BY DENNIS LYNCH | The folks behind Ivan Ramen Slurp Shop at Gotham West Market (600 11th Ave., btw. W. 44th & W. 45th Sts.) are bringing some old-school Italian to the new-school food court.
Set to open early next year, Corner Slice is the creation of Ivan Orkin (the namesake of his ramen shops) and his business partners David Poran and Chef Mike Bergemann, who were inspired by “the city’s original caffés, neighborhood bakeries, and humble pizzerias of their youth,” according to a press release, which calls Corner Slice “a neighborhood bakery focusing on home-baked goods, pizza, and coffee.”
“I’ve been passionate about coffee for a long time and have always felt that a great homemade nosh goes hand in hand with great coffee,” Orkin said. “And it goes without saying that as a New Yorker, I’m passionate about pizza. High quality by-the-slice pizza was once the rule, not the exception, in New York.”
Corner Slice sounds more like a full-service Italian bistro than a straightforward pizza shop. It will have a full coffee and espresso menu, and serve salads, sandwiches, and desserts. Orkin will make the mozzarella for his pizza al taglio on-site, and the bakery will pump out “breads, breakfast pastries, cakes, pies, and cookies.” The pizza will be available by the slice or as pies.
La Colombe, a small chain with 21 locations in five cities nationwide (including eight in New York) will provide the coffee beans.
Corner Slice will be the ninth restaurant — including the Ample Hills Creamery ice cream shop — to open in Gotham West Market. Its hours will be 7 a.m.–11 p.m. Sun.–Thurs., and 7 a.m.–12 a.m. Fri.–Sat. For more info, visit cornerslicenyc.com and gothamwestmarket.com.
