Ina Garten’s Top Pizza Place in the Hamptons

If you’re heading back to the East Coast or are lucky enough to live nearby, it’s worth checking out Ina Garten’s Instagram. She has been showcasing some of her favorite spots in the Hamptons. In her latest post, she shares her favorite pizza place located in the quaint hamlet of Amagansett. Fini, a slice joint on Main Street, is praised by the Barefoot Contessa for having the best pizza around, noting that she’s “obsessed with their white pizza” (via Instagram).

The restaurant offers thin, Brooklyn-style pizza, available by the slice or as a whole pie. It’s easy to see why Garten loves the white pizza, which forgoes tomato sauce in favor of layers of mozzarella, fontina, and parmesan cheese. The outcome is a creamy, gooey flavor explosion, served with a wedge of lemon to balance the richness of the cheese. A single slice goes for $5.50, while an entire pie costs $36.

Garten has consistently expressed her affection for white pizzas. Back in 2018, she named the Brussels sprouts cacio e pepe pizza at Martina Pizzeria in NYC as her favorite (as seen on Instagram); however, that restaurant closed the following year. She also includes her own version of white pizza with arugula in her cookbook “Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics”, which features goat cheese along with fontina and mozzarella, topped with a lemony vinaigrette for the greens.

The first Fini location debuted in 2022 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, followed by its arrival in the Hamptons in 2023, and another location opened that same year in Barclays Center Plaza, Brooklyn. Owner Sean Feeney is known for past ventures, having co-founded renowned Italian spots Lilia and Misi with chef Missy Robbins. The Amagansett Fini location is in the previous site of Astro’s, a beloved pizzeria that operated since the 1970s until it closed in 2021.

While pizza enthusiasts constantly argue over the best New York City slice, Fini has certainly brought the authentic NYC flavor to the upscale region approximately 100 miles east of the five boroughs. The restaurant offers the quintessential thin and foldable slices, along with Sicilian pizza, known for its thicker, doughier crust. In addition to the renowned white pizza, Fini offers varieties featuring San Marzano tomato sauce and other unique ingredients. For instance, the tomato pie is adorned with garlic breadcrumbs and Calabrian oil. Other distinct choices include the long hot pepper and shallot pizza, and the grandma pie.

The primary distinctions between grandma pizza and a typical New York slice are their shapes. Whereas NYC slices are generally triangular, grandma pizzas are usually served in squares or rectangles. They also have a denser crust—crispier but not as thick as Sicilian.

Interestingly, grandma pizza is believed to have originated on Long Island, where Italian immigrant grandmothers made traditional recipes using local ingredients available in their new surroundings. Typically, grandma pizza features the sauce atop the cheese, contrasting the usual preparation. It can also be made without sauce for a white variant.

In addition to the classic NYC style, white pizza is a frequently available selection across the state. There are numerous variations, all based on the original Italian pizza bianca. While Fini’s white pizza adored by Ina Garten uses fontina, it is often made with ricotta instead. Garlic-infused greens like spinach or broccoli rabe add flavor, and seafood enthusiasts might enjoy it with clams—though white clam pizza is traditionally associated with New Haven, Connecticut.

If you find yourself torn between your choices, visit Lombardi’s, the first pizzeria in the U.S. Located in Manhattan and established in 1905, it serves a white pizza with mozzarella, ricotta, and Romano cheeses, combined with garlic and basil. While there, don’t miss out on their famous clam pie made with three dozen clams, garlic, Romano, black pepper, and topped with fresh parsley and lemon for a perfect finish.