When Harlem-based Neapolitan Express launched in 2013 with one natural-gas and electrical-powered food truck, owner Max Crespo was praised by then-Mayor Bloomberg.
T. Boone Pickens, whose company Clean Energy Fuels had invested in Neapolitan Express, was also at the news conference. A solar roof panel helps heat ovens to 900 degrees, cooking pizzas in 90 seconds.
And unlike other food trucks, it kept the environment around them clean.
This month, Neapolitan Express is launching its first two brick-and-mortar locations, near the top and bottom of Manhattan.
The first location, a 40-seat pizzeria, will open at 232 East 111th St. A second location, with 15 seats, will open at 40 Wall St.
Even the pizza boxes — made from recycled, and compostable cardboard — are eco-friendly.
Pizza chef Giulio Adriani is Neapolitan Express’s new culinary director.
Upscale Midtown restaurant-lounges are kicking it up a notch this holiday season with the introduction of Monday jazz nights.
The Lounge at the Wayfarer has launched live jazz nights upstairs on Mondays, from 7:30 p.m. to 10:30 pm, with Andromeda Torre and the Wayfarers and Julia Haltigan and the Wayfarers, who alternate from week to week.
The lounge offers its own menu of light bites and cocktails, while the full dining menu — with its old school raw bar selections and Dover sole — is available in the main dining room, all at 101 West 57th St.
Nearby, celeb-heavy Beautique — at 8 West 58th St. — has also launched Monday jazz nights.
The restaurant lounge, a hot spot for celebs including Marion Cotillard, Joaquin Phoenix, Kevin Spacey and Uma Thurman, is hosting jazz nights from 7 p.m. until 11 p.m. on Mondays — with crooner Michael Fredo.