Abeetza: Hot in Greenvale
At Abeetza Pizza in Greenvale, penne Abeetza is made with sausage, mushrooms and onions in a tomato-cream sauce. (June 20, 2012) Credit: Newsday/Erica Marcus
Upon entering Abeetza last night, we were tempted to leave. The day’s heat plus the pizza ovens going full-bore conspired to put the little Greenvale pizzeria’s ambient temperature well above 80 degrees. But we stayed; I’m glad we did.
A simple 12-inch Neapolitan pizzette ($10) had the right proportions of clean sauce to tender cheese, barely supported by a thin, crispy crust. Our penne Abeetza, with sausage, mushroom and onions in a tomato-cream sauce ($14, and plenty for two) was served in an aluminum takeout container, but it was the equal of many much pricier pastas I’ve had in much fancier restaurants.
Abeetza (Southern-Italian dialect for “pizza”) doesn’t look like much, but owner Joe DeLorenzo told us “we make everything from scratch, except the soda.” It turned out the penne was homemade; in fact, next to the sodas, there was a whole refrigerated case full of homemade pastas and homemade sauces. Even the excellent sausage in our pasta had been made in house. A pizzeria that makes its own sausage? Unheard of, in my experience.
DeLorenzo explained that he not only does takeout and catering, he also produces pasta for other markets and restaurants. It also turned out that he was a partner, with the owners of Matteo’s, in Circa, the attractive Mineola restaurant that opened in 2008. Circa closed a few weeks ago for, DeLorenzo said, “retooling, renaming and re-menu-izing.” He hopes to reopen it by summer’s end. We'll be watching.
Abeetza is at 82-08 Glen Cove Rd., Greenvale, 516-484-3123.
