Joining 57 Napoli and 180 on the growing list of pizza "speakeasies," James McGown has opened a hush-hush pie parlor behind the East Village location of his South Brooklyn Pizza. The rounds start the same as South Brooklyn's—the dough rises for five days—but are topped with provisions more whimsical than simple marinara and mozz: salmon, caper cream and red onions on the L.E.S., while quail eggs, speck, artichokes and cherry peppers for the St. Mark's. Along with the ten pizza varieties, McGown cooks lasagna (bolognese or spring vegetable) and spaghetti and meatballs in the brick oven. Settle into a wood-topped table near a working fireplace for small plates such as roasted garlic, or snag a seat outside for fruity cocktails like blackberry-bramble mojitos when the weather warms up.
