On Tuesday night I went out for dinner in Greenpoint with my friends Jess & Garrett, and we ended up at Paulie Gee’s. If you’ve been a regular reader of this blog, you know I’ve been to Paulie Gee’s before, and I’m friendly with Paul himself. While I was looking over the menu he came over to say hi, and asked if there was anything on the menu I hadn’t had yet. When I told him no, he offered to give me a preview of one of his brunch pizzas — they plan to start serving Sunday brunch on April 17th. The pie will have eggs, mozzarella, and guanciale or speck (though I got mine without any meat). The trick, Paul said, was to find just the right spot in the oven so that the pizza and the eggs cook at the same time. The pizzaiolo that night did the trick perfectly. The eggs tasted fresh and were cooked beautifully, with the yolks barely running out when I bit into them (unlike the brunch pizza I had at Pulino’s). Of course the fresh mozzarella and the crust were wonderful as well.

While we were eating Paul came back over and told us he’d get us one of the sweet pies they’ll be serving at lunch: orange marmalade and ricotta (they will also offer an orange blossom honey & ricotta pie). Paul wasn’t happy with the crust on this one, and it was a bit undercooked, but the layer of bittersweet marmalade and dollops of cool fresh ricotta were a great combination. My only complaint was that the marmalade wasn’t spread out to the edges of the pie, and the space without the marmalade was a bit too savory for the sweet pie. Still, as a vehicle to get the marmalade and ricotta into your mouth it’s awfully good. Paul also brought me a slice that had been cooked longer, and the crispy bottom on this crust made a big difference. Full disclosure: when we got our check we saw that they did not charge us for the sweet pie. It was still delicious.

So if I wasn’t excited for Sunday brunch at Paulie Gee’s before, I am now. You should be too.

Paulie Gee’s — 60 Greenpoint Ave, Brooklyn