Slice
Di Fara Pizza Roundup, Part 2: Back to Di Fara
In my roundup of Di Fara posts the other day, I completely forgot to mention this one: Back to Di Fara, by writer Peter Cherches.
This is indeed a huge oversight, as it's one of the best musings I've read lately on Dom DeMarco and his art. It also complements Jason Perlow's post that rhapsodizes on the square slices at Di Fara. On his blog, Word of Mouth, Mr. Cherches details a homecoming trip to Midwood, Brooklyn, to try a few slices after a near 30-year Di Fara–less gap.
His take? The regular slices are OK, but not as great as the cult of Di Fara would have you believe. But the squares? Oh, those wonderful squares:
In a very hot oven, with the crust mostly pre-baked, it doesn't take too long to cook a square pie, once Dom gets around to it, that is. Dom's daughter served me my slice and I took it back to the table. It was oily and messy, so I used a fork and knife on it. I took a bite.It was transcendent. It was unique. It was delicious.
Now for a disclaimer. While I like pizza, I'm not a pizza fanatic. I've enjoyed pizzas in Italy, but I don't tend to order them too often when I'm there. I also prefer Turkish pides and Alsatian tartes flambées to pizza. Still, as far as pizza goes, I can't think of any I've had that was better than the square slice at Di Fara. The major difference between the two kinds of pie is apparently the sauce. For the square Dom uses a sauce that has been simmered with prosciutto or pancetta. I think it is the heartiness of this sauce, along with the way the cheeses marry on top of it that perhaps makes the noticeable difference. In addition, Dom added fresh basil to the square slices, which gave another dimension to the flavor.
So now I'm a Di Fara's true believer, but a sectarian of the square. Nonetheless, It might be some time before I go back. Like I said, I'm not a pizza fanatic—just a humble pilgrim.
Back to Di Fara [Word of Mouth]
All Slice entries on Di Fara [Slice Archives]
Photograph by Jason Perlow