some thoughts on chocolate calzones/pizzas/panini

There's a new artisanal pizza place in Clinton Hill called Emily. Let me be clear: Brooklyn has more artisanal pizza places already than any one city could ever need. But let me also be clear: artisanal pizza is not about "need." So I went.

Obviously Emily's greatest draw was its s'mores calzone. But I have to admit to being disappointed.



The chocolate was melty, and the marshmallow was melty, and the dough was fluffy, and all that was good-- but those three components didn't really work together right. There were a lot of bites that were just dough, which is wasteful. Also a fair few bites that were just dough and marshmallow, or just dough and chocolate. But too little of this calzone included both chocolate and marshmallow, and it was in those brief tastes that I had the full s'mores experience.

For a better delivery of chocolate pizza from an artisanal Brooklyn pizzeria, I recommend Forcella's nutella pizza. I was already obsessed with Forcella for savory reasons-- their montanara pizza is literally paradigm-shifting-- and when I tried their nutella pizza, I was even more on-board with this place. This is an excellent chocolate-to-dough ratio.



The one that I most seek out, though, is Bocca Lupo's nutella and banana panino. It's just perfect. I would eat any of these Italian desserts again, but Bocca Lupo's is the one that I would journey farthest for.



BOTTOM LINE: Have you noticed that these restaurants call these "calzones," "stuffed pizzas," and "panini," but they are all basically the same dessert? Discuss.

Arancini Bros

Arancini Bros is a little storefront in Bushwick that sells rice balls and that's it. Obviously most of their rice balls are savory, because that's what rice balls are. But one of them was Nutella-filled. So that is the one I got.

It was weird. It was warm and gooey, which is good. The outside was fried, which is awesome. I love fried. The next layer was rice, kind of like dense rice pudding, and that was the weird part. I am not a rice pudding fan. The texture throws me off. So I wasn't into that part. The core of the ball was a glob of Nutella. That part was obviously delicious. How could it not be?

I wish there had been more Nutella in this thing. Mostly it just tasted like a savory rice ball, which was disappointing because really I was in the market for dessert.

BOTTOM LINE: A Nutella-filled rice ball is an original product that you're unlikely to find in many places. But to get full enjoyment out of it, you should be someone who a) likes rice pudding, and b) is not looking for a super-chocolatey dessert.

Dar 525 Nutella French Toast

I am a terrible iPhone food photographer. Why didn't I take a picture of this nutella-stuffed French toast BEFORE I had eaten most of it?

Because I was too hungry to wait. That's why.

This is from Dar 525. There's French toast with nutella and bananas inside of it, a berry compote for you berry fans out there, and some powdered sugar and shaved nuts on top. It's like a crepe, basically. Only French toast. So, as you can tell, it's excellent.

BOTTOM LINE: One of the best ways I have found for incorporating chocolate into your morning menu.