Pizza the action in New York

Mark Bello believes in always being prepared. Somewhere about his person there is always an emergency sachet of yeast. "Active Dry for preference," he says. We digest this fact, wash hands and put on red aprons. Mark runs Pizza a Casa, an evening course dedicated to the art of making pizza. New York pizza. His crusts are thin and this is, apparently, the only true pizza.

Brought along by my friend Kate, the others in the class — there are eight of us — turn out to be joyously 21st century representatives of 14th Street-and-below Manhattan — a flood blogger, an urban campaigner and a nascent fashion designer are among them.

The work stations are fully kitted out, with a camera trained on Mark's position so we can watch him on the screens. There's some rock music on the system as Mark, helped by his assistant Jenny, starts us off. We carefully weigh out the ingredients. "Seasonings can be loose, but dough has to be precise," he says.

Above all though, the class is fun. Pummelling the dough is hands-on fun in the best sense of the word. And it's convivial. As we wait for the dough to rise, bottles of wine are opened (there's a handy off-license across the road) and drained. "In Manhattan, pizza is the new cup cake," says Ed the food blogger as he pushes his glasses up his nose with a floury finger. "People queue for hours for the right crust."

Tips come fast and furiously — the best sort of flour, adding a pinch of sugar if tomatoes taste metallic and the importance of not over-working the dough. A few things are key — a pizza stone being one of them. Put in the oven, it will up the temperature of your oven and ensure the base is fully crisped. I debate whether buying one will tip me into excess baggage. Kate admits to being such a fan that she has two pizza stones — one in her kitchen, the other, in her car, is a travelling pizza stone. Then we stretch the dough — "like scratching on a turntable" as we pull it into shape. If kneading was therapeutic pummelling, this is harder.

Mark produces a perfect circle — my first one is oblong but I'm proud of it. He talks us through the toppings. Cheese is always at the bottom (so it doesn't dry out) followed by a Jackson Pollock-style sluicing of tomato passata is sloshed for our first attempt, the classic Margharita. And then it becomes freeform — eggs and pancetta are thrown into the mix while banana and nutella provide the dessert pizza.

And afterwards, with the fan whirring and a disco ball revolving, we eat.

Tasting each other's pizzas, swapping notes, hearing about the joys and perils of food-blogging, cycling in New York and guerrilla gardening.

Somebody knocks on the shuttered door, a LES reveller in need of pizza. Mark sighs. "This is about pizza self-sufficiency, not just being able to buy a slice." Eventually we head into the night with leftovers. Everyone else is also carrying spare batches of gently fermenting packages of dough. Fully aware that my dough is unlikely to impress airport security, Mark offers to give mine a good home. It feels — just a little — as if I'm abandoning a small but rather endearing pet.

DETAILS: NEW YORK
Three nights in New York with Virgin Holidays at the Ace Hotel including scheduled flights with Virgin Atlantic from Heathrow Ace Hotel on a room only basis start from £649 room only, based on departures January 1 to February 17, virginholidays.co.uk

Classes cost $150, pizzaacasa.com