Interview with Sal Carbone, Pizza-Eating Contest Winner
Link: Sal Carbone, Rocco's Pizza-Eating Winner [YouTube]
Entries tagged with 'Bay Ridge'
Bay Ridge Man Scarfs 15 Slices, One Bite, Setting New Rocco's Pizza-Eating Record
From the New York Daily News:
"It started out as a friendly bet with my friends Danny and Rocco, but they knew the way I could eat. So I won it last year with 15 slices. This year I beat my record, 15 slices and one bite," said [Sal] Carbone, of Bay Ridge.
Rocco's
7818 Fifth Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11209 (Bay Ridge; map)
718-238-7658
Peppino's Hybrid Calzone-Pizza, Bay Ridge
After reading about the calzone-pizza hybrid at Peppino's in Bay Ridge, I had to get my greasy little hands on one. So I found myself on the R train this weekend, heading for the 77th Street Station.
Walking in, I sheepishly asked for the thing. "I read about it in the Daily News; do I really need a password for it."
"No, that's just a joke," the waitress said. "Is it just for you?"
Password-Protected Pizza Hybrid Available at Peppino's in Bay Ridge
A crazy item in the New York Daily News yesterday that I meant to link to, so you get it today. Apparently Peppino's in Bay Ridge is making a crazy hybrid calzone-pizza that you need a password to order:
The Third Avenue pizzeria has been serving a pizza-calzone hybrid for the last few months, a flat three-slice pie that rises on one half like a stuffed calzone, with sausage and ricotta.
"People [were] confused," said owner Joe Mancino. "They didn't know what they wanted. They want pizza? They want calzone? They don't know. This is the best of both worlds."
To get the password, you have to email the Daily News's Brooklyn Diary columnist at BrooklynNews@nydailynews.com.
Peppino's
7708 Third Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11209 (at 77th Street, Bay Ridge; map)
718-833-3364
McCain Visits Brooklyn Pizzeria, Gives Tax Refund to Counterman
The Republican presidential candidate buys a $3 slice, pays with a double sawback, and tells the clerk to keep the change. OK. Maybe it really wasn't a tax refund, but whatevs.
He dropped in on Verrazano Pizza in Bay Ridge: 9102 Fourth Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11209. [Tip o' the hat to Mark H.!]
Openings: Zio Toto
The Daily News notes that southern Brooklyn is bucking the nationwide trend toward chain restaurants and focuses on the opening of Zio Toto, an upcoming brick-oven joint in Bay Ridge. Here's the News:
Southern Brooklyn's apparent insulation from the national trend of franchise pizza joints squeezing out mom-and-pops may in part be due to the downright hostility many locals feel toward their corporate counterparts.
John Miniaci Jr. of Johnny's Pizza in Sunset Park, whose father, John Sr., founded the neighborhood pizzeria in 1968, even started a petition drive in hope of blocking the opening of a Papa John's franchise outlet from moving to his block.
His anti-Papa John's petition went to the pizza titan's corporate office in Kentucky with 2,200 signatures. Papa John's didn't respond to the petition and opened as expected last month, but Miniaci insisted there was no noticeable drop-off in his business.
Zio Toto, the pizzeria that inspired reporter Matthew Lysiak to write the piece, will open in Bay Ridge at 84th Street and Third Avenue, replacing a Cheesesteak Factory, which closed in August.
Dear Slice: I Have a Slight Complaint About SliceNY.com
It's not always chocolate and kisses from the readers of Slice, but that which doesn't kill us ... Here's from the Slice mailbag.Dear Slice,
I was looking at the page you dedicated to Bay Ridge pizza. You spent so much time on Lento's (which, believe me, I miss terribly) that you left out the regular Bay Ridge Brooklyn pizza that everyone loves so so so much!
Lento's is (or was) a specialty. It was special thin-crust pizza that you could only get by the pie and could only get there. There is a pizzeria on every other corner, and some are good and some are bad, but placing all of your faith of the best pizza in Bay Ridge Brooklyn leads me to believe that you didn't actually try any Bay Ridge Brooklyn pizzerias.
Bay Ridge Pizza Contest
Brooklyn Democrats for Change, a Bay Ridge political group, will be hosting the Second Annual Best Pizza in Bay Ridge Contest tomorrow night (04/27) at 8 p.m. at the Pour House on the corner of 79th Street and Third Avenue. 79th and Third in Brooklyn, that is.
Tix: $35 at the door.
Here's the press release:
Pizza is the soul food for every Bay Ridgite, but which pizza parlor offers the best slice? Last year Brooklyn Democrats For Change had a pizza tasting for its annual fundraiser and it was such a hit that it’s being repeated, on Thursday, April 27th from 6 to 8 PM at The Pour House, 79th Street and Third Avenue.
'Daily News': Lento's Closed
In a story headlined "The unkindest slice of all," the New York Daily News reports on the reasons behind Lento's closing: declining business and what seems to be a family dispute.
[Linda] Cahill's grandfather, Eugene Lento, turned the space into a pizzeria 73 years ago after the speakeasy he ran began losing dough at the end of Prohibition.
Upon his retirement, Lento handed the business to sons-in-law Anthony Tortora and Herbert Connors, and in 1988 Cahill and three others took over.
Lento's daughter, Mary Lento, inherited the building at 7003 Third Ave. when Lento died in 2002.
"My grandfather reassured us there would be no reason to worry," Cahill said. "We didn't think there would be a problem because why would anyone want to close their father's legacy?"
The reporter contacted me for comment, which I gave. But I sound funny, even though the quotes are accurate.
The unkindest slice of all [New York Daily News]
Closings: Lento's
We heard some scuttlebutt late last week about Lento's closing. Bay Ridge Blog offers more supporting evidence: "Went past Lento's tonight, and it was closed at 7:30 p.m. And the word Lento's was cut out of the awning. I hope that they have not closed. That would be awful."
Operating as a pizzeria since 1933, the place was a neighborhood favorite and, for some, a destination pizzeria. When I lived in Bay Ridge after first moving to New York City, Lento's was easily a once-a-week affair for me.
So here's to Lento's, R.I.P. Slice will pour some on the ground for you.
Short Takes: Pizza
Premiering tonight at 9 p.m. on the Discovery Times channel is Short Takes: Pizza, a documentary about "America's favorite food." From what I understand, it's a British-based production, but part of it was filmed here in New York City in Brooklyn's Bay Ridge neighborhood.
Rocco's, on Fifth Avenue and 79th Street, will be featured. There's going to be a debate on Chicago- vs. New York–style pizza, and Rocco's will get a "pizza makeover."
Hey, as long as Ty Pennington's not involved with the makeover, I'm there. For those of you who can't catch the airing tonight, it will repeat several times tomorrow. Click below for the full schedule.
Short Takes: Pizza [Discovery Times Channel]
Lento's
I can't help it. After five years of living in New York City, the first two of those in Bay Ridge, I can't help but mentally utter "THE FRESHMAYKAH" after hearing, or thinking of, the name Lento's.
Lento's (THE FRESHMAYKAH!) is a Bay Ridge institution, having stood on the corner of Third Avenue and 70th Street since 1933. When I called the Ridge home, Lento's was my go-to spot for whole pies, despite the 20-block round-trip walk. (It's eat in or carry out; no delivery.)
Brooklyn Democrat Group To Host Pizza Contest
The Bridge and the Ridge: When you live in or visit Bay Ridge, there's almost no escaping a view of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge (above left), but who'd want to. The Pour House, on the corner of 79th Street and Third Avenue—this reporter's former stamping grounds—will host a pizza contest Tuesday evening.
Bay Ridge–based political club Brooklyn Democrats for Change will be sponsoring a contest to find the best pizza in its neighborhood on Tuesday, April 26. Anyone interested in pizza or change—or both—will want to head to the Pour House (7901 Third Ave., at 79th St.) at 6 p.m. for this event, which is a fundraiser for the group.
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