Paulie Gee’s (60 Greenpoint Ave.) and Xi’an Famous Foods (648 Manhattan Ave.) are celebrating the Year of the Tiger with a new pizza collaboration. The two Greenpoint go-to hotspots created a pizza that blends both the Chinese and Italian flavors that the restaurants are known for.
Paulie Gee’s kicked off the collab on the Lunar New Year (February 1) by adding the Xi’an Famous Pizza to the restaurant menu and writing on Instagram, “In honor of the Year of the Tiger we are over the moon to be able introduce our first collaboration with @xianfoods, the Xi’an Famous Pizza. Mild Gouda, baby spinach, olive oil, ground lamb (there’s more underneath the spinach) and a generous helping of their absolutely delicious Chili Oil with Crisps.”
The collaboration was initiated when Jason Wang, the owner of Xi’an Famous Foods, reached out to Paulie Gee’s owner Paul Giannone. Wang sent Giannone a sample of his famous Chili Oil and Crisps, sold for $13 on the restaurant’s website, and offered to sell the pizza shop some for a collaboration.
Giannone and his team experimented a bit before coming up with the delicious final product. “I wanted to stay true to Jason’s recipes and create something that reflected what he does there,” Giannone told Greenpointers of Wang and Xi’an.
Lamb is featured heavily on the Xi’an menu, so Giannone gravitated toward that particular meat. He tried to pair it with kale on top, but then tried spinach and knew he had nailed it. Plus, Giannone said that the spinach dumplings are one of his favorite things at Xi’an.
Giannone is very excited about the collaboration, calling Xi’an Famous Foods “an iconic place.” The Paulie Gee’s owner added that the Xi’an Famous Pizza has been so well-received that he is “hoping it will be around for many Lunar New Years.”