I can't say enough good things about Wheated. DiFara's aside, the stretch of Ditmas Park/Kensington/Midwood between Park Circle and Ave J has been long known for a lack of truly magnificent pizza. DiFara's, while fantastic, doesn't make for an easy, relaxed meal, and San Remo on Cortelyou is good, but not good enough to truly elevate it to the level of NY pizza greats. This place definitely is. My partner and I headed over on Saturday, which was the second day of their soft opening. We got there at 6pm, right when they opened to the public. The decor is kind of contemporary farm/rustic, with exposed beams, wooden benches and tables, etc but still a little bit hipster. Jazz was playing in the dining room, which was nice. We were given the choice to sit in the dining room in the back, or at the bar. If you're into it, they had a cocktail menu and full bar, we had red wine with our pizza. Also, we had water at the table and I was really pleased that we were given a large crueset of water along with our two glasses. I am a huge water drinker, and I always have to flat the waitstaff over and over to come and refill, so that was a nice touch not having to do that.
We chose the dining room, and were seated in full view of the pizzas being made. The menu had five choices for pizza, each named after a Brooklyn neighborhood. We had the Bensonhurst, which was their take on the classic Italian pie - fresh and aged mozz, tomato sauce, romano cheese, basil, olive oil... and also the Caton Park, which was a white pizza (fresh and aged mozz, olive oil, parmesan) topped with arugula.
Within about 10 minutes of being seated, this place was packed, and all of the tables in the dining room were filled and about half of the front bar area. We had the opportunity to watch the pizzas being made in the kitchen area, and these guys were super efficient, and appeared to have really worked at finding the right rhythm to crank out delicious artisan pies at a great pace. I was initially concerned that we would wait a long time with such a crowded space (having been conditioned by DiFara's) but we got both of our pizzas together in about 10 minutes. As an aside, I'm a vegetarian, and I noticed that at the station where the pizzas were sliced, there were separate pizza cutters labeled "meat" and "veggie," which I appreciated a lot and not every pizza place has. It's these nice little touches that really sold this place for me.
Our pies were delicious. They were personal-pizza sized, each one had about six smallish slices, so definitely an order of two or more is appropriate for two people. Some of the other tables with three and four people ordered three and four pizzas, and they were so light they were all devoured. For us, two was just right. The crust was really thin and light, and had a just-right balance of flaky, charred texture without being burnt and too tough or too heavy. With our pizzas, the Caton Park crust was perfection, the Bensonhurst was a little underdone in the middle, but still delicious. I imagine as the kitchen crew grows in confidence they will be able to deliver more consistent crust across the various toppings. The sauce on the Bensonhurst was fantastic - it was a hint of tangy, not sweet like a lot of corner pizza places, and really flavorful without that overbearing thyme problem also common to a lot of corner pizza places looking for flavor without really thinking about balance. The cheeses were perfectly melted and bubbly, and had a just-right congeal mixed with the olive oil. Not at all rubbery or one big blob. Really, this was easily the best pie I've had in this neighborhood, easily on par with DiFara's. The Caton Park was delicious also, the cheeses under the arugula were really good, and the arugula itself was sprinkled very generously with grated parm.
All in all the service was great, the waitstaff was super friendly and attentive, and the pie was delicious. I can't wait to see this place grow and try the expanded menu as they build it out. I did inquire about delivery, they are take-out and dine-in only. Definitely a pizza win, and this will probably be our go-to pizza place from now on, with DiFara's as a nice treat when we're in the mood for the long wait. read more