Posted by Adam Kuban, February 23, 2005 at 1:07 PM
It's an embarrassment of riches today in terms of DeMarco's reviews. It was brought to our attention this morning by friend and Slice reader J.J.J. that the New Yorker features DeMarco's in its Tables for Two column this week. It seems you either love DeMarco's or hate it, and the New Yorker seems to love it.
And speaking of love, Slice loves that fact that we get a passing mention in the review:
Over the past few months, nervous anticipation has characterized discussions among pizza fiends about the quasi-expansion of Brooklyn’s legendary Di Fara’s into Manhattan. To begin with, there was the promise of pedigree—two of Domenico De Marco’s children are in on the new venture, although they were forbidden to import the forty-year-old business’s name. Last month, the pizza blog sliceny.com posted photographs from the two pizzerias taken the same afternoon, in order to compare the bottom-crust charring (Di Fara’s proved slightly blacker, but the bloggers admitted the test had no bearing on the crust’s crispness).
The good news is that the De Marco’s slice is nearly as good as Di Fara’s. It has the signature savory tomato sauce, like the one Domenico makes using herbs he grows in his shop windows, and each pie gets three kinds of cheese and a final drenching with olive oil before it hits the oven. But they’ve got some fundamental elements wrong. Domenico makes each pie fresh for customers, who watch as rapt as if it were sushi at Masa, pummelling a lump of dough into shape and futzing over the arrangement of mozzarella on top. At De Marco’s, the kitchen works ahead, stockpiling perfect circles of dough and reheating slices on demand. It takes its toll: the congealed cheese never tastes just right again, and the layering of flavors and textures in each bite becomes muted.
Even so, for the unobsessed, the thin-crust slices from the round pies will seem great. They are certainly a triumph compared with the rest of the pizzas. The square, thick-crust slices, a long-baked sacrament at Di Fara’s, are terrible at De Marco’s—they taste like focaccia smeared with Ragú. And, even more mysteriously, the whole pies, served in the depressing, airport-bar-like restaurant next door, aren’t half as good as the take-out slices. It’s no surprise that the Manhattan place lacks the dusty charm of Di Fara’s, where about the only addition in forty years is the vintage shortwave radio on the windowsill. De Marco’s may have the best slice in Manhattan, but it’s no substitute for the trip to Avenue J.
Exactly exactly exactly exactly. My experience at the takeout section was positive and encouraging. I would certainly grab a takeout slice again. My subsequent experience sitting down at the restaurant was overwhelmingly disappointing. I could make pizza like that myself. Why could there be such a discrepancy between the two? Maybe it's still growing pains for a young startup place and we're demanding too much too quickly...
Hello, I just read my newest New Yorker and saw your mention. I've been an avid reader of Slice for some time and I'm glad that they picked up on it. Congratulations and great job on a wonderful weblog.
I've had DeMarco's a handful of times now and each experience has been vastly different. My first sampling were two fresh slices from their express counter. The wait was about 15 minutes as one of their ovens wasn't working and it seemed that their pizza maker couldn't quite keep up with the orders coming in from the restaurant. When I finally got my piping hot cheese slices I found the crust to be pretty substantial for a thin crust and was well charred. It did a decent job holding up the weight of the three cheeses. However, the crust and cheese pretty much obscured the flavor of the sauce. What I could gleen of the sauce was tangy sweetness and probably could've used a little extra seasoning. I also was not a big fan of the flavor the three cheese combination produced. Overall though, it was far better than the average corner slice. The pizza and its ingrediants were fresh and it was drenched in olive oil rather than orange grease. (As a side note, the delivery guy returned while I waited. He seemed pretty disgruntled--overworked and hungry--possibly from dealing with upset customers for late deliveries? See below...)
My second experience was at their express counter again. This time the pizza was not fresh out of the oven, but had been sitting out long enough to need a re-heating. The crust did not hold up quite as well, but still, in combination with the cheese overwhelmed the sauce.
Later that same evening, in their restaurant, I split the second of two slices with my girlfriend. The wait for two slices in the resaurant was over a half hour. When the slices finally did arrive, it seemed as if they'd been sitting for quite a while as the flavor of the cheese and sauce had been fused by the grease.
My last encounter with DeMarco's was a delivery. it took an hour and fifteen minutes to get our pie delivered from only a few blocks away. When it arrived, it was tepid and the cheese was well on its way to becoming congealed. It was no better than an un-heated slice from Rays.
Anyway, I think quality of pizza from DeMarco's is largely related to freshness. Though, I would say that, in general, it's pretty medicore pizza.
I have to say, I'll probably not returning for a while. Especially since in the same neighborhood are No. 28 and John's.
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It's an embarrassment of riches today in terms of DeMarco's reviews. It was brought to our attention this morning by friend and Slice reader J.J.J. that the New Yorker features DeMarco's in its Tables for Two column this week. It seems you either love DeMarco's or hate it, and the New Yorker seems to love it.
4 Comments:
Exactly exactly exactly exactly. My experience at the takeout section was positive and encouraging. I would certainly grab a takeout slice again. My subsequent experience sitting down at the restaurant was overwhelmingly disappointing. I could make pizza like that myself. Why could there be such a discrepancy between the two? Maybe it's still growing pains for a young startup place and we're demanding too much too quickly...
Slice Greg at 9:15PM on 02/23/05
Hello, I just read my newest New Yorker and saw your mention. I've been an avid reader of Slice for some time and I'm glad that they picked up on it. Congratulations and great job on a wonderful weblog.
Slice Andrew M. Lin at 10:15AM on 02/26/05
I've had DeMarco's a handful of times now and each experience has been vastly different. My first sampling were two fresh slices from their express counter. The wait was about 15 minutes as one of their ovens wasn't working and it seemed that their pizza maker couldn't quite keep up with the orders coming in from the restaurant. When I finally got my piping hot cheese slices I found the crust to be pretty substantial for a thin crust and was well charred. It did a decent job holding up the weight of the three cheeses. However, the crust and cheese pretty much obscured the flavor of the sauce. What I could gleen of the sauce was tangy sweetness and probably could've used a little extra seasoning. I also was not a big fan of the flavor the three cheese combination produced. Overall though, it was far better than the average corner slice. The pizza and its ingrediants were fresh and it was drenched in olive oil rather than orange grease. (As a side note, the delivery guy returned while I waited. He seemed pretty disgruntled--overworked and hungry--possibly from dealing with upset customers for late deliveries? See below...)
My second experience was at their express counter again. This time the pizza was not fresh out of the oven, but had been sitting out long enough to need a re-heating. The crust did not hold up quite as well, but still, in combination with the cheese overwhelmed the sauce.
Later that same evening, in their restaurant, I split the second of two slices with my girlfriend. The wait for two slices in the resaurant was over a half hour. When the slices finally did arrive, it seemed as if they'd been sitting for quite a while as the flavor of the cheese and sauce had been fused by the grease.
My last encounter with DeMarco's was a delivery. it took an hour and fifteen minutes to get our pie delivered from only a few blocks away. When it arrived, it was tepid and the cheese was well on its way to becoming congealed. It was no better than an un-heated slice from Rays.
Anyway, I think quality of pizza from DeMarco's is largely related to freshness. Though, I would say that, in general, it's pretty medicore pizza.
I have to say, I'll probably not returning for a while. Especially since in the same neighborhood are No. 28 and John's.
Slice Will Fain at 2:37PM on 02/28/05
It is thanks to this story that I found this website :)
Yum
Slice Jim at 12:38PM on 03/03/05