Joe: I lived in New York for years, and it has some of the
best food in the world. I invited my man Harry
Kersh over from the UK to show him how we do things in NYC. We're visiting five of the
best pizza places in the city, all in one day, to see if we
can find New York's best pizza. This is "Food Tours." First stop of the day,
Bleecker Street Pizza. Harry: So, we're at Bleecker Street Pizza. Joe: Yes.
Harry: Why are we here? Joe: OK, so Tripadvisor said this is one of the best slices
of pizza i
n New York City. Food Network said this is the best slice for the past three years. I mean, come on. Place is normally just packed. We're here early, thank God,
to get our slice of pizza. So I thought I had to take you here. Harry: I'm liking Bleecker Street so far. It's a friendly vibe in here. Very cold. I can see — Harry: We need to get this on camera. Conner: I'm rolling. Yeah, you can see it. Can you see my breath?
Bro, it's freezing in here. Harry: So, how are we categorizing the pizza pla
ces that we're hitting today? Joe: Glad you asked. Now,
obviously there's a bunch of different variations
of what New Yorkers would consider pizza, all fantastic. For this, I want to
make sure we're getting the authentic New York
cheese thin slice, right? Not doing the square cut, not doing the grandma cut
or whatever it's called, the Sicilian grandma
cut or whatever that is. We're not going to Domino's. We might do some variations
depending on where we go. Joe: Yeah!
Harry: Yay! Thank you. Here
we go. New York slice. Talk me through some key components, key elements here that I should be looking
out for and judging. Joe: All right, so,
first of all, the crust, it's going to have this thin, yet crackery but not too brittle texture to it. Now, the mozzarella they
use here in New York, this low-moisture cheese,
the way they do that is, even though it has a greasy top on it, it kind of makes it so it
melts a lot more evenly and it doesn't burn as quick. This is good cheese coverage. It's
full coverage when
it comes to the cheese. But you notice, OK, so it's
floppy, but it's not breaking. It's not, like, it's
not white, for instance. Harry: Yeah, it's still
crispy on the bottom. Yeah, yeah. But, I mean, the thing that
makes it great is its taste. So you want to take a bite? Yeah, I really, really do. Joe: Can we?
Harry: Give a try. Get in there. Mm. Mm. Mm! Mm. It eludes the rest of the world on how to make pizza this good. It really does, right? [Harry laughing] It's distinct. T
his is unlike most of the
pizzas that I've had in London. There isn't really anywhere
doing pizza like this in London. I really like the crispy crust. Again, not something you
find in the UK a lot, and the texture contrast
you get with that is lovely. Joe: Yeah. It's not very greasy. If you make a pizza at home
or you go to some places that aren't so great, it's just grease. Harry: Well, there's nothing
wrong with a little bit of grease. Fat is flavor. I'm liking it. Joe: And also, as you notice
d,
it's also portable, right? Like, you just take this on the train, take this down the
street, take this to work. Which, again, in the UK,
not something that we do. I don't know if you can catch that, but Dax Shepard said this was the greatest slice
of pizza he's ever had. Joe: And it's a weird way he said it. "That was the greatest slice of pizza I've ever put in my mouth." What's he done with the
other good slices of pizza? I just recently found out you
eat pizza with your mouth. Really, Dax?
Harry: Game changer. Joe: Thanks for swinging by. Harry: Real game changer. Joe: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, look at the steam coming off of this. Harry: OK, that's steamy. Yeah, I don't know if the
pizza is exceptionally hot or if it's just extra cold in here. Joe: Both, baby. Let's go! Can I bite? Conner: Uh, one second. Did you get the shots, guys? Harry: Patience, Joe, patience. No! It's New York,
dammit. I don't got time. Harry: This thing looks scaldingly hot. I'm going to wai
t for you to bite and see if you scald your mouth or not. OK, got the thumbs up. Joe: Right? What'd I tell
you? What'd I tell you? The first casualty. This is delicious. Joe: I'm going to say something
that sounds kind of weird. Go on. Joe: But the sauce on this
is the star of the show. Harry: Yeah. It is so flavorful. You can see they even got
the tomatoes in there. Because it isn't a — the
distribution's a bit different. Like, they put the cheese on there first and then ladled the sauce on the
re. Harry: Yeah. Oh, it's so good, though. I want the sauce to almost
be the star of the show. I think obviously in the ideal world, everything is good,
everything works together. But a really flavorful sauce where you actually taste the
tomato is, yeah, crucial. Love the basil in here as well. But yeah, this is a
really good slice. Damn. Joe: I know. Harry: Is this the same
cheese? Because this feels way stringier. We're
getting cheese pulls here. Joe: So, they're doing two
different types of c
heese. The sauce is different, but
they use the regular cheese and then a second cheese. Harry: You can kind of see, because it's bubbled up a lot more. You
get those caramelized bits. Joe: They really cheese it up on this one. No. Yeah, this one you gotta take a seat for. This one you take the Dax Shepard booth. Harry: Just Dax's usual spot, please. Yeah, which just this one,
the chair facing the wall. All right. Hey, hey, hey, hey,
hey. We're going to, like, seven other places. Calm your ass d
own. True. But also I'm really hungry, so — Joe: All right, well,
you'll still be hungry at the next place. Harry: All right, this was really good. As far as starting points go, pretty excellent benchmark. Yeah. Joe: Literally just across
the street, our next stop, John's of Bleecker Street. Now. I want to talk about
something very interesting. Harry: Please do. Pizza ovens. I love pizza ovens. Let's go. When pizza first started
popping off in New York City, they were using almost
primarily coal
ovens. Then the gas ovens got introduced sometime I think in the '40s or '50s. A coal oven cooks way hotter. Now, this is important for
pizza. Pay attention now. As you're aware, Italians
are really up their butt about how pizza should be, and more importantly, should
not be made. It's all nonsense. But they cook it at
850 degrees Fahrenheit, way hotter than a
standard gas oven can get. So imagine it like this
is a New York-style slice cooked the traditional
Neapolitan Italian way. So it's like
the best
of both pizza worlds. Fusion cuisine. It's like how when The Cheesecake Factory has Southwest egg rolls. This is the Southwest egg roll of pizza. Yeah, thank you. Harry: Coal-fired ovens aren't
much of a thing in the UK. If you're going to a pizza place, it's generally wood-fired ovens. Joe: Yeah, which is weird,
because you guys are the land of chimney sweeps. You guys know
soot real well, it seems like. Tiny Tim just clearing
it out for our course. Joe: Dick Van Dyke's going
to come
out here in a top hat and a face full of soot
to bring us our pizza, so. What also sets this place apart is they don't do pizza by the slice. Can't get it by the slice here,
so we're getting a full pie. Harry: Nice. Yeah, I mean,
traditional definitely seems like the vibe of this place. Sit down. These tables and
chairs that have been here basically since they opened as well. Oh! I forgot. No, this place wasn't vandalized. Apparently, the thing to do here is to take out a really sharp knife and
carve your initials, your name, something you want to do
somewhere in the wood. Recognize this right here? Harry: Ah, yeah, I think
pepper? Pepper flakes? Joe: No.
Harry: No? Red chili pepper flakes. You know the Chili Peppers, the band, this is them in flake form. Harry: Ah, got it. I have
seen it occasionally, whereas it's pretty much everywhere here? Joe: So much so when
you get pizza delivered, they'll have little packets of this and little packets of Parmesan as well. Harry: The Red Hot Chi
li Peppers. Joe: Yeah, they suck. Harry: You just love — really? Joe: They suck. Their guitar, like,
everyone else in the band is legit an amazing musician and can play. And they write these really
well, intricate songs. And this dumbass comes in, he's like, "Yubba-dubba-goo, batta-boo, California." Someone has to step in and stop this band. This has to stop. Harry: There we go.
Joe: Oh, wow. You want to put in the bag? Is this? No, this, I think this is good. I want to call your attention to ho
w much harder-cooked the crust is. Harry: Yeah, man. Old-school
Insider cheese pull. Joe: Why don't you get a plate ready? Harry: There we go. Already just by looks,
what are you thinking? Not maybe as homogenous in terms of the classic New York slices where the mozzarella and the
sauce kind of blend together. I like the fact that the
mozzarella here as well has got a bit of that
caramelization on top, looking like bubbling. I quite like this. Because generally speaking,
when you get the patches
, you get a bit more flavor contrast. You get a nice sort of crispy burned bit and then a normal bit.
Joe: You're learning. Harry: I'm getting there. Yeah, it's like this guy's hosting it. The sauce isn't as flavorful
as the other place's, but the cheese, the
gooeyness is incredible. I agree. The cheese sets
this apart. There you go. Joe: Now let's spice it up, huh? Harry: Hit me up. Maybe
not quite that many for my weak British palate. Joe: A little Anthony
Kiedis for you. Let's go. The other p
epper. Oh. Ooh. And, you know what, a little salt. This is why British food
tastes bland to you guys, because you've put about
eight different seasonings on every mouthful. Yeah, that's why. I think it's your wimpy palates. All that tea you're drinking. The slices are — obviously
we got a full pie, so slices are smaller. So even though we did get a whole pie, I feel like this is equivalent of, like, three New York City slices. Harry: Yeah, I'd say so. Joe: Even though that's a full
pizza, this i
s our medium. What? Joe: Yep. We go at least one bigger over here. Harry: That in the UK
is comfortably a large. This is a big pizza. I think you could happily feed two people off of this on its own. Do you notice the effect of the
coal oven when you eat this? How is this different
from what we've eaten? Joe: I do. My theory on that is this. One, because it was cooked so much faster, the cheese is gooier. It hasn't mixed so much with the sauce. And I feel that the
dough, you can only see — on th
e crust, you can see
where it's a little burnt here. It's a lot crispier, right? You can see the dustiness
of the coal here. Harry: Yeah. Joe: It's got Dick Van
Dyke all over it, buddy. I could break off this slice and, like, write on the concrete with it. That's how charcoaled it is. Everyone's got these annoying pizza rules that come from who cares, what
can and can't be on a pizza, how you're supposed to cook
it. It's pizza. Just eat it. I can't stand all these BS rules. You're only saying th
at
because you're from Chicago and everyone hates Chicago style. Joe: Yeah, maybe. But pizza can be so many wonderful things if you just kind of ease up
on the made-up parameters. It's funny. I mentioned that because the next place we're going
to is a very specific, outside-the-box sort of slice of pizza. I don't know any other
place that makes it, either in New York or in
the world in general, so. About to find something that's breaking all the pizza rules, baby. OK. The rule book's going
out t
he window right now. Right out the window. Harry: Let's do it.
Joe: All right. All right. All right,
all right, all right, all right, all right. Now, I
think some people watching this might give me a little bit
of attitude about this, but this is a really special slice that I think that everyone who
comes to New York should try. Yeah, I'm mixing my Red
Bull and my Coke, all right? What is going on here? Is this an American thing? No, this is me. New York place. Artichoke
pizza. Started here. Alm
ost all of it is right here. This slice deviates a little
bit from what we said before about trying the classic
cheese, tomato sauce. But, like, I have to take you here because this slice is so
ridiculous and so delicious. I think it is important for anyone who visits New York to try this slice. And as you can see, no tomato sauce, it's a white sauce, cheese,
and of course artichoke. Harry: Yeah. I mean,
this doesn't look like anything that we've tried today. It's also way thicker. Harry: It fee
ls like it's
got depth to it as well. Joe: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
This is a lot thicker. Harry: This is a thick slice, maybe the biggest slice we've had today. Joe: This thing is ridiculous. Cheers, buddy. Oh, my God. Creamy, right? It's got a really savory
flavor from the artichoke. Have you ever tasted
anything like this? Right? That's crazy. Joe: Isn't it crazy how good this is? Man, that is so, like, buttery. Yeah, buttery. Harry: Decadent. Like, rich. Yeah. Harry: I'm already kind of full. Joe:
Yeah, man. One slice
will put you to sleep. Harry: That's, that is, that's wild. I don't know what I was
expecting, but that's fantastic. Joe: That's really great, right? Harry: Yeah. Joe: Definitely a must
when you come to New York. Harry: Yeah. Joe: And it's weird because, you know, by all accounts of the pizza purists, so I'm just projecting all this
negative attention towards, I don't even know who I'm
talking about specifically. Harry: These guys. Joe: I mean, yeah, no tomato sauce, articho
ke is obviously
not a common topping. It's a lot bigger than
your New York City slice. So I can see a lot of people being like, "Oh, it doesn't count."
But then they taste it, it's like, yeah. But it's ... as far as taste goes,
absolutely fantastic. Some people seem to just
innovate for the sake of it, whereas this, I think
there's a purpose to it. I think, yeah, buttery is my adjective. Genuinely just so velvety and rich. That's kind of wild. Joe: This is a slice that if you love it, nothing el
se, I can't
think of anything else you can get, any other pizza. I don't know any other
place doing pizza like this. [dance music plays] Harry: Was that, like, a Cher ... ? Joe: Corniest song possible. Harry: You have those
moods where you're craving a specific food. If you're craving a slice of cheese pizza, a lot of places that
you could get it from. Whereas I guess, yeah, if you're craving an artichoke pizza,
they've got you cornered. Joe: I used to live by
the one in Bushwick, and it was a p
roblem. Harry: That's dangerous.
Joe: Yeah. So, I mean, obviously
it's a slice of pizza. Joe: Yes, and we're in New York. We're in New York. Some people might say this
isn't a New York slice. Would you say this is a New York slice? Yes, I would, Harry. But, you know, I'm not really into following
a specific set of rules just for the sake of rules, so. That seems to be your vibe. You're the bad boy. Kind
of don't play by the rules. Joe: That's right. If this jacket had a collar, straight up. All
right, enough of this. We got more pizza to eat. I got more Red Bull and Cokes to make. Harry: I hate that so much. Ready to go? Come on, let's go. That Red Bull's kicking in, baby. Harry: All right. Joe: Our next stop might be
the favorite for the tourists. It's Joe's. All right, buddy. So I got, of course, slice of the classic cheese. Then I got their fresh mozzarella slice. And then the reason I'm
holding this like this is for two reasons. One, I only have two hands. Two, you see how it's
dan
gling down over there? You see the dangle? The
tongue? The pizza tongue? Big slices. I don't want to put this on the table. Harry: No. Joe: That has never been cleaned because it's New York City.
Here, you go this one. And then you take the top one, maybe. OK. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. My only concern with this
situation is that this happens, and now I've got pizza on
my hands, but that's fine. New York City, baby. That's New York. Joe: The reason I'm taking you to Joe's is Joe's is arguably
the
most famous in New York. Harry: Yes.
Joe: It's very good. But this one, it's almost
pop-culture famous. It was in "Spider-Man." Harry: I'm trying to
remember which "Spider-Man" film it was in. I feel
like there's a lot of pizza in "Spider-Man," but. Is it the Tobey Maguire one? Ah! A bit of trivia about Joe's that is not really food-related is that it's so famous in this city that pizza places will open
up with Joe's in the name, like Little Joe's, Joe Jr.'s. So Joe's is always having to su
e places. Pizza place, they'll be
like, Original Joe's. It's like, "Nah, it ain't happening." Harry: Cease and desist. Joe: Joe himself hops on the
horn and is like, "Nah, man." So, notice how this slice,
a little bit flimsier, but they didn't cut it in half. A lot of color on the bottom there. This is quite a good char going on. It looks a little more saucy. Harry: Yeah, it does. Which is good. But this slice, I mean, this is a tourist destination.
There's a good reason why. I mean, other peopl
e are
shooting videos in here. So you know it's the spot. Harry: He's dressed a lot
more smartly than we are. Joe: Were we supposed
to dress up for this? I'm feeling underdressed now. Joe: Yeah. Dig in, buddy. Harry: OK, here we go. Joe: Good enough for
one of the Spider-Mans. Harry: Tobey Maguire, the best one. Mm. Sauce, right? The sauce. Right?
Harry: Mm! It's thin, and it's
floppy, so it deceitfully looks like it's going
to be a simple slice. Nothing simple about this. No. The flavors of the
sauce, it's perfect. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm into this.
Joe: This is perfect. This is really good. Well seasoned. Nice and
salty. Satisfying, savory. So you can imagine why just pizza places open
up all over the city that's like, "Yeah, we're also Joe's." Harry: Mm-hmm. I want to call everyone's attention to, like, it's pretty well cooked, right? It's pretty crispy here,
but it isn't breaking. It isn't falling over. It's a really weird mix of, like, crispy but also kind of soggy. Joe: Now, while
you're working on that, I want to tell you about this next slice. This is the fresh mozzarella.
Fresh "moozarell" slice. As you can see, a little
more generous with the sauce, not so much with the cheese.
What I like about this slice is it's exactly what we
were talking about before. This is, like, almost all sauce. Harry: Yes. Saucy boy, right here. Talk to me about the
pronunciation of "moozarell." Oh, that's how they call
it in "The Sopranos." I'm excited about the
amount of sauce on this. Ye
ah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
This is going to be floppier. Harry: This is going to
be, like, a full fold. All right, ready? Go. Harry: I'm actually going to say, I think I just prefer the classic cheese. Joe: Wow, really?
Harry: Yeah. I wasn't expecting myself
to, because I think — It's crazy, man. I figured
you for a saucehead. I thought you were going to
be like, give me the sauce. I kind of am, but for some reason, the combination of the
cheese and sauce on this one is working better for me. M
e personally, I'm going to say that as much as I love the
flavor of this slice, when you talk about a New York slice, it isn't just eating it,
it's how you're eating it. Joe's, I could eat this
one-handed, you know, while surfing on the internet on my phone. This one requires a
little more attention, so. Harry: Yeah, it's this one. No contest. Joe: Wow. Stick to the classics if
you're coming to Joe's. Joe: It has to be regular. It has to be Joe's
Pizza, not Little Joe's, not Duke of Joe's. Harry
: No. Joe: Not Classic Joe's, Famous
Joe's, Original Joe's — Harry: [laughing] "Duke of Joe's." Yeah, right. When are we going to Harry's
Pizza? Is that the next stop? I never heard of it, so have fun. Any of that dump. Harry: So, I mean, this is a
wildly popular tourist spot. Joe: Yeah. Harry: But honestly, I'm kind of into it. I was worried it would be
a complete tourist trap. Really bad quality. Cheap. I feel like you can't get complacent, just with the sheer amount of competition. You know,
if you got even
a little bit complacent, someone else is zooming
in and stealing it. You still want to have some more pizza? I know we've eaten a lot. Harry: I can always eat pizza. All right. Yeah, me too. OK, let's go to the next spot. Come on. Eh, just leave it there. Harry: Leave it there. That's
fine. The pigeons can have it. I don't know where Harry
went. He's on his own. He's from London. He can
figure out the train system. I want some of that pizza. We're right by the Brooklyn
Bridge, as
you saw. We're in the town of Dumbo,
named after the elephant. It's one of the biggest chains. They have, like, 43
locations of this chain, so they're doing pretty well. Speaking of. Ooh! Joe: Oh, man. Oh, man. Thank you. Look at these! I forget if I mentioned
this, but here in New York, people think that one of the reasons why New York City pizza's
so good is the water. Harry: Yeah, I've heard this. Joe: I've heard this too. I've heard various, some people
say yes, some people say no. But in 2
010, they got a
bunch of scientists together to actually examine the water. And then all their other locations, apparently they have this machine, this proprietary machine or process where they can remake New York
City water at their location. So when they make the dough,
it's with the special water. That's pretty cool. Joe: Now, I personally
think that's nonsense, but good on them for doing
it. I mean, it's cool. I mean, the pizza's
been pretty good today. Maybe it is the water
that's making a
difference. Who's to say? So, these look amazing.
What have we got here? So, we've got the classic,
like, cheese, margherita. Joe: Yeah, yeah, yeah. The
signature, the Brooklyn Bridge. This has sausage, ricotta, tomatoes. Mm. Joe: Fantastic. Oh, wow. That's very good. Very good. Look at this guy. Man, you got a cheesy slice. Harry: Cheers, my man. Few sips missing from mine.
I don't know where they went. The sauce is the star of the show. Reminiscent to me, the
flavor, a lot like John's. Harry:
Yeah. Joe: Looks like they'd
really scorched this pizza at high heat. It's gooey
and kind of melted. So it's another coal-fired
one like John's? Joe: Yeah, it's another
coal-fired. So you can see the burnt top, but also how the stuff kind of melted
together but stayed separate. I think when it cooks so fast,
they don't blend right away. Harry: I like it. It's almost a stronger cheese taste than some of the places today. Joe: Yeah. The cheese itself has
a bit more of a flavor. I mean, I'm curious
about
the Brooklyn Bridge one. I might just jump into this right now. Want a slice of this? Harry: Yeah, absolutely. Why not? I touched it. I'm sorry. Mm. That's so cheesy, man. Joe: Surprise. Oh, speaking of. Even more cheese to your cheese. It's maybe not as strong a kind of coal-finish, charred flavor. I personally, I think, want more of that. Joe: Me too. I want to feel like they literally just took it off the coals. Like I'm just biting
into a piece of charcoal. Joe: Yeah, yeah. Look at th
is. I've noticed the bubbles here. Oh, wow. Harry: See, yeah, I really — Joe: That's all that flavor. Harry: I love the charred
bits. They're so tasty. Joe: We oughtta put charcoal in it. That's really popular with, like, soaps and toothpaste and stuff. Is that a scam, or is that, does that actually do anything? I'm certain it does nothing. My wife, she used the charcoal toothpaste. And all it did was turn our sink black. Instead of the white
foam, it's black foam, and it's like, please stop doi
ng this. That's just how it looks when
the average British person brushes their teeth anyway, so it's fine. Have that cup of tea. Why is it all just? Ah, well, you do it only on Sundays. Harry: I do. I brush my teeth once a week, whether it needs it or not. Joe: "Whether it needs it or not." These are the best
pizza places I felt like taking you today in New York City. What are some of your
vibes? What do you like? Harry: I mean, overall I think we've had some fantastic slices. I think we've cov
ered
quite a few vibes as well. I like the vibe in here. It's a bit more of a old-school, red-and-white tablecloth, family joint. And then obviously we've
hit the slice shop, where you just grab, go, very authentic New York experience, so, I think between all of these, we've covered what feels like a lot. Joe: I didn't want to take
you to just the top ones. I wanted to get a good sense of what New York City has to offer. Pizza consumption just in
general for a lot of people is how much meat you
can put on it or how many different varieties of things, and eating a lot of it, and, but I what I love about
the places we went here, most part it was just sauce,
cheese, bread. Main elements. Harry: I think that's a great point. Just given how few ingredients there are, the small differences
are really noticeable. Little differences in the
crust or the type of cheese or how you're cooking it really can make a very,
very different experience. I think in terms of the
best individual slice we've
had today, the nonna slice at Bleecker
Street is probably my favorite. Joe: OK. But. Harry: However. Joe: However. But wait, there's more. Harry: I wasn't blown away
by their cheese slice. I think if I were to come back
to New York or if a friend of mine were visiting and
wanted a pizza recommendation, I think I'd actually go with
John's of Bleecker Street. I think that coal-fired pie was fantastic. Joe: You think better
than this coal-fired pie. Harry: I think better than this one. I think the
sauce and the cheese tasted better and you got more of the kind
of coal-fired, smoky flavor. The char on it was lovely. I just like the vibe in there as well. I think this is the best
slice we've had today. This is —
Harry: Really? Because before, I thought
John's was going to win it. I've strangely become
smitten with this sauce. It has a flavor to it
that I absolutely love. And even though we've
been eating pizza all day, I'm struggling to not grab this slice and shove it in my face. I feel li
ke often as we go through the day and we get more full and
more sick of eating pizza — Joe: Yeah. I know. The later places might struggle, but you've had the opposite. Yeah. Now, I want to point
out that our two favorites were from the coal-fire oven. You know what? I'm kind
of not surprised by that. Maybe because it gave it a distinct flavor you don't get normally. But I would argue that a coal-fire oven just produces better pizza. I just really like these
little charred bits. I think for me, t
hat's almost
the highlight of the pizza. By the way, that slice is
yours. You keep touching it. Just fiddling around with
the little burned bit. Joe: All right, we get
it. It's yours, it's fine. Harry: We've also given our favorite slots to whole-pizza places rather than a pick-up-and-go slice spot. Is grabbing a slice and walking around actually not the move? I didn't even think about
that thing. You're right. But maybe it's just sitting down. Maybe we just like that
because we got to sit. Harr
y: I do love sitting down. How about for next time I'm in town, we'll try and find a place that does coal-fired pizza by the slice? All right, you can do that
research. I don't want to. That's fine. I'll do it.
I'll see for part two. Joe: OK.
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