The twain meet at The Oven

Tony Manero folding a couple of slices as he wiggles down the gritty streets of New York to a disco soundtrack. That was the introduction to New York-style pizza for those of us not raised on the East Coast – a mysterious crust, thin and obliging yet with a crisp veneer. It’s an achievement so pedestrian in the Big Apple, yet so elusive beyond.

“It’s really like a craft,” says David Rodriguez, owner and chef of The Oven in Seaside. “There has to be real attention to the way you work the dough, to the way you manage the dough.”

Pies ordered from one side of Rodriguez’s menu are the closest you will come to “Staying Alive” playing spontaneously as you dine. The crust yields easily, allowing you to fold or roll. Yet it is firm enough to frame the toppings, with a faint sweetness and haze of toast drawn from the oven. The toppings for a combination pizza are simple: just enough crushed tomato, plenty of garlic, fresh vegetables and so on. New York-style pizzas revel in the basics.

On the other side of The Oven’s menu, the list gains in creativity – and changes radically in style. These are “West Coast” pies, with a sourdough base and names like Golden State (with Yukon Gold potatoes), The Bridge (with a red bell pepper pesto) and Mushroom Magic (with… well, you know).

Sweet & Hot is a clever combination that tests your endurance with jabs of heat. But it cannot win because its opponent – sweet peppers, a grounded cilantro pesto and kernels of corn – are more agile and nuanced. The corn brightens the herbal warmth of that pesto base while bringing depth to the lighter touches. And the crust serves it all nicely.

“Sourdough lends itself to a wide range of flavors,” Rodriguez notes.

The Oven fills the old DeMarco’s space on Broadway, part of Seaside’s revitalization effort. The East-West theme comes from the chef’s time at a bakery in the Bay Area, one that also turned out pizzas. He learned the ways of sourdough, but also worked alongside a pizza guy from New York. “I’ve been baking basically all my life,” Rodriguez adds.

But there is something else that sets The Oven apart from so many other parlors. While the pizzas are remarkable, it was a sound that brought conversation at our table to a stop – not the inviting aroma of dough baking, not even that moment of bliss when you take that first bite, but a staccato tap from the kitchen.

Shortly after our order reached him, the chef set to work chopping bell peppers. He then began tossing flour and stretching the dough to order. He admits that on busy nights the crew will keep just ahead of pace. But the attention to ingredients – to the dough in particular – shows in the character of his pies.

“With us, every pizza is handcrafted,” Rodriguez says. “Somebody is involved with every part of the process.”

And that’s not jive talkin’. It’s both coasts in one place, and one crust could easily have served as a stand in on Saturday Night Fever.

THE OVEN PIZZERIA 720 Broadway, Seaside. 11am-9pm Tue-Sat; 11am-8pm Sun. 899-1762, theovenpizzeria.wixsite.com