At their restaurants, Jason Vincent and Josh Perlman are all about the intersection of punchy flavors (like Giant’s umami-bomb trout roe tempura) and nostalgia (like the crab Rangoon at Chef’s Special Cocktail Bar, a nod to the American Chinese food of their youth), always carried out with cheffy techniques. Their latest venture, the carryout- and delivery-only Pizza Matta, follows that blueprint to a T.
Executed by Giant’s chef de cuisine, Mike Gaia, the menu reflects what Vincent’s family eats. The pizza defies categorization: With a tangy crust (thanks to a two-day fermentation) and a floppy texture, it’s foldable like a New York slice, but with more oomph on the flavor front. The 14-inchers ($20) are topped with bright sauces — garlicky white, pistachio pesto, and tangy red — and your pick of toppings ($2 to $10) like caramelized pineapple, spicy banana peppers, and Spanish clams. Order one of your pies with Slagel Family Farm’s Italian sausage, golden and heavy with fennel. Salads ($20) are huge and shareable; get the savory-sweet apple, loaded with Manchego, lentils, and bacon.
Dessert is a scoop of Superman ice cream ($10), a weirdo combination that could only come out of the Midwest. It merges blue moon, black cherry, and vanilla for a tasty fruit-forward finish that leaves things squarely in the nostalgia zone.