We were speechless reading Gothamist's post about a blogger who attacked Di Fara for being a filthy tourist trap. Luckily Grub Street put our thoughts into words: "Some anonymous writer is going to lecture Dom DeMarco on what constitutes Brooklyn culture? Maybe if the writer had actually bothered to eat the pizza, he would feel differently." We agree entirely. Although we wouldn't have included a link to the blog.
Clicking in to the Slice inbox today, we've got ... an email from a guy in some band or other.
Hi, Adam,
I posted a review of Di Fara's on my band's website, http://site.yeahyeahyeahs.com/, that I thought you would be interested in checking out.
Dom for president!
Best regards,
Brian
Photograph by Eating in Translation
Looks like Di Fara was closed for a "big order" Saturday. The occasion? Somebody's wedding. The blog Eating in Translation has the rest of the story, as Paul Harvey would say.
Just got word from George Motz, one of the masterminds behind the NYC Food Film Festival, that the pizza component of this year's summer screenings will be held al fresco in the parking lot next to Grimaldi's, 19 Old Fulton Street, Brooklyn NY 11201 (map).
What better place than under the Brooklyn Bridge for a line-up of three films that starts with Motz's own short film Brooklyn Pizza?
When: 8 p.m., Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Cost: Free
Here's the complete line-up:
Chairs will be set up in the parking lot for your comfort, and there will be a Grimaldi's tasting. More info at nycfoodfilmfestival.com.
Full disclosure: I'm friends with George and will be serving as a film judge for this year's NYC Food Film Festival.
If you're a Flickr user, you probably already know the site, previously known for photo-sharing, has added video-sharing now. I decided to test-drive the feature with this video from yesterday afternoon:
It's really nothing you haven't seen in other Di Fara videos or in person if you've been there, but there you go.
Related: All Di Fara entries on Slice »
As part of his FN Dish online show for the Food Network, Adam "Amateur Gourmet" Roberts goes to Di Fara with Sunny Anderson, a new Food Network show host. If you want to skip the bunkum about Roberts getting his hair cut and the Food Network promo junk, go to 1:30 into the video for the Di Fara stuff, where Anderson calls garlic and pepperoni the "Ben & Jerry's of toppings" (which Slice thinks is an insult to Dom DeMarco; his quality is definitely more than a few notches above that feel-good hippie ice cream).
Link: The FN Dish at Di Fara [The FN Dish]
With Facebook, I go through fits and starts. I'll leave it alone for weeks and then get a bug and play with it obsessively for a couple of days. Last night I was on the damn thing and noticed this whole "Pages" thing, where you can become a "Fan" of someone or something. I was already a fan of Grand Sichuan International restaurant, so I checked to see if there was a Di Fara fan page. Nope. Zilch. Nada. Bupkes. Sure there was a Fans of Di Fara group, which I'm also a member of, but no Di Fara page. And since it's simply another thingamajig to clutter up the interwebs with, I figured I'd create one. Here you go: Di Fara Pizza Facebook Page.
I would like to piggyback off of the Real Slim Shady's recent comments on America's Favorite Pizza Weblog and take it one step further with respect to his top two NYC pizzerias. I recently visited both Di Fara and Patsy's within 24 hours of each other, and my memories of both are still fresh in my mind.
When Patsy's of East Harlem is "on," as AK likes to say, they are not only number one in New York, there is some serious distance between them and Di Fara, and I'll tell you why: balance. I may sound like a broken record to some of you, but let's lay it down, and if the comments pour in disagreeing with me, then so be it.
Michael Y. Park of Epicurious.com's Epi-Log visits Di Fara and comes back with a nice step-by-step slideshow of the action. While the piece is titled "Secrets of Di Fara," Park concludes:
So the surprising thing is there are no real surprises. Di Fara pizza may be widely reputed to be "the best in the world," as one lifelong customer put it, but every step Domenico takes is one that any home pizza maker would already be very familiar with. So is there a secret recipe that makes Di Fara pizzas so legendary?
Related: All Di Fara entries on Slice
I took a visit out there last week and spent a considerable amount of time talking to Domenico DeMarco, 71. I was there to investigate the price spike but ended up learning a lot about the 150 or so pizzas he makes a day, such as cooking the pies at 750°F for five minutes; the use of Israeli basil and Italian flour.
But there is one thing I'd like to clear up. DeMarco uses four types of cheeses—not three. There are three types of mozzarella and of course the signature Parmigiano-reggiano he hits every pie with just before serving them.
Anyway, I noticed repeated media accounts of just three cheeses, and I wanted to set the record straight. And one other thing, DeMarco says a slice cost 20¢ when he opened in 1964. A pie cost a buck. Those were the times.
—Adam G.
From Chowhound: "Welcome to the $4 slice, up from $3, as of yesterday [Feb. 5]."
Not only that, but the chowhound OP complains that the Di Fara slice has shriveled up to 65 to 75 percent of other pizzerias' slices.
There's some lively debate going on on the thread, from the predictable ("It's worth it!" "Fewer people will come; more for me!") to debates on free market capitalism and whether proprietor Dom DeMarco is beholden to a strong euro and rising import prices or just a shrewd businessman trying to fleece suckers. My favorite response so far:
DiFara's, at least on this board, has morphed into some kind of strange, comical and unpleasant microcosm of life within which lines are constantly being drawn in the sand. You're either the savvy tough regular who knows how to navigate/maneuver your way to the front of the line, or, lord help you, you're a newbie/tourist/outsider/ weekling who doesn't know pizza from a doormat and doesn't deserve to. Dominick DeMarco is either a celestial being, a golden shining pizza oven with wings in the form a man who is able to levitate things other than just dough, or he's an inconsiderate, oblivious, money-mad cynic.
I'm a sucker, I'll admit. So I'll still go. It's always been a treat for me to visit and not a daily slice, so I can rationalize paying a (rather steep) premium every once in a while for it.
[via Kathryn Yu]
You know, I love Eater. In its Board Wrap post today, the site points out with one swift sentence the madness of trying to say anything negative about Di Fara on Chowhound: "The Only Way to Pan Di Fara on Chowhound: Blame Yourself"
The title of the actual thread: "Was my DiFara's dissapointment my fault?!?"
Clip:
The tip sagged, the cheese slid off into a goopy mess and my friend's meatball slice completely fell across into shambles. But, was it our fault because we did not allow the slices to cool completely after they came fresh out the oven?
Ah, a tentative toe in the waters of complaint. And the poster might have gotten away with it had he not gone here:
What do you all suggest for next time or is this a clear sign that DiFara's is going downhill?
From left: A Di Fara half-plain, half-artichoke pie; pizza-makers at Franny's; an Isabella's Oven Margherita D.O.C.; Una Pizza Napoletana's marinara pie.
Last year around this time Slice/Serious Eats contributed to Pim Techamuanvivit's Menu for Hope charity raffle. Our giveaway was a guided pizza tour for four. Well, the winners—Anthony Kinik and Michelle Marek of Montreal food blog An Endless Banquet—finally made us make good on our prize. (It took them almost a year because they live in Montreal and I secretly think they were waiting for the loonie to beat the dollar before making a trip to the U.S.)
Anyway, after much back-and-forth emailing, we settled on a proposed route: Di Fara, Franny's, Adrienne's Pizzabar, Isabella's Oven, Una Pizza Napoletana, Joe's Pizza, Bleecker Street Pizza.
Heroes: They each have some crazy-ass power. If I had this chick's ability, I'd head on out to Midwood and watch the master at work. (For all you folks not hip to Heroes, she's got the ability to learn something just by watching it.)
Or I'd just watch this collection of videos, all shot at Di Fara. After the jump.
Browsing the Vimeo video sharing site, I just came across this great Di Fara video:
Bon Appétit magazine, in conjunction with the Food Network, went across the country looking for the best pizza, hamburgers, ribs, fried chicken, and tacos. Three finalists in each category are written up in the September issue of the magazine (the blurbs are rather generic-sounding), and the winner is going to be announced on a Food Network special hosted by Alton Brown August 18.
What isn't clear to me after reading about their search is the methodology they used. What criteria did they use in each category? How did they go about finding and then eating at the best places in each category? Did at least one or more persons eat at all three finalists in a given week?
Methodology is important when it comes to determining ultimate pizza, hamburger, rib, fried chicken, and taco superiority. The "best" is a big, big, claim that shouldn't—and can't —be taken lightly. I'll try to find out their methodology and report back.
In the meantime, the only category I have eaten in all three finalists is pizza. The three they chose, Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix, Pizzeria Mozza in Los Angeles, and Di Fara in Brooklyn, are certainly worthy contenders, although it is difficult to compare Mozza and Bianco, where the pizza (whole pies only) is made in wood-burning ovens utilizing the best, mostly house-made ingredients and sophisticated toppings, and Di Fara, where Dom DeMarco uses a conventional gas pizza oven and sells slices made with high-quality store-bought cheese and sausage.
The weekly events magazine puts three questions to the legendary pizza maker:
1. How do you feel about some of the changes?
I have to wear a hat. I don’t like it. I guess I have to get used to it, but it’s going to bother me. The worst thing is the window. I don’t like to close the window. I have been opening the window for 42 years. Now they say I can’t open it anymore.
Just called the joint and got word that it's open again after its health department–enforced hiatus.
Di Fara Watch is to Pizza as iPhone is to Gadgets.
I know. You're getting sick of it. But many Slicesters want to know. The latest update, as of 20 minutes ago, thanks to Slice reader "Ropa Vieja," is that Dom & Co. are set for tomorrow.
In what has become a daily ritual this week, here's the latest on Di Fara. This time from a tipster in Midwood.
tipster: Adam, It's [NAME REDACTED]. Di Fara's a no go today.
tipster: Dom was outside and spoke to him. He said that Health Dep guys came today and OK'd him.
tipster: His son was ripping down the DOH notice off the front window as I spoke to him. Wanted to take the shot but batteries were dead.
tipster: I'll be by there again tomorrow afternoon.
nycslice: Yo! Wassup, homeslice?
nycslice: so he's approved, but can only open as early as tomorrow?
tipster: That's what he said.
nycslice: thanks!
tipster: His son was fixing up and what not.
tipster: I must have caught them right after the DOH guys left because they were both outside trying to assess how to start prepping.
tipster: Siesta time for me, hombre.
nycslice: thanks again!
nycslice: hasta la pizza!
tipster: yup, hasta la p
In what has become an almost daily ritual, my call to Di Fara this morning yielded the response that the joint should be open tomorrow (Thursday, June 21).
See you tomorrow.
Signed,
Your Daily Di Fara Correspondent
Just got back from Di Fara, where I had a conversation with Dom through the back door. He was griping a bit and said that he had to go to the DOH tomorrow (Tuesday) and should be open by Wednesday. I've got my fingers crossed (and stomach growling).
A comment we just received on Slice:
stay outta our neighborhood you tourists! we want our pizza back! we were the first to give di fara its props before you ppl, now we can't even get a slice di fara local anonymous | 06.15.07 - 1:31 pm
I just got off the phone with Dom DeMarco, proprietor of Di Fara, looking for an update on the reopening.
The Dominator confirms that the joint is not open as of today—they're still waiting on an inspector to come out and give them the go-ahead. If that happens today, they'll reopen on Monday.
But Dom's take was that the city would be more likely to send someone out Monday, slating the pizzeria for a Tuesday reopening.
But it might be as late as Monday. More at Eater
I just got an email from Maggie DeMarco with an update in the Di Fara situation:
Tune into WNYC NOW! In New York City: 93.9 FM
They're talking about Di Fara. Right now!
Outside Gotham (if you care): http://www.wnyc.org/
Update
It's over. Was only a short 10-minute segment at 10 a.m. EDT. New York State Senator Jeff Klein was a guest on the show, and he had some more info on the situation at Di Fara.
Klein: "The Department of Health right now may be overreacting. Because of the Taco Bell incident, they're going out and giving violation after violation."
Senator Klein said he had been studying California's system as an example, in which a grading system is used to identify cleanliness levels at restaurants.
Klein: "They have seen in California a substantial decline in food-borne illness. And business has increased. Restaurants that get an A or B have increased business by 15 to 20 percent."
So would a Cali-style DOH grading system help Di Fara?
No, Klein said. Di Fara is "somewhat of a special case" because of the multiple inspection failures (five of six failures in the past 18 months).
"If you fail two in a row," Klein said, "You go on an accelerated program—inspections every six months, every three months—and you have to pass two inspections in a row to get out of the [accelerated] program.
"They went on the program, and they didn't do it."
Di Fara, taken in better days just a couple weeks ago.
The New York Times has its take on the most recent Di Fara DOH closing, with a bit more on possible duration of the shuttering:
Ms. DeMarco, 30, said her family was scheduled to appear at a city tribunal on June 14 to produce the paperwork and to determine any fines and the next steps. Until then, she said, “we sit around and wait; nothing we can do about it.”
And while we're talking about Di Fara, let me mention something that has made me almost as sad as this latest run-in with the DOH...
Burnt pies.
There, I said it. And I hate to say it, but with readers calling me out on this in the comments, I've gotta say something.
I first noticed it about a month ago: a pie that Adam "The Amateur Gourmet" Roberts received looked a little too blackened:
April 26, 2007. Photograph from the Amateur Gourmet
I hoped it was just a fluke, but when I visited on May 20, here's what I got:
May 20, 2007
And then, on Memorial Day Weekend:
May 26, 2007
Maybe this break will give Di Fara some time to adjust the oven and fix whatever needs it.
Dear, DOH:
What if we sign a personal-injury waiver to eat at Di Fara? Would you let Dom open his place back up? Slice has taken the liberty of preparing one:
Download PDF: Liability-Waiver-DiFara-Pizza.pdf
Holy crap, pizza freaks! Di Fara has been closed for an indeterminate period by the New York City Department of Health. Says Eater, which broke the story:
In a stunning and shocking turn of events, we're now able to confirm with 100% certainty that Di Fara has again been shut down by the Department of Health. Furthermore, with the pizzeria having failed five of their last six inspections, Dom DeMarco's pride and joy will remain closed until further notice. Here is the statement just issued to us by the Heath Department.
The statement says that the department came in to inspect and found evidence of rodent infestation and other violations that were in excess of standards. The DOH concluded that, having failed five of six inspections in the last 18 months, Dom DeMarco and crew showed an unwillingness to comply with code requirements.
Dom's closed until he can straighten the mess out with the scary sounding Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings (OATH.
Word is that if Dom loses his case before OATH, he will be sent to Guantanamo as an unlawful combatant.
From the always-on-it Eater, which received a message from a tipster:
Was just waiting for my pie at ave. J's di fara and watched a doh official tape a yellow "closed" sign on the window. One reason was that the window was open. De Marco himself was so distracted he wasn't hand cutting basil and grating cheese atop the pies. Even without the added ingredients, pizza was still great.
First the problems in March, now this? And because he had the pass-through window open? That seems ridiculous. How many restaurants have whole façades that open up?
I'd never heard of this guy before, but I just found one of his videos on YouTube.
Update: Nevermind. He has removed his video from YouTube.
Hey,
Just thought you should know: Went for dinner at Dom's place tonight. Looks like he finally caved in to the D.O.H. because he was actually wearing a hat. It was a little blue train conductor's cap. Pizza was better than ever. We had a regular and a pepperoni/onion pie. It doesn't get any better than that.
—Jon S.
Jon,
Thanks for the update. Next time: Pix, please! ;)
Hasta la pizza,
Adam
The New York Post files its story on Di Fara's reopening:
"It feels great to be back. I thought I'd be out of practice until I made that first pie," said Dom, who's been serving up pizzas there for 42 years.
Many of DiFara's faithful said the pizzeria got a raw deal from the city, which hit the eatery with nine violations.
"They're pinching this cat when all he does is make love for people to eat," said Matt Crane, a 37-year-old musician.
This Serious Eats stuff I've gotten myself into is a weird business. Blogging about pizza, burgers, and other food is now part of my job, so it wasn't out of the realm of the ordinary to take part of the day to go out to Di Fara Pizza.
The joint had just reopened after having a nasty run-in with the New York City Department of Health. As many of you know, the DOH smackdown wasn't pretty. Along with minor violations like failure to wear a hat and gloves, references to mouse poop and unsanitary conditions peppered the report.
But, a couple weeks of forced closure, the pizzeria's proprietor, Dom DeMarco, was back behind the counter, looking and acting a little peppier for the involuntary rest—greeting regulars in his trademark laconic way and accepting well-wishes from customers with a quick nod.
I was slightly jarred by the new coat of green paint on the walls, which gave the dining room a cozier yet more vibrant feel (see above). In retrospect, the previous faded-yellow color wasn't so becoming, eh? The place looked cleaner, too, with new trash cans that, by all indications, were actually being put to use.
It's funny what passes for news these days. You can sure as hell bet that Slice would be on hand for this event, but two other publications were also present: the Courier Life (right, at top) and the New York Post (right, at bottom). Notebooks out and cameras clicking away, the reporters interviewed people: "Are you a regular? How often do you come?"
But most important: "Even after the Department of Health report, you've come back. Why?"
The answers were typical for Di Fara devotees. "He makes the best pizza," one of the patrons responded.
I got there around 1:30 p.m., ordered a half-artichoke pie, and began the ritual waiting. Many of you know I hate crowds and lines, but the place wasn't that packed. Either the report had scared off lightweights and weak stomachs or folks just didn't know that the Dominator was back. But I had my pie by 2:15 p.m. or so (not bad time these days), ate a couple slices at a table (more than a handful of seats were available), and made my way back home to pick up my laptop and head into the office.
While I waited, I asked Dom's daughter, Maggie, about the fate of DeMarco's Pizzeria, the site of a violent gun battle a few weeks ago. The Post had reported that DeMarco's was closing for good, which didn't quite jibe with what the New York Times had said in an earlier, more thorough piece. The Times had it that DeMarco's would close its sit-down restaurant portion but keep the take-out pizzeria portion open. Maggie confirmed this. Alas, the Old Gray Lady's not called the "paper of record" for nothing, kids.
What's that you ask? Oh. How was my pie? Well, Dom was using the top oven as well as the usual middle oven, and I don't know how hot that top oven gets, but my crust could have used a bit more time in the fire.
Oh, and, Dom was stubbornly refusing to wear gloves and a hat!
For photo outtakes, click through the jump!
An awesome email from the Slice inbox today:
Dear Slice folks,
My name's James, and I'm a fan of your site. Waaaaay back around 2001 or 2002, I wrote and recorded a song. It's called "Dom," and it is about a certain pizzaman in Brooklyn, about whom you know a little something. It's a little out of date now.
I know the guy that makes the bestest pie in town
His ass is not under the bridge
You will not find him in Coney Island
You will not find him in Bay Ridge
I just got off the phone with Dom DeMarco, proprietor of Di Fara. He says the joint's reopening tomorrow. And that when it was reinspected, it received a "0," which actually is good—as in zero violations.
Oh, my.
If you haven't seen it elsewhere, Gawker has dug up the NYC Dept. of Health inspector's report that closed Di Fara temporarily.
If you know us, you know we don't like having to report this news.
Source
Di Fara Pizza: One Slice, Free Droppings! [Gawker]
Further Reading
All Slice entries on Di Fara [The Slice Archives]
Noooooo!!!!!! If you're about to leave work and get on a train for an end-of-week Di Fara run, nix that idea.
Slice reader Gabriel S. just emailed: "Went by Di Fara looking for a slice today and saw that they were shut by the board of health yesterday. Do you have any details?"
I just called Di Fara proprietor Dom DeMarco, who was at the restaurant, and he confirms that the Department of Health has closed the place "for little things."
"They say I've gotta wear gloves now—and a hat," Mr. DeMarco said. "It's all little things, like everybody else."
Despite the crap news, Dom seemed pretty chipper, taking things in stride. "I'd only wear a hat if I were bald. I'd rather pay the fine than wear the hat."
Mr. DeMarco estimates he'll be open again for business by Tuesday.
"I think it's their way of forcing me to take a little break," he said, jokingly.
Related: Latex Gloves in the Professional Kitchen? from the Talk section of Serious Eats.
Not to beat a dead horse here, but Ed wanted to talk about the wait at Di Fara with me for a segment of his video-blog series "Edibles." Whoomp, here 'tis.
This morning at the Serious Eats office Ed came in talking about how he had dinner with someone last night who had spent two hours in line at Di Fara earlier this week.
I was like, "TWO HOURS?!?! At Di Fara? Surely that's an exaggeration! Maybe two hours' total time there, but not solely in waiting."
Funny then that I should get a copy of David Rosengarten's Tastings newsletter in my inbox soon after. In it, Mr. Rosengarten recounts his very long wait, after which, he and his friend employ a novel tactic for getting their fix:
Mama mia. So it came down to this: to get a slice of pizza at Di Fara, you have to go up to a couple of complete strangers and beg for it. Not that I minded, mind you.....after all, this is major 'za we're discussing......but there's gotta be something wrong with a system that reduces a man to that.The pizza was good. Really good. Though not quite up to my five-year-old memory. Why? I remember more flavor then; this one was quieter. But it still had that droopy, soupy, wet-but-crisp textural complexity that the best Neapolitan and New York Neapolitan pizzas do. My faith in pizza was still secure—though my faith in humanity was a little shaken.
The full story is almost too painful to read because it's all too familiar.
I haven't been to Di Fara in ages—I love the place, but most times my hatred for crowds and lines overrides that. Has the wait really become two hours long?
Photograph courtesy Dalton Rooney
The above photo appeared on Dalton Rooney's photoblog Seriously Excited! Says Mr. Rooney, "I'm working on a series of similarly themed Brooklyn photos:
http://www.seriouslyexcited.net/category/hello-my-name-is/"
Today we've got a super-duper Di Fara duo for all you fans of Dom and his art. (Slice counts itself among your number.)
Exhibit A is the photo at left here. Reader Jason T., who's also the winner of our sister site's most recent contest, sent this to us after he had won the contest (no quid pro quo, yo): "One of my good friends, Jake, lives in Santa Cruz, California, and loves Dom's pizza so much that he had an artist paint an image of Dom on his surfboard."
Exhibit B is a wonderful anecdote from FOS Norman H. ...
So, I'd heard rumors that Dom had expensive taste when it came to wine. It didn't seem to ring true, in light of how he seems to run his life, and the, um, less-than-extravagant way he runs his business.So I decided to buy him a bottle. I scoped out the neighborhood, trying to figure out which liquor store he would use, and there was one a few doors down. Very young kid behind the counter, but what the hell. I asked if he new Dom, and he said sure. So I told him I wanted to buy a bottle of wine, as it was Dom's birthday, and did he have any idea what Dom usually bought.
The clerk immediately sucked in his breath, paused, then said, "Ooh—depends on your budget."
So I knew at once that the rumor was true. I asked to see what Dom usually picked—one was $84, the other $110. I was smiling, and the guy then said, "Well, he does sometimes go a bit cheaper," and pointed out a $35 French (I know!) red, which I bought.
REFERENCES
Book Report: Everybody Loves Pizza, in which Slice first learned of Dom's nightly bottle of Amarone Valpolicella [Slice Archives]
All Di Fara entries [Slice Archives]
"I don’t particularly care to walk in to a place and watch a guy past his prime “whip” up pizza and (what seemed like the case the last time I was there) who looks bored and careless as to what he was doing. As I mentioned earlier, consistency is something I look for, and the only thing I find consistent about his pizza is that he doesn’t make them all the same. ;) " —Nicky M., on Di Fara
How’s it going, Slice?I will give you a little history on myself, and offer up my recommendation. My grandfather had two Italian restaurant/coal-oven pizza places in the city and appeared on the radio making pizza to music, or Musical Pizza. I myself, have been making pizza for seven years, most notably working at Villa Bay, which Arthur Schwartz praised for having great food and pizza. Due to having a poor location and terrible parking, my friend Jack had to close the place down.
One thing I found interesting, and really is the way that I came across your website, was your article of Famous Famiglia at Yankee Stadium. I actually worked for Famiglia for two years, and want to note two things.
Pity poor Ed Levine. When his workday doesn't involve ordering one of each doughnut at a well-regarded New York City doughnuttery, he gets to eat pizza from some of the country's best pizzerias and write about it for Details magazine. His findings cover some familiar ground to readers of Slice and of Mr. Levine's 2005 book PIzza: A Slice of Heaven, but there are some new entries to be savored.
Pizzeria Bianco [623 East Adams Street, Phoenix AZ 85004; map] "The sauce tastes like a distillation of the ripest tomatoes."
Di Fara[1424 Avenue J, Brooklyn NY 11230; map] "... a Di Fara slice has a one-of-a-kind flavor."
Totonno's [1524 Neptune Ave., Brooklyn NY 11224; map] "Order the white pie, made with ricotta, mozzarella, and enough fresh garlic to ward off a roomful of vampires."
An interesting item hit the Slice inbox yesterday.
OK guys, put this in your pie and smoke it!
A couple of caveats: The list isn't quite as definitive as it claims to be, as it is missing any critical analysis of Staten Island, Queens, and Bronx joints. When you guys post this on the site (front page, please), perhaps you may want to refer to it as "The Definitive Manhattan and Brooklyn Top 10 List." We've all been to these places enough times to know what's going on and who's coming with their A game and who isn't.
Seltzerboy, as a fellow SU alum, I tried to get in touch with you when I first moved to New York, and I also furnished you with a copy of the Syracuse Pizza Manifesto, another masterwork I coauthored. But to no avail, I never really heard back from you other than a weak Orangeman shout out. We'll take you choads in a pie-off any day of the week! Now, without further ado....
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
photograph by Jason Perlow
Two Di Fara items of note for you today ...
First is from Off the Broiler, which is where the above photo comes from:
On all my visits to Difara in the past, we’ve always gone for the regular pizza pies, and haven’t eaten anything else, such as his Italian-American specialities and the elusive Square Pie — which is sold sometimes as slices but not nearly as frequent as the regular pies — that takes nearly an hour itself to prepare, because it has to be proofed, the pizza shell has to be baked separately (which takes at least twice as long as the regular pie) and then it has to be dressed with sauce and cheese and baked again. I have heard from many who are devout Difara adherents that Dom’s Square Pie is perhaps the best square in the entire city, and for those who worship crust char, it beats the regular Difara slices hands down.
The second item comes to our attention via Andrew Krucoff, who interviews historian, journalist, author, and teacher Francis Morrone. As Mr. Krucoff says, "He's got quite a thing for Di Fara":
What was your best dining experience in NYC?
The first bite of DiFara’s pizza. In an instant, I understood the Baroque....The End of The World is finally happening. What are you going to do with your last 24 hours in NYC?
In addition to telling all my loved ones how much I love them, and presuming that Dominic DeMarco has remained blissfully ignorant of said End, I suspect I’d eat a DiFara’s pizza--also presuming the line was less than 24 hours long.
NYC Dining: DiFara Redux — Its Hip to be Square [Off the Broiler]
92YQ: Francis Morrone [92Y Blog]
In an earlier post, I complained about the wait at Di Fara, prompted by a recent thread on Chowhound. Slice's city editor, Seltzerboy, responded in the comments section of that post. But his words are too good to be buried there. Dig ... --Ed.
WORDS BY SELTZERBOY .::. Di Fara is not the problem. It's the victim of a much larger problem. Too often, pizza is viewed as fast food. Di Fara is anything but fast food. In pretty much any restaurant, people are used to having their food delivered in less than 30 minutes. When someone says a restaurant has "good service," what they mean is the food made it from kitchen to table in short order.
The problem isn't Di Fara; it's our culture, which demands speed in everything. Yes, it takes longer for Di Fara to produce your pie—a lot longer, in fact. If time is your primary concern when eating out, there are no shortages of other places that will meet your needs. But when you go to Di Fara, you are engaging in something other than fast food. When I go to Di Fara, I know what I'm in for. I bring a book. But even without reading material, there's enough to keep you busy there. Commisserate with fellow patrons; share your Di Fara strategies with others; talk with Mr. DeMarco about his tomatoes or his family or whatever; pick your own herbs from the plants in the window; learn to speak a little Italian; uncork a bottle of wine; do some shopping along Avenue J and learn to speak a little Hebrew or Yiddish; study Mr. DeMarco's every move as he makes a pie (amazingly, this never gets old); grab a rag, and clean the tables; take out the garbage. Over the years, I have done all of these things while waiting for a Di Fara pie. It has become part of the experience—an experience I wouldn't change a bit. There's a group of off-duty cops who pass the time by playing cards. Waiting an hour for Mr. DeMarco's pie makes you appreciate it even more.
I could list a dozen ways in which Mr. DeMarco could speed up his operation. But all of them would hinder the final product. To me, that final product is what's most important. Why the hurry? Life's too short. Throw out the cellular phone, unplug your laptop and television, and wait an hour for your pizza. Slow down; you just might enjoy it more.
Not to be a pizza weblog that complains about something without offering a solution, we propose to spearhead a collection to buy Dom DeMarco a Take-A-Number system. Who's in? $550 for:
Four thousand tickets per roll? That should get Dom through half a day.
Take A Number 2-Digit Wireless Ready Set Kit [Take a Number, Inc.]
A Slice reader alerted us to a looooong thread on Chowhound about the interminable wait and dropped orders at Di Fara. It was started by this post:
There is no way I will get my husband to go back to try again, but I would like to know if anyone else has had this kind of experience, in case I make a visit with other friends. Were we wrong to order a whole pie? Were we wrong to order mushrooms? I hadn't gotten this from previous postings, but is this another case of a grumpy owner who decides that he doesn't like you and gives you bad service to get you out? If this is the case, what could we have done to tick them off?
If we had gotten a pizza in regular time and it was terrible, I don't think I would be as disappointed as I was with the service we got today. Bad Chow Day.
This being Chowhound, the OP (original poster) was thoroughly beaten down for dissing a canonized chowspot. And someone participating in the thread went so far as to take out the domain difarapizza.com and post this there:
Re: Di Fara disappointment
To all those that have been bitching about the amount of time it takes to get a slice of pizza at DiFara. If you want pizza thirty minutes or less call Dominoes pizza or Papa Johns Or stay in Manhattan and and eat your "Rays Famous" crap. Things in Brooklyn, take a little longer, because it's always better. Please do us all a favor and stop coming to DiFara, then maybe us Brooklynites don't have to wait for a slice of love. There is nothing that kills the mode of happiness, than to hear all of you complainers while we sit and wait for pizza. As us Brooklynites love to say "Go see, where ya gotta go"
I'd say that Dom didn't drop the order to spite the OP. Listen, he's done it frequently to us here at Slice, sometimes forgetting the order twice and drawing out our wait for pizza to two hours. You wish there was a better system, you know there won't ever be, and you choose to deal with it or not. It's one of the main reasons I'm hesitant to go to Di Fara anymore. Nine times outta ten these days, when I consider Di Fara, I weigh the options, and then opt out.
Which, I guess, plays into the hands of the publisher of DiFaraPizza.com (who "is not associated with Difara in any way").
Di Fara disappointment [Chowhound]
DiFaraPizza.com [fansite]
Stunt magician David Blaine loves Di Fara Pizza. He must have gone there after his latest trick, in which he submerged himself in a water-filled bubble:
While in the sphere, Blaine said, "I passed the time by pretending to be an astronaut, floating freely in space."He dreamed of his favorite restaurant, Di Fara's Pizzeria in the Midwood section of Brooklyn, where he goes after every stunt.
And here's from a wonderful interview Jeff Vandam did with Di Fara proprietor Dom Demarco for the New York Times:
"You want to know something? A lot of people, they pay more for a slice than they have to. That guy David Blaine, the guy who does the magic tricks? He was over here the other day. His bill was $75, but he gave me $100. He comes here all the time."
Blaine's high and dry [New York Post; via Gothamist]
Charred Bubbles, and Other Secrets of the Slice [New York Times; Times Select]
Jason Perlow, eGullet cofounder and proprietor of Off the Broiler, took some video of Di Fara master Dom "The Dominator" DeMarco in action. He's been kind enough to give us the footage to show you. Click here to watch.
And check the Off the Broiler Di Fara post for lots of stills: NYC Dining: Di Fara Pizza
Speaking of Dom DeMarco, the Financial Times profile on Slice's favorite pizzaiolo reminds me of the nickname for him that we sometimes throw down around Slice HQ: The Dominator. Said nickname inspired this (admittedly) extremely crappy Photoshop job of a Dom-Terminator mashup.
This is officially THE DUMBEST thing we have ever posted on Slice.
He is an old man. His work has not been kind to his body and he shows his 69 years. He has been going home with flour on his shoes for nearly half a century. He does not run a restaurant - he makes pizza because he loves it.
Pizza with passion baked in [Financial Times]
"I'll be back." So uttered The Dominator last week, albeit through the words of his family. And back he is, so reports the New York Daily News. While that's all well and good, we think the News buried