Panzerotti Bites: A Piece of Puglia In Brooklyn, NYC

Finding authentic cuisine from Italy in NYC is not easy despite the numerous “Italian” restaurants on every street corner. Panzerotti Bites breaks from the mold and offers customers a taste of true Apulian street food.

PHOTOGRAPHY PROPERTY OF SVADORE

Move over Luini in Milano, there is a new Panzerotti king, and they are right here in NYC. If you’ve been to Italy before and gotten a real taste for local food aside from your stereotypical pasta, pizza, gelato etc. you know of Panzerotti, a typical Apulian street food from the heel of Italy that locals indulge in. Vittoria and Pasquale of Panzerotti Bites have finally brought this street food to New York City. Say hello, to your new must-eat and must-Instagram restaurant in Brooklyn—Panzerotti Bites. 

Being from Italy, finding an authentic slice of home abroad is always very difficult, especially in a city like New York which is rich in “Italian” restaurants. But when I came across Panzerotti Bites, I knew I finally found a piece of Apulia, or Puglia as we say in Italy, in the city. The locale is located in the quaint and hip neighborhood of Carroll Gardens, just steps from the F and G train and the 1 2 3.

Vittoria and Pasquale, the owners of Panzerotti Bites, put everything on hold to open up their dream restaurant in New York, they sold everything they owned, enrolled in pizza-making school in Italy, and 2 years later moved to New York to open up Panzerotti Bites.

Step inside and you feel like you are transported to a typical locale in Puglia. Hand-woven baskets adorn the lamps, vintage olive oil bottles line the shelves, Panzerotti making utensils embellish the walls, and pictures of Puglia and how to eat the Panzerotto are hung up on the wall. A small shelf sells typical Italian products, my favorite being my Mulino Bianco breakfast cookies. At the end of the locale, a pane of glass separates the storefront from the kitchen, so customers can watch Vittoria and Pasquale in action.

There’s no question that Panzerotti Bites values extraordinary flavors along with astounding visual aesthetics. I stepped behind the counter to chat with the owners and get the intel on what they have to offer. All the food is made exclusively with organic durum wheat semolina (which BTW is low in carbs!!) and Apulian extra virgin olive oil from Vittoria’s hometown of Bitonto. All ingredients are imported from Italy and carefully selected. Their dough goes through a 72-hour maturation process where it rests in the fridge while all the ingredients melt together and become more easily digestible. As we browsed the menu we noticed a few things that made Panzerotti Bites even better:

We ordered a bit of everything, both the traditional Panzerotto, which is lightly fried, and their newly invented Gourmet Panzerotto, which is more of a sandwich you can have either baked or fried (we went with baked to change it up!). We grabbed some classic beverages, a glass bottled Coca-Cola and an Italian San Pellegrino Limonata or Lemonade, and headed back to their outdoor patio area.

The food is not only delicious, but also has us #eatingfortheinsta. We stepped outside and immediately fell in love with the “Instagram moment” white wall painted with various Apulian icons. The Instagram wall, made by one of their close Italian friends and artists in Brooklyn, is filled with fun drawings and Apulian sayings such as “Mangiati una cosa!” (eat a thing!), drawings of the Apulian Trullo houses, and typical Italian Peroni beer. There is even an ode to Pasquale’s gatto or cat, hidden somewhere in the mural! The Instagram wall, juxtaposed alongside the fun and colorful pillows and wooden floors create a quintessential millennial space. Outdoor patio string lights? Check. Millennial slangs and icons? Check. Wall just made for selfies? Check, check, check.

Vittoria and Pasquale brought out our platters that were presented perfectly. Nowadays, we eat with our eyes first and, let’s be honest, anything you can capture mid-melt is Instagram worthy. The Panzerottis were pre-cut and presented to us sliced open, with mozzarella cheese and tomatoes spilling out of the ooey-gooey center, you’ll want to snap this for a #foodie post. To top it all off, the Gourmet Panzerotto we ordered was branded with an adorable Panzerotti Bite logo! How original!

But it’s not only love at first sight; it’s also love at first BITE. The Panzerotti are just as flavorful as they are photogenic. We had ordered the traditional Classic Panzerotto (mozzarella, tomato and oregano), the traditional Mortadella (mozzarella, mortadella and pistachio), the traditional Salame to cater to Patrick’s spicier side (mozzarella, tomato and Italian spicy salame), and a Gourmet Panzerotto Crudo di Parma (mozzarella, prosciutto crudo di parma, sliced tomato and baby arugula).

The traditional Panzerotti are served hot, lightly fried, crunchy on the outside and soft and doughy on the inside. Even though the traditional Panzerotti are fried, there is hardly any grease left on the napkins they came in. All the ingredients used in their charcuterie are from the high-quality Italian brand Levoni and almost all the ingredients are sourced from Apulia (a feat that was not easy to achieve, it took Vittoria and Pasquale a while to find a provider for these rare and sought after ingredients in the US).

The Gourmet Panzerotto is something that Panzerotti Bites invented themselves specifically for their restaurant. It is served room temperature and was more along the lines of an Italian Piadina in my opinion, a light sandwich-like bread filled with various ingredients. Equally as delicious as the traditional Panzerotti, I’d recommend it if you are looking for something lighter on a hot humid day, but the traditional Panzerotti are irresistible!

Although the crust might look like a pizza crust, it is highly digestible. They’ve mastered the art of making the dough and have nailed it. Unlike pizza, it’s not salty, doesn’t leave you thirsty at the end, and doesn’t leave you feeling bloated and full.

We finished off our meal with a sweet Panzerotto filled with crumbled Oreo, Nutella and ricotta cheese. This was the Panzerotto that impressed me the most, mainly because of the light layer of ricotta they added. The best ricotta I have ever had in my life was in Sicily and it was light and easily digestible. I’ve never experienced anything like it in the US until today. Panzerotti Bites has managed to find the one Sicilian exporter who has access to this highly sought after ricotta. He only shares it with select restaurants in the area and Panzerotti Bites is one of those lucky few!! The Nutella and chocolate Panzerotto was to die for and anyone with a sweet tooth needs to try it for themselves.

At only $7.25 – $12 each, Panzerotti are the perfect meal for brunch, lunch, dinner or dessert. They even make small bite sized Panzerotti, which are perfect for appetizers. If you want to bring Apulia to the comforts of your own home, all you need to do is order Panzerotti Bites on Seamless or Slice. They also cater for events!

If you are looking to get closer to Puglia without traveling across the ocean, hurry over to Panzerotti Bites at 235 Smith Street.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post for Panzerotti Bites. All opinions remain my own and I was in no way influenced by the company.

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