Chicago Deep Dish or New York Thin Crust? Which one kicks ass more? Ah, the age old question that no one can seem to reach a consensus on. But hopefully in five short weeks, you’ll get your answer. Thanks to Adam Milstein, Robyn Landrum, Philip Boyd and Chris Shanley (owners of my fave sports bar South in Santa Monica) their new venture, N.Y. & C., will bring both beloved pizza styles to SaMo in the former Toi on Wilshire space next month.

I had the chance to speak with Adam, a proud new papa!, about the new restaurant which will not only serve three or four staples of each style pie (appropriately named after landmarks like “Wrigley Field” and “Empire State”) but strombolis, salads and more. Apparently both Adam and Chris (each hailing from Chicago and NYC, respectively) did extensive research on authentic recipes from Staten Island to Chi-Town, even jumping behind the counter of some of the best pizza pie joints in the cities and adapting recipes borrowed from the likes of grandfathers and moms’ bffs.

To drive the point home of the different city and food styles, the new 1,800-square-foot restaurant will be effectively split down the middle with the left side dedicated to all things Gotham — jerseys and subway signs on the walls — and the right side to all things Windy City. There will even be six TVs displaying movies about the respective cities; think Ferris Bueller’s Day Off vs. Taxi Driver. And of course there will be sports on the tube. I can’t imagine what a Bulls vs. Knicks game will look and sound like here.

To quench your thirst between bites, choose from 12 beers on tap, like Brooklyn Lager, and good wine to pair with the pizzas. And no official details yet but, yes, there will be a happy hour and possibly fun events like they have at South.

But the best part is that since Toi on Wilshire had grandfathered in their late hours, N.Y. & C. will be open til 4am on weekend nights, complete with delivery til 3am! Perfect since I’m sure night owls are more apt to crave pizza more than Thai.

N.Y. & C.
1120 Wilshire Boulevard
Santa Monica, California 90401 (map)