Best of New York: Calzone

If ever a doughy denizen of New York's slice-joint scene needed an image consultant, it would be the calzone, a.k.a. pizza's overweight, underachieving kid brother. Enter Mario Batali. Although New York is a baked-calzone town, at Otto, Batali deep-fries his version (Mondays only) to golden perfection. Filled with just the right amount of heavenly ricotta and top-notch prosciutto cotto, and showered with grated pecorino and chilies, it makes an uncharacteristically grand entrance. Now, if only someone would tackle the garlic knot. —Rob Patronite