Nicoletta, a Lower-Crust Option from Michael White The chef Michael White's attachment to Wisconsin pizza goes back to his childhood. He said his first restaurant job was at a pizzeria in his hometown, Beloit, Wis., when he was 16. But his father, Gerry White, who is in New York this week from Beloit, said he recalled that his son, who is now 40, hung around the place when he was maybe just 6. Michael White's pride in Midwestern pizza has him feeling pretty secure about this latest project - Nicoletta, a pizzeria that is scheduled to open in the East Village on June 15 - even though it is one of dozens of pizzerias within a few blocks. "It's what I grew up with," said Mr. White, who is better known for high-end restaurants like Marea and Ai Fiori. But not everyone pays the kind of attention to details like I do. His Wisconsin whole milk mozzarella, for example is full of flavor. "Too often the cheese is just bland," he said. Similarly, the tomato sauce underpinning is fairly dense and applied with a generous hand, and the pork in his sausage (raw when it goes onto a pizza so it cooks in the oven with the pie) is Berkshire. Then there is the crust. Neither thick nor cracker-thin, its crispness on the bottom is its distinguishing characteristic. But it's not easy to pigeonhole. "I don't know what to call it," Mr. White said. And some people won't like it. I'm O.K. with that. He will serve 12- and 16-inch pies to eat in or take out. The tables in the restaurant, a high-ceilinged box in wood and brick with 62 seats inside and 38 on the sidewalk, are fitted with little metal sockets in which the stems of cantilevered pizza stands are placed, so a pizza does not take up table space. He is also debating how to cut the pizzas. His preference is for what he calls tavern cut - three-inch squares, instead of the usual spokes of a wheel. "I wonder if New Yorkers will like it that way," he said. In additiion to pizza, the restaurant will serve antipasto dishes and one lasagna in a traditional Neapolitan style. The menu includes beer from Wisconsin and wine on tap, as well as fior di panna, an Italian-style soft-serve gelato, in one flavor (fior di latte, which is basically plain cream) with various toppings. Nicoletta, 160 Second Avenue (10th Street), (212) 432-1600.