicker crust that's baked in the oven, with homemade tomato sauce and dollops of ricotta cheese. She's also one to enjoy homemade pizza night without ever turning on the oven, thanks to her pan-seared ricotta pizza that gets cooked to perfection on the stovetop.

Static Media owns and operates The Takeout and Tasting Table.