When a polished chef like Waldy (Beacon) Malouf sets out to reinvent the slice joint, he doesn’t stop at creatively topped pizzas. “I wanted to evolve the condiment counter, too,” he says. So where you’d normally find a crusty old sugar shaker filled with garlic powder, at Waldy’s Wood Fired Pizza & Penne, you get fresh herbs sprouting forth from a window-box-size planter. Customers wielding garden clippers snip away at fragrant basil, oregano, rosemary, and thyme. So far, basil is hands-down the favorite accoutrement. “Everyone I know is growing basil for me in their back gardens and in their windows,” says Malouf. “That’s how we’ve been replenishing the supply.”
800 Sixth Ave., nr. 27th St.; 212-213-5042. (via newyorkmetro.com)