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You need some Detroit moxey to open a Detroit-style pizza in Manhattan, where New Yorkers like to brag about their thin slices and superior pies.
Melody Baetens of the Detroit News reports:
Lions & Tigers & Squares Detroit Pizza recently opened in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan serving square, deep dish pizza with a thick, crispy crust a la Buddy’s, Cloverleaf or Loui’s in Hazel Park. The name is a nod to two of the Motor City’s sports teams, and the restaurant’s décor pays homage to 1960s Detroit with Tiffany-style lights and Detroit-themed photos, including Motown groups.
The owners aren’t Detroit natives, though. Sal Basille and Francis Garcia are cousins and friends who run New York City’s Artichoke Pizza franchise. The pair have been stars of two Cooking Channel travel shows — “Pizza Cuz,” and later, "Pizza Masters" — which brought them to Buddy’s Pizza in Detroit. They fell in love and couldn’t believe Detroit-style pizza wasn’t everywhere. Luckily their restaurant equipment supplier had just gotten Detroit-style pizza pans in stock.
“We went to Buddy’s Pizza and loved the legend of how Detroit pizza began there, how the pans were originally used for auto parts and the pizzas brought to the factories for lunch,” said Garcia in an email to The Detroit News. “Reminded us of our grandparents … how grandma used to make sandwiches for grandpa to take down to the piers and sell out of the trunk of his car during lunch hour.”
Emma Fingleton writes on the website Spoon University:
Okay: the pizza. PHENOMENAL. Baked in personal rectangular pans the size of three conjoined Sicilian slices, the pizza dough is waiting to be be baked behind the glass counter. The basic pizza costs $5, which is an absolute STEAL for three slices of fresh pizza in NYC. Like the pizza at L&B Spumoni Gardens and Prince Street, the pizza sauce at Lions and Tigers and Squares is layered over the cheese to maximize the airiness and crispiness of the crust. Detroit-style pizza is known for its thick, crispy crust that has an almost fried taste and texture due to the oiled pans it's baked in. It's square shaped and tends to have more open-minded toppings than the standard pepperoni and buffalo chicken of New York-style pizza.
