Chopsticks & Marrow

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Chopsticks & Marrow
Tasty Trifecta: New School Pizza, Amazing Empanadas, and Tender French Offal

Tasty Trifecta: New School Pizza, Amazing Empanadas, and Tender French Offal

What's good in Ridgewood, Elmhurst, and the UES

Joe DiStefano's avatar
Joe DiStefano
Jun 23, 2025
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Chopsticks & Marrow
Chopsticks & Marrow
Tasty Trifecta: New School Pizza, Amazing Empanadas, and Tender French Offal
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Welcome to Tasty Trifecta, a weeklyish roundup of three of the tastiest things I’ve eaten. In this first edition: nostalgia inducing pizza in Ridgewood, an amazing Peruvian empanada, and 88-year-old French offal extravaganza.

The Imperioli, Mano’s Pizzeria, 62-98 Forest Avenue, Ridgewood
The grumpy old scribe in me often finds certain parts of Ridgewood a bit too Bushwicky. “I’m waiting to see a flyer that says, ‘Are you a furry who loves D&D?’” I groused to my buddy Jonathan as we strolled over to Mano’s Pizzeria. Located on a block that’s decidedly more old New York City than other parts of Ridgewood Nick Manopella’s corner slice shop has garnered all sorts of praise for his creative and classic slices, all made with a five-day fermented dough. I almost went for a buffalo chicken slice with gorgonzola and ranch, but then I saw the Imperioli. The new $4.75 special slice with hot sausage; peppers and onions; sharp provolone; and some tomato sauce was indeed quite special and evoked memories of sausage and peppers that my father used to make for my childhood birthday parties. The crust was airy, but still with a great chew, was top-notch. If only Ridgewood were closer to C&M HQ!

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