Last night I went to Keste on Bleeker St in New York City for probably about the 8th time so I decided to finally write a review on the place. A small, unassuming pizzeria in the West Village area doesn’t look like much but you will quickly realize that the place is always full and anyone who has eaten here before knows why. There are always people waiting outside since the place isn’t too big and there isn’t much of a waiting area inside the joint. And the icing on the cake? They don’t take reservation. But back to the food. So usually when a place says it gluten-free its usually mistaking itself for offering a wheat-free pizza or some pathetic excuse for a crust – but this place goes the extra mile. Complete separate kitchen from the brick-oven that dominates the back of the place. It’s brought up from downstairs as if it comes from a magical gluten-free pizza factory just below us. They also are one of the few places that also carry Green’s Discovery, which is a delicious gluten-free Belgian beer that makes it feel like you’re drinking regular beer. Full-bodied, rich, and a hint of a champagne finish. I personally like the Dark Ale out of the three that I’ve tried before. While sipping on that, I wait for my gluten-free pie and usually just stick to the basics. Prosciutto, arugula, extra virgin olive oil and its one of the few times I will cheat with dairy just so I can have baby pockets of buffalo mozzarella which gives it a nice sweet finish. They now even offer spicy olive oil for the table which I liberally drizzled all over the pie. As usual, the pizza was magical. Usually GF pizza is flat or lacks real tasty crust but not at Keste. They crush it. Pizza is a great size for an individual pie, priced reasonably well for the NYC Metro area and besides the slight issue with dairy its usually a pleasantly stuffed trek home after I’ve devoured the entire thing. Highly recommend. The staff use to all be Italian (straight from the motherland) so walking in there slingin’ some key phrases usually helped you get a good seat but now there are more Hispanics that run the show.

PS- as you can see if you click on the Keste link at the beginning of the post, the place offers regular pizza as well so you can bring “normal” people with you as well to enjoy this amazing culinary experience.