Paulie Gee’s, A Taste of Naples
by Dale Kim
It’s everywhere you turn, on almost every corner and an icon here in New York City. That icon is pizza, yes, the cheesy, gooey, salty, crunchy slice of goodness that every New Yorker can relate to and complements the rapid on-the-go lifestyle that defines this city. A traditional New York City pie consists of 3 things, dough, sauce, and cheese, however at Paulie Gee’s they’ve taken a different approach with a personal pie, funky toppings, and a 900 degree wood burning oven. Listed at number 7 on the top-10 pizzas in New York City from seriouseats.com, Paulie Gee’s is making headlines after opening in 2010.
“I’ve lived my whole life wanting to do something I really loved,” said Paul Giannone. Paulie Gee is what people call him around his neighborhood in Green point, Brooklyn. In a warm, quaint corner of a warehouse building lays Paulie Gee’s Pizzeria and the roaring wood burning brick oven from Naples made by famous oven-maker Stefano Ferraro. What makes this pizzeria so special is the personal pie that is filled with non-traditional toppings for pizza such as hot honey, arugula, maple syrup, Canadian bacon, and giancale. Paulie Gee’s is no ordinary pizzeria, they only make whole pies and are only open from 6:00PM to 11:00PM every day. The oven burns so hot in Paulie Gee’s that it takes 2-3 minutes to cook a pizza, the crust is charred and the cheese dances on the pizza while being delivered to your table.
Paulie Gee used to be a software developer for 30 years and decided one day that he would follow his passion, the one passion he had growing up was eating pizza in different parts of Brooklyn. “People saw that I had a real passion for food and encouraged me to do this. I knew that I could do this because I learned over the years that we all have seeds of greatness in us and we can do anything that we put our mind to. I know if you believe in yourself and commit to doing it that you could get things done,” said Paulie Gee.
What inspired Paulie the most was visiting other pizzerias that were taking a different approach to making pizza in New York, such as Roberta’s in Bushwick. He would go on pizza hunts with his sons, on a quest for the ultimate style of pizza. Paulie considers himself a “pizza enthusiast” and he is self-taught, he believes all it takes for a good pizza is “simple fresh ingredients and putting love in the dough.”
After being open for a short 4 years, Paulie Gee’s has changed the hearts and minds of many New Yorkers when they think of pizza. The Naples inspired personal pizza has forever changed the pizza landscape in New York City with the help of Paulie Gee’s passion for food. Paulie Gee’s passion is what drives his business model he said, “Pizza is very very simple, you make it one way, maybe you have to prepare some toppings. But other than that you’re making the dough which is challenging, but you’re making the dough putting it in the oven and taking it out, and that seemed appealing to me. That’s all I wanted, I just wanted to put those ingredients together, good ingredients on good bread, and to me that’s what pizza is.”
