La Rose delivers decadent Detroit-style pizza in Cobble Hill 

By Scott Lynch

Andrew Halitski had zero plans for opening a pizza parlor when he first arrived in Brooklyn in 2017. Trained in fine dining back in his native Toronto, Halitski’s first job here (after more than a year of staying at home to care for his newborn) was at Ignacio Mattos’s fancy Flora Bar on the Upper East Side, starting in 2019.

It turned out to be more short-lived than he expected, thanks to Covid. But in the meantime, Halinski had been teaching himself how to make pizza at home, first firing up traditional slabs of Sicilian and then evolving into Detroit-style pies, which among other things are characterized by their crackling, super-cheesy crust.

Photo by Scott Lynch

“It started out just making pizzas for my family on Saturday nights, and it just kind of evolved,” Halitski tells Brooklyn Magazine. “The cheese started working its way to the edge of the pan, and got crispy, so I started looking into it a little more and saw all these amazing home-pizza makers on Instagram, people creating these masterpieces, just works of art, and I thought, ‘Wow, I want to do that.’ So I started playing around with Detroit style. I never even had Detroit style until I made it myself.”

The weekly family tradition became a popular Instagram-based pizza business at the beginning of 2022, and last week Halitski took the brick-and-mortar plunge, opening La Rose Pizza in the former Caruso’s slice shop on Smith Street.

Just to get this out of the way, because when we ate here last Friday afternoon more than a few passersby wandered in looking for a classic NYC slice joint and left empty-handed: As of now, La Rose sells pizza in one size only, a four-slice, 8-by-10-inch beauty that’s rich and hefty enough to satisfy two people. No slices. No half-sizes. These pies are made to order, which takes at least 15 to 20 minutes, so it’s definitely not a grab-and-go sort of situation.

Prices start at $25 for the most basic pie (the Jane, with cheese, tomato sauce, and basil) and top out at $38 for the DiMaggio, which comes with cheese, tomato sauce, pepperoni, sausage, roasted pepper and ricotta. With tax and tip, that’s like twelve bucks per slice! Which, of course, is also what you’d pay for one of the cheaper appetizers or salads at many new Brooklyn restaurants. (Which, most of the time, aren’t nearly as good — and definitely not as filling — as what you get here.)

La Rose pizza is superb. Laden with high-quality ingredients and housemade sauces, these well-balanced beasts also feature a thick crust that’s somehow light and fluffy until it turns into a chewy outer rim that’s basically charred cheese. Just tremendous. One of the best new pizzas in town.

We wolfed three pies on our first visit. The “OPP” is, in its essence, a pepperoni pizza, but the most luxe version imaginable, with tons of gooey cheese and Halitski’s excellent tomato sauce holding up the spicy, funky meat, with slices of pickled jalapeños strewn about for extra bite. Get it with a side of terrific house ranch dressing for dipping, or add blobs of burrata for an extra $11 if you’re loaded.

The OPP, with cheese, tomato sauce, pepperoni, and pickled jalapeños, $30 (Scott Lynch)

The vegetarian “Spicy Norma” feels equally indulgent, topped with mashed roasted eggplant, burrata, parsley, garlic, and a not-insignificant amount of calabrian chili providing a fiery finish.

The vegetarian Spicy Norma, with eggplant, cheese, tomato sauce, parsley, and Calabrian chili, $36 (Scott Lynch)

And my favorite pie of the day may have been the most decadent. Called the Rosario, this is a no-sauce wonder starring multiple cheeses as the base, then covered in smoky bacon, earthy cremini mushrooms, black truffle oil, a bit of red onion and honey and butter-pat-sized squares of melting taleggio.

The Rosaria, with bacon, mushrooms, and slabs of Taleggio, $36 (Scott Lynch)

La Rose is named after a street in the Etobicoke section of Toronto, where Halitski grew up and spent two or three afternoons a week eating pizza and meatball sandwiches at local favorite La Rose Bakery. Halitski concedes that his La Rose will mostly be a takeout and delivery operation — seating here is limited to six stools at the bar, as Caruso’s back dining room has been turned into a space for dough production and storage — but he hopes to create a bit of a hangout spot, especially once his beer and wine license comes through.

“I’m falling in love with this neighborhood,” he said. “There’s a constant energy and flow of people walking by nonstop. Yesterday I had a few New Yorkers come in and tell me, ‘This is New York, not Detroit,’ and I understand, I’m sorry, but most everyone has been super friendly. Store owners, neighbors, everybody’s come by and said hi and welcomed us, so that’s been really nice.”

La Rose Pizza is located at 150 Smith Street, just south of Bergen Street, and is currently open on Wednesday through Sunday from 4 to 9 p.m.