One of life's great joys is discovering a dish that feels like an insider's secret. That’s just what tasting my first bite of grandma pie—a crispy, pan-baked pizza covered with a garlicky tomato sauce—felt like. To learn more about the quintessential New York specialty with deep roots in Italian American culture, I chat with resident pizza expert Scott Wiener, founder of Scott's Pizza Tours and the nonprofit Slice Out Hunger.

According to Wiener, "grandma-style" is differentiated by the crust: It's a pizza you can make on a cookie sheet and usually isn't allowed to proof in the pan, unlike more prolific Sicilian pizza (a variety often confused with grandma style due to its similar shape). In comparison to Sicilian pies, "grandma is its much thinner, more dense cousin," Wiener says.