I honestly don't know if I'll be able to make it through writing this article without driving back to Hopewell, NJ to get another pizza pie at Nomad Pizza.  It's THAT good (and staring at these pictures is not helping).

As I've written in the past, I take my pizza eating very seriously. I absolutely love that with pizza, you can get the best of the best in the world, and still spend under $50 for a dinner for two. In the past, I've made a point of visiting the top rated pizzerias in New York City each year and certainly ate my fair share of pies while living in Rome. Well, lucky for me (though not for my waistline), I won't have to travel very far to get an exceptional pie anymore.

With the freshest local ingredients and an authentic imported Italian wood fired brick oven that contains over a ton of fire brick, Nomad pizza serves up pizza pies that compete with the best of Naples.  After over five hours of pre-heating, the oven is ready to cook pizzas atop hard wood (usually apple of cherry) in 2 minutes or less at 750 to 1000 degrees.

We arrived during prime-time, on a Friday night around 8pm.  Since it is a BYOB, we brought a bottle of Barbera d'Asti, a light-bodied red wine that pairs perfectly with pizza.  While waiting at most BYOB restaurants can be a drag since their is no bar to relax at, Nomad has a beautiful outdoor patio with tables reserved for those waiting. The host popped open our bottle of wine and the 30 minutes flew by.

The delicious scent of wood-fire pizza wafting through the air had us salivating by the time we sat down. We quickly decided on a bruschetta appetizer and two pies- a classic Margerita d' Buffala & a special pie with spinach and Gruyere cheese.  The bruschetta was prepared perfectly, with fresh, perfectly spiced tomatoes atop Italian bread toasted to a crisp outer layer with a soft chewy inside. Soon after, our pies arrived with pizza cutter in hand (they leave that up to you). The perplexed waiter was unable to provide plates to us because it simply wouldn't fit on our table being that we had each ordered our own pie.

“No problem! We don't need plates,” we reassured him as we dug into the edible masterpieces before us without shame.

Immediately we knew this was an exceptional pizza experience. The dough is crispy, but still chewy enough to balance the rich flavors layered above it.  The margarita pizza was perfectly balanced, with naturally sweet tomato sauce contrasting the salty bread and cheese. In the other pie, the Gruyere blissfully into the tasty dough. After polishing off our monstrous meal, we sat back in our chairs with content smiles to finish our glasses of wine.

Just when we thought it couldn't get any better, the waiter asked, “Would you like milk or dark chocolate with your check?”  I was in love.

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