Roberta’s Pizza makes Manhattan’s commuter hell zone cooler

What happened in Bushwick didn’t stay in Bushwick.

It took the fantastic Roberta’s 15 years, but pizza heaven’s wood-fired ovens landed with a bang in the Penn Station/Madison Square Garden area last month — a culinary and cultural upheaval that could change perceptions of the area’s fast-food hell .

Surprisingly, the pizza, pasta and other Italian dishes that excite customers in the original Roberta’s austere but cozy wood-and-stone-framed premises tasted a little wonderful in a setting wide above the nonstop traffic and construction chaos of the new neighborhood. .

The city’s slowest elevator – I almost pressed the emergency button, sure it had gone out – takes you to the indoor-outdoor second floor with 220 seats, more than half of them outside.

The place to be is the al-fresco courtyard, lined with picnic tables and surrounded by Manhattan grit, office towers and giant billboards. If the sight of a 30-foot-tall Alicia Keys isn’t for you, opt for the glass-encased interior. The lack of atmosphere will not interfere with the enjoyment of what is on the plate.

Owners Carlo Mirarchi and Brandon Hoy struck a deal with Vornado Realty Trust, first reported in The Post in 2022, to launch the two-level Roberta’s in a small new building called 1 Penn East, located at West 33rd between Seventh and Eighth streets. which turned into a welcoming center for pedestrians.

Vornado is spending megabucks to bring new energy to West 30s, where the firm has redesigned office buildings, torn down the Hotel Pennsylvania for future development and launched new shops and restaurants — even pickleball courts — for a clientele newer, more sophisticated.

However, I was skeptical that the new Roberta would live up to the original. But the kitchen crew has the drill down.

Executive chef Sam Pollheimer oversees the same kind of ovens as the ones in Brooklyn that turn out pizzas in about 90 seconds at 800 degrees. A second oven on the first floor is for takeout, which includes orders by the slice.

The classic margherita pie ($22) was the same 12-inch masterpiece I knew in Brooklyn: thin crust with beautiful bubbles and fresh tomato sauce, creamy house-made mozzarella, basil and olive oil arranged in harmony delicious.

But make it clear when you order. Once when I asked for it at lunch, they brought me a margarita.

“Oops,” laughed the waitress. “They sound alike.”

You can top the pies with no fewer than 18 toppings, from honey to soppressata ($1, $3 or $5 each), but they’re just as good without them.

I loved the all-white buffalo mozzarella pie, oddly named Alt Normcore ($27) and loaded with the juiciest Sungold tomatoes ever. The four pizza varieties, which include Bushwick’s chili-fired Bee Sting ($25), are hard to finish after starting with salty bread steamed in a balloon like Indian poori and accompanied by creamy stracciatella cheese, anchovies and “cultured” butter. $31 of splurge I could have every day.

The menu changes frequently. The one they served the other night was very different from the one on Roberta’s website. But if it’s still there when you go, don’t miss the lobster spaghetti ($32), an al dente delight sprinkled with gremolata breadcrumbs worthy of former Marea chef Michael White.

The Sungolds lightened the chewy, rustic portion of the Heritage porchetta ($36), presented in a pair of crescent-shaped wedges, filled with just enough fat for added sweetness.

The party will shrink when cold weather forces the party indoors. So go now and learn how good pizza tastes with Alicia Keys looking hungry on her shoulder.