I just got back from a trip to Di Fara to check out unsubstantiated rumors of a Di Fara closing. The pizzeria was indeed closed, but Dom DeMarco's daughter, Maggie, was there and reports that her father was at the doctor for "minor mouth surgery."
No word on when the place will reopen. Stay tuned.
Update: It has reopened.
Admittedly, the previous item I blogged about was a week old*, and in that time Alan Richman has moved on to writing about some old standbys. He posted his thoughts yesterday on Grimaldi's (DUMBO), Patsy's (East Harlem), and Di Fara (Midwood). Again, let's take them in order.
On Grimaldi's:
The oven is just right, but the crusts are merely okay—they have a fresh, bready smell, but to me they’re a little too thick and slightly too soft, somewhat undercooked. The tomato sauce is vibrant and essential, which means the white pizzas are best skipped. These basically consist of soft, melted mozzarella atop soft, bland crusts. I tried a half-dozen pies and by far the best was topped with grated cheese, fresh mozzarella, tomato sauce, and excellent, spicy, thick-cut slices of pepperoni.
Agree or disagree with Richman's Top 25 Pizzas List, but I think he's spot on about Grimaldi's here. [Richman's take on Patsy's and Di Fara, after the jump. ]
I think this has been reported on the blogs or on Chowhounds before, but with the new Di Fara hours (instituted after Dom DeMarco's knee surgery), they essentially lock you in at or shortly after 8:30 p.m. Johnny- and Janey-come-lately are, in turn, locked out while Dom serves the remaining crowd inside.
It's a bit sad to see didn't-make-its pull at the door handle and get shooed away by the gloating crowd inside, but what can you do. I also noted a fair amount of schadenfreude at the expense of the slowpokes.
Only the truly dedicated put up with the long, long wait for the awesome pizza at Di Fara.
But how long have you waited?
Longtime Slice reader Norman has a great idea: "You should do a post to find out who's waited the longest for a pie from Dom. I'll go first: 2 hours 15 minutes."
Norman, I think I've waited almost that long but unfortunately did not take official time readings, so I'll cede the crown to you so far. Can anyone else top Norman?
PMQ, a trade magazine for pizzerias, will induct Di Fara's Dom DeMarco into its Pizza Hall of Fame tomorrow. From the Daily News:
"Dom [DeMarco] has been at his ovens every day for decades," said [PMQ publisher Steve] Green. "He's so picky about everything—he'll have the place filled with customers waiting 20 minutes for him to make their pie, but he's oblivious to all that. They'll wait."
The announcement was made at the 2009 International Restaurant and Foodservice Show at Javits Center this past weekend.
Obviously Steve Green has never been to Di Fara. It would be nice if customers had to wait only 20 minutes.
The voicemail at Di Fara (718-258-1367) says that the joint is reopening at noon today. Which is RIGHT NOW. Given the spottiness of Di Fara reopenings, we called to confirm but keep getting the recording. Anyone out in Midwood to verify? and finally got someone on the phone who did indeed verify the reopen. Viva la pizza! (Di Fara closed temporarily last month after Dom DeMarco broke his kneecap in a car accident.) [via Ditmas Park Blog]
From the answering machine at the legendary Brooklyn pizzeria Di Fara: "Due to a medical emergency we are temporarily closed. We are hoping to reopen on or before February 1. Thank you for all your concern, and have a great day."
We hope that everyone's OK at Di Fara and that this only is a minor medical emergency. We've tried to contact Di Fara and will bring you any news as we can get it. [via Chowhound; thanks, David J.]
I just heard from Maggie, Dom DeMarco's daughter. She and Mr. DeMarco were in a car accident on Monday evening—black ice on the road. Maggie's OK, but Dom broke his knee cap, she said.
"He is scheduled to have surgery," Maggie wrote in an email. "Post-surgery requires about 4 to 6 weeks rehabilitation, which my dad already informed he will rehabilitate at work instead."
"Vanessa had a gift certificate to Grimaldi's? No way would she admit to that. She'd be a Di Fara diehard all the way. Minus 3." —From New York magazine's always hilariously dead-on Gossip Girl recap [And, yes, Grimaldi's does offer gift certificates.]
Vice magazine released a New York City guide last week, and on it, they cover pizza. (You have to cover pizza if you're releasing any type of NYC food guide.) Here's what they say:
Local food bloggers bicker over whether this Midwood pizza parlor is clean or dirty (truth: it’s pretty dirty) or whether it is running on fumes nowadays or whether watching an old guy futz with their pizza is kind of patronizing. We, however, aren’t food bloggers and couldn’t give a shit. If you’re in this town to eat pizza, Di Fara should be on your list. 1424 Avenue J, Brooklyn NY (at East 15th Street; map); 718-258-1367; difara.com
Other pizzerias on the list: Artichoke Basille's
, Arturo's, Famous Ben's, Grimaldi's, Koronet, Lee's Tavern, Lombardi's, Otto, Totonno's, and Two Boots.
There are some great secrets of New York in autumn. ... Behind Grant's Tomb is a beautiful art project of mosaic benches; in Central Park find Alice in Wonderland (especially at night with someone you love). And Brooklyn has a small pizza place that will not leave your mind called Di Fara's pizza and the Brooklyn Bridge at sunrise or sunset. —David Blaine, magician and endurance artist
Eater is reporting sorta big news happening in Midwood, Brooklyn. Di Fara has SORTA, FINALLY gotten its act together and now has a list for taking orders and for sorta calling people's names when their pizza was ready:
"There is a list whenever I am working," says Dom's daughter, Margaret. "I think my brothers are starting following suit, but I'm not sure. I know the chaos and I really feel for everyone."
We've long advocated for something like this, even offering to take up a collection to buy Dom and family a "Take-a-Ticket" system. There's nothing more frustrating than waiting a half an hour just to order, then waiting and waiting, only to have Dom ask you what it was you ordered an hour earlier.
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.
Editor's note: In mid June, Slice reader Lance Roberts emailed me, asking if I'd help him complete his pizza itinerary. He was visiting New York City from Los Angeles, and he wanted to pack in as much pizza as he could—but only the best. I gave him some recs. He came, he ate, and then he wrote. What follows is a wonderful tale of 2.5 days of pizza mania. Buon appetito! —The Mgmt.
As a Los Angeleno who grew up in Detroit, it's a little odd that I love pizza so much. Neither city is known for great pies, but as someone who fell in love with the stuff from an early age, I learned to make do. I grew up on Little Caesars, and when I turned 15, I got a job at Toarmina's Pizza in Michigan so I could learn how to make my own pies (and eat pizza five days a week).
When I reached the peak of my limited powers in the kitchen and was looking for better pizza, I took trips to Chicago, where I fell in love with deep dish. It took a few years of living in Los Angeles (and hitting up 50-some different places) to make me realize that thin crust was the way to go. I found some pizza I really liked liked. Then I climbed what I consider the Mount Everest of pizza—Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix, where I hope someday to have my last meal.
Finally I felt like I "knew" pizza. But there was one big gap on my resume. I'd never had a slice in New York. That all changed earlier this month.
With Adam Kuban's help and some suggestions from Slice fans and friends, I made up a very aggressive itinerary designed to give me the best pizza New York City had to offer. Whenever I try a new place I get a plain cheese or Margherita pie to get a baseline, so it was only fair I practiced the same methodology in New York (with a few exceptions). The results of the experiment? To put it mildly, my head nearly exploded. After the jump, seven of New York's best pizzas—and one real stinker.
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 the real lede toward the end of the story (emphasis added):
[Dom] DeMarco won't get his stitches out for another few days, but he is eager to get back to his 12-hour days making his famed pizza — with its signature sauce of fresh and canned tomatoes, homegrown herbs and imported cheeses.His doctor is pushing him to take it easy, and he may begin closing one day a week.
His wife, Margaret, 62, is also pushing him to start handing down his pizza-making secrets to their kids.
"God forbid this happens again," she said. "The shop needs to stay open."
Heavenly pizza spot set to reopen gates [New York Daily News]
Word has it that Di Fara is closed temporarily. Something's wrong with Dom's foot, according to Eater.
It's been a while since Slice has put on the ol' waders and panned through the muck that is Craigslist's Missed Connections. But we're glad we did. We struck gold in this edition of That's Amore. It features legendary pizzerias Di Fara and Lombardi's. XOXO, Ed.
DiFrara Pizza , Friday NIght - m4w - 30 : you were that beautiful lady that order a pie for you and your friend. I was seatting next to you with my sister. wanted to say hi, but did not. wish i did. i guess is too late now. —peace Slice wishes you did, too. Could there be a better meet-cute story than hooking up at Di Fara? Wait, don't answer that.
Lombardi's Pizza Last Night - m4w - 25 :I noticed you at dinner while you were eating next to me and my friend. and then, when you almost knocked over our pizza and flashed a smile in embarrassment, I was too speechless to say a thing...wish i would have gotten your number... No loss here. You're better off without this clutz.
Avoiding Eye Contact - m4w - 24 : You were sitting and eating a slice of pizza and maybe garlic knots. I sat down and ate a slice across from you. Then I got up and got a soda and sat down and drank it. We made eye contact maybe twice. It was hard for me not to stare. I had just gotten up from a nap and so it seemed a little like a dream. I think you wanted to talk to me too. Email to confirm. (this is in or around Famiglia Pizza on 8th St and Broadway) Next! Her breath be all stanky from the garlic knots, yo.
We Spoke in Ben's Pizza Tuesday - m4m : We spoke in Ben's Pizza today Tuesday 2/7/06 around 5PM. You very handsome, wore an orange T-shirt. Me s&p hair, wore a Tan turtle neck shirt. I kept looking at you. When I smiled and you asked if this was Macdougal St. And I said it was. We never got to talk further because your friend came in. I really would like to make a connection with you. Hope you see this and respond. Uh, what is "s&p hair"?
beautiful blonde waitress - Rosa's Pizza- Fresh Pond Rd - m4w - 26 : Tonight I went into Rosa's Pizzeria on Fresh Pond Rd. near Metropolitian Avenue, for the first time in years and I saw the most beautiful woman I've ever laid eyes on. The waitress..... She was tall, slim, and had the brightest smile, prittiest eyes, and cutest little voice. If anyone knows her...tell her to chech this out. I'd love to talk to her again. Just a bit shy......I now live in Long Island..a little far for a slice, but she's definately worth the trip!! Maybe you can get her to quote-unquote deliver.
girl at Old Bridge Deli 373 Lexington Ave | At 41st St - 23 : So you only caught your eyes for a second at the cafe but I can't get that glance out of my head. Sure, I'm an attractive guy and catch glances all the time but wow, there was something great about you. I was that dude who was sitting with two friends having pizza. I left with my friends after lunch and walked for about a block before realizing that I really wanted to meet you. I walked back in the deli and I almost walked into you walking down the stairs. But, I didn't quite know what to say or how to say it, so, I continued walking. I went to the restroom and came back having worked up my courage. But by then you had walked out of the store. I looked around and walked all the four blocks looking for a glance of you. Alas, I regret few things but not saying "hi" has got to be one of them. Anyone know this girl? I don't think people ever have second chances but if you know an Asian girl dressed casually in jeans reading the Post who was in midtown and ate at Old Bridge Deli 373 Lexington Ave at 41st St today around 1:10-1:30, let her know that she wowed someone today and to write back. Real specific description there. ... "If you know a white dude in a suit in the Financial District reading the Journal ... "
Peter Kaminsky goes kayak fishing in Jamaica Bay and ends the day not with a meal of freshly filleted striper but with a sublime slice. Three guesses as to which pizzeria he's talking about:
As we moved across the bay, the sun shone on the far shore. Riders on horseback from the nearby Jamaica Bay Riding Academy moved along the sandy edge of the bay. Cars whooshed along the Belt Parkway. Flocks of geese descended to their evening quarters."Want to try a slice of the best pizza in the city?" [Sebago Canoe Club chairman Andy] Novick said.
New Yorkers never take you to "a great pizza place" or merely "a good pizza place." They always have an opinion about "the best." As it turned out, the slices that we wolfed down on Avenue J were superb.
Figure it out? Need a clue?
Under the Overpass and Into the Bay, Kayaking We Go [New York Times]
Full disclosure: I know one of the authors. Mr. Ruby and I were in the same journalism program at university. Still, that didn't stop me from turning a critical eye on this book. In fact, my initial reaction when hearing about it was, "Oy! Another pizza book!? What more can be said?"
Fortunately, Penny and Jeff find plenty new to say, particularly with some interesting history and facts that, surprisingly, I haven't read elsewhere. Concerning one of Slice's favorite pizzaioli, Dom DeMarco, for example, the authors tell us that he ends each pizza-filled day by drinking a "$100 bottle of Amarone Valpolicella—he buys 1 bottle a day and 2 on Saturday because the liquor store is closed on Sunday." Who knew!? (More important, how does Dom get himself into work by 7 a.m. after drinking a bottle of fine wine post midnight?)
One of Slice's favorite local food writers, Josh Ozersky, checks in with a story on Anthony Mangieri of über-traditional pizzeria Una Pizza Napoletana. Ozersky likens Mr. Mangieri to a young Dom DeMarco, oh he of Di Fara fame.
In his way, this young guy with tattoos covering both arms is a soul brother to the city's greatest and most single-minded pizza maker, Dominic DeMarco of Di Fara pizza in Brooklyn. Neither man seems to have any interest in the world beyond the loving, lingering task of making perfect pizzas one at a time.
Mr. Ozersky describes a UPN pie: "Pliable and elastic, the crust supports tomatoes that pop like a garden salad, and a thin layer of buffalo mozzarella which, thanks to Mangieri's practice of not over-refrigerating the stuff, keeps its extraordinary milky sharpness. Extra-virgin olive oil and oregano round out this concerto of rarefied tastes."
Delicious. It's only 9:30 a.m., and I'm hungry already.
Una Pizza Napoleana
Location: 349 East 12th Street, Manhattan NY
Cost: $16.95 per pie
photograph by Willie Davis for Newsday
This is another week-old one that we neglected to post about during our renovation. The Daily News did a roundup of New York City's best pizzerias last week. As we told Eater, the new foodblog from the folks who brought you Curbed:
A nice roundup, I think. A lot of it is old hat to me, but there were some nice surprises in there, particularly a couple Brooklyn places (Graziella's, Laura's) that have been lurking one or two neighborhoods over from Slice HQ.
Irene Sax knows her stuff, and I agree with most of her assessments, although I don't know why she rated a chain Patsy's on the Upper West Side instead of the original in East Harlem. What's nice here is that they've really done a comprehensive roundup of the best places in each borough instead of picking, say, a top-five or top-ten list. It's a nice piece that's actually useful to anyone in any of the five boroughs.
You really should click through to the article and have a look at Ms. Sax's quick rundowns. For as long as we've been publishing Slice (and probably long before), Sax has been the News's pizza expert.
Here, we'll list Sax's picks and link to our reviews, when possible. When not possible, I, uh, well, I just offer up comments and such willy-nilly. Read on after the jump....
Upper Crust [New York Daily News]
The Boroughs' Best Pizza [Eater]
About a month ago, Slice received an e-mail from a mysterious gentleman going by the nom de blog of "Lonesome Hero." "You might be interested in the Pizza World Tour I recently went on," he wrote. We were interested, but Slice HQ was busy, too busy to make mention of LH's ambitious tour of the five boroughs in search of the best pizza in each one. Shamefully, the e-mail went unanswered until we were reminded about it when we met the Lonesome Hero at a foodblog event. It's time for us to correct that oversight.
Lonesome Hero publishes A Year in Food, a blog "Documenting 365 days of dining out (minus the many meals I eat at work because let's face it, the Financial District is a wasteland and it'd be way too depressing to read or write about)." Why just one year in food? We don't know. He's mysterious like that.
In his own words:
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.
FURTHER READING
All Slice posts on DeMarco's [The Slice Archives]
Eating For Two: Slice editor in chief Adam K. was originally going to grab a quick couple of slices at new Village pizzeria DeMarco's before heading home after work Tuesday night. But then the idea struck: Why not also visit Di Fara's, the inspiration for the Manhattan newcomer? And so we sampled plain slices from both pizzerias that night. The photos at left above are from DeMarco's; those at right are from Di Fara. Click the image below right for an enlarged view of the interior space of DeMarco's take-out operation. The photos above also
WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY ADAM K. .::. Late last year, shortly before leaving town for the holidays, we said we'd report on DeMarco's Pizzeria & Restaurant, the new Di Fara–associated pizza spot on the corner of Houston and MacDougal in Manhattan. We meant to do it in 2004, but things were hectic. We've returned from holiday and are slowly revving back to speed, so here are some observations and comparisons, from Tuesday night visits to both shops and a return visit to DeMarco's for lunch yesterday.
Di Fara Pizza is, of course, the renown Brooklyn pizzeria run by Dominick DeMarco and family. When word of this impending Houston Street pizzeria first hit the Web (we read of it initially on eGullet and Chowhound), that location's management was calling the place "Di Fara's NYC" and no one was sure who owned it or what affiliation it might have with the DeMarco family, for whom it was finally named. We're still unsure how great a role the family is playing in the operation, but one thing's certain: Dom himself remains firmly ensconced in his usual spot in Brooklyn.
Quite well, actually.
It goes without saying that a DeMarco's slice will never be the same as a Di Fara slice. Dom's pies have been honed against forty years' hard work—seven days a week, with hardly any vacations or holidays. But the DeMarco's slices this weblog had Tuesday night for dinner and yesterday afternoon for lunch were very good approximations of the master's craft.
Present was the familiar three-cheese blend of grana padana, regular mozzarella, and fresh mozzarella (DeMarco's is using the same Grandé-brand fior di latté that Dom includes on his pies)—all evenly distributed. We witnessed the pizzaiolo dousing the pie with olive oil just before popping it into the oven, another Dom flourish. Lastly, the slices we sampled (all plain), featured a similar well-proportioned balance of crust, sauce, and cheese. Heck, even the take-out portion of the restaurant exhibits a no-frills practicality akin to Dom's shop in Midwood. (The Manhattan version is tidier, however.) Oh, and both establishments sell plain, regular slices for $2.50. We did not, however, see any of the DeMarco clan in there directing things.
The first thing you might notice about DeMarco's round pies (left) is that they're larger than Di Fara's. They're also more uniformly circular; Dom's pies exhibit an almost artisanal irregularity in their shape. Though the slices in the photos at top appear to be the same size, use the paper plates they rest on for reference. See how much bigger the DeMarco's piece is? When we visited last night, the pie on the counter had been sitting long enough that its gooey molten cheeses had congealed. (This was another difference—at Di Fara's a hot-from-the-oven pie doesn't last long.) Without the steaming-hot, oozey cheese (some would call is gloppy), it didn't quite look like a Di Fara pie. That didn't bother us, though; we still liked the looks of the slices on hand, what with their splotches of sauce clearly visible among the cheese. Our slices got the reheat, and while we waited, we watched the pizzaiolo build a pie, carefully studying a cheat sheet above the make table. Some people might scoff at this, but we took it as a good sign—the place is clearly concerned with adhering to Dom's recipes.
We first thought DeMarco's crust was thinner than Di Fara's, but just less than an hour later, at Dom's shop, we observed that the thickness was pretty similar. As seen in the comparison shots at top, Di Fara's crust displays a bit more charring, but DeMarco's had an adequate amount. Both crusts were crisp; Di Fara's crust, however, was notably chewier. DeMarco's was a smidge crisper, attributable, we think, to the reheat. For our lunch visit to DeMarco's, we were lucky enough to get slices from a pie straight out of the oven. Without the reheat, the crust had a very good, honest crispness to it—not the hard-to-gauge steroidal increase that comes with a second stint in the cooker—but it still lacked the toothsome chewiness of Di Fara's.
Moving up from the crust, the sauce at DeMarco's was good and fresh, with a slightly sweeter-than-Dom's taste. We don't know if DeMarco's gets its tomatoes from the same source as Di Fara, but it was close. It didn't seem as savory or as complex as Dom's, but it worked and we were pleased with it nonetheless.
The third component of a slice's trio of elements, the cheese, well, we've discussed that earlier. One difference here was that DeMarco's had pre-grated the grana padana and regular mozz; Dom grates those as needed, for the greatest freshness. Still, we didn't notice a difference, and it's probably not practical for DeMarco's to grate on an as-needed basis. It was also interesting that when we sampled the dinnertime slices Tuesday, the cheese, even with a reheat, didn't go all melty and soupy like Di Fara's. However, on the following day's fresh slices, such a gloppiness was in evidence. It's a trait that we think makes it difficult—and definitely messy—to eat a hot slice at either place, but it was nice to see DeMarco's match this Dom signature. (We usually follow the lead of one of our friends, impatiently waiting five or 10 minutes while the soupy mixture settles down a bit.)
OK. We've gone on quite a bit here, so we'll wrap up. DeMarco's is very good. And it's only been open a short while. We suspect it'll only get better, and we think it already beats many of the other renown pizza spots in the neighborhood.
Some tips, though: Like Patsy's in East Harlem, there are two operations on corner of Houston and MacDougal. There's the "Pizza Express" component, where you can get take-out or eat in, standing at one of two narrow bars along the walls. The Pizza Express location, sadly, offers a limited range of soft drinks. Noticeably absent was Slice's favorite, Dr Pepper. Even the upper-right quarter of Dom's refrigerator has more of a selection than the entire unit at DeMarco's. (To be fair, the delivery menu, bottom, lists a greater variety than was on display. Maybe you just have to ask.) The Pizza Express part is where you should go for slices. The fancier, part, which features a bar, is pies-only serves slices along with whole pies and other menu items, but it's table service. (And you enter that section through a door that faces MacDougal Street.)
The menu is below (click to enlarge). Click through the jump to see more photos from the night's excursions.
FURTHER READING
All Slice posts on DeMarco's [The Slice Archives]
The last time Slice was at Di Fara, our eagle-eyed metro editor, Seltzerboy, noticed the shop's crew writing orders on a nifty new notepad (above). On previous visits throughout the years, we had observed proprietor Dom DeMarco simply jotting down orders on whatever was at hand—often a paper plate or the take-out box a pie was destined to inhabit on its journey home.
At one point during this visit, Dom's daughter left the pad unattended while she was in back. We saw our chance and moved in, enticed by the words "DiFara's Freehand Recipe." Would we be able to copy Dom's secrets and return the pad before Maggie reappeared? Sadly, no. She came back out front and caught us ogling the deck of papers, which, upon closer inspection, carried a free-verse poem rather than the culinary key to perfect pizza.
The poem's author was listed as "The Sticker Dude," and its words not only painted an accurate picture of the Di Fara experience but also had us saying, "This Sticker Dude dude must be a Di Fara fan." Our hunch was that the pads were an unsolicited token of appreciation for Dom's pies on the part of the dude.
A quick e-mail to Joel "The Sticker Dude" Cohen, who runs Ragged Edge Press, confirmed this:
You've basically figured out the scene. I'm a printer/poet/graphic artist and a fan of Di Fara Pizza, and was inspired to do the memo pad after seeing an interview with Dom in the New York Times. The pads were a gift, not ordered.
Mr. Cohen, who was labeled with this nickname after selling stickers at Grateful Dead shows, says he manages to make it out to Di Fara about every two weeks—whenever he's in the neighborhood.
Slice has plans for stickers and T-shirts at some unspecified time in the near future, and though we're often stubbornly D.I.Y., if we can't pull off the merch ourselves, we'll see about availing ourselves of the Sticker Dude's services. It's always good to give business to a kindred spirit.
On another note, while perusing the Ragged Edge site and learning about the genesis of the "Sticker Dude" moniker, we were reminded of The Pizza Tapes, a collaboration of the Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia along with David Grisman and Tony Rice. Legend is that, in 1993, a pizza delivery boy stole the freshly recorded tapes of the Garcia-Grisman-Rice sessions off Mr. Garcia's counter while bringing pizza to the outsized guitarist. The tapes made their way into the Dead-tape trading scene shortly thereafter. Mr. Grisman was initially peeved, but in 2000 he released an official album of the recordings, its title a nod to the crazy-fingered knave who nabbed the jams. Its cover, a nod to the classic take-out pizza box.
Maybe it's the fact that it's 2 a.m. and I've been breathing kerosene fumes for the better part of the day (don't ask), but I got a huge kick out of this Chowhound post that Slice friend Joe D. passed on to me. Under the heading "DiFara's: The Final Word," user "Food Maven" imparts wisdom for the ages:
The pizza at DiFara is very good. The real problem is that the pizza in 99% of all the other places sucks.
Brilliant.
Beautiful piece on Di Fara's Dom DeMarco in the Times today. In the first person, as told to Jeff VanDam.
Choice quotes:
When I opened the store, my partner's name was Farina. My name is DeMarco. So when the lawyer made the paper, he put the two names together. Di Fara. Di for me, and Fara for him. I bought my partner out in 1978, I think. I kept the same name; I didn't bother changing it.
It was all Jewish then, but they weren't that religious. Then, little by little, it became very Orthodox. People, they got scared, and they all sold out their restaurants. I was left alone. And it was the best thing that could have happened.
Nobody taught me to make the pizza. You gotta pick it up for yourself. All of these 40 years, I keep experimenting. My pizza is good, because I use fresh tomatoes. They come from Italy, from Salerno. Then I started to get mozzarella from Italy, from my hometown in the province of Caserta. It's $8 a pound, and this parmesan, it's $12. It comes twice a week. This might have been made two days ago, or three days ago.
I do this as an art. I don't look to make big money. If somebody comes over here and offers me a price for the store, there's no price. There's no money in the world they could pay me for it. I'm very proud of what I do. I don't have any employees; I use my kids.
Other revelations: That David Blaine is a frequent Di Fara patron, that Mr. DeMarco once had a gun pointed at him, that Mr. De Marco eats exactly one slice a day (quality control), that Dom doesn't take the shortcuts: "Pizza has become considered a fast food. This one is slow food. Anything you do, when you do it too fast, it's no good. The way I make a pizza takes a lot of work. And I don't mind work."
PHOTO OP Slice editor and publisher Adam K. (above) during a photo shoot Saturday for a small piece on piPod that the New York Daily News ran in today's edition.
SAY NUMBER 13: Dom DeMarco, Slice's "Italian hero," makes the cover of this week's Village Voice. The alt-weekly's Robert Sietsema tallies his top 100 Italian restaurants, DeMarco of Di Fara fame clocking in at lucky thirteen.
Robert Sietsema of the Village Voice runs down his top 100 Italian restaurants. Seeing as how pizza is Italian or Italian American (depending on style), there are more than a few pizzerias in the mix.
The usual suspects appear throughout as well as a few surprises and what might be hidden gems. Following, we've digested the list, ignoring any nonpizza establishments. For the full list, click here.
We were delirious yet dismayed to see Dom DeMarco of Di Fara Pizza on the cover—heartened that Mr. DeMarco is once again getting the recognition he deserves but upset that the crowds at his pizzeria will inevitably grow larger (and also perplexed that he ranked no higher than thirteen while less-deserving places sit in the top ten).
Well, without further ado, here is the list, parsed for pizza entries...
Our friend "n" e-mailed us yesterday afternoon. Subject line: "Di Fara Scoop". Message: "Did you hear that Dom closed the shop for a week for remodeling?!"
Well, "n," we didn't know that. I called down there today, though, to see when the pizzeria would reopen. The man on the other end said they're already back up and running.
We're going to have to make a trip there to check out the new digs.
Di Fara Pizza got major props on the WB11 last night. The Warner Bros. affiliate station is highlighting the best of New York this week, and it has deemed Dom Demarco's pies top of the pops.
The ever effervescent Toni Senecal was on hand last night for a live broadcast from the Midwood pizzeria, where she claimed to have eaten six slices.
Mr. Demarco, his daughter, and one of his sons looked a bit overwhelmed by Ms. Senecal, who, while it can be said displayed no lack of enthusiasm, seemed a trifle condescending toward our favorite pizzaman.
We felt a little sorry for Mr. Demarco, who looked like he just wanted to go about his business, but he did get some "Toni Time" in the form of "baci, baci" ("kisses, kisses"), which we certainly wouldn't have minded (that's what's going on in the vid capture above).
Ms. Senecal at one point cried "bravissimo!" in reference to the pies, and twice used the phrase "That's what I'm talkin' about," which is one of Slice photographer E-Rock's favorites.
I thought I spied one of my friends in the background for a split second—hiding behind Ms. Senecal's head. But it couldn't have been her because she would have called to tip me to this event. Right?
Anyway, we've noticed from our SiteMeter stats that a lot of you are arriving at Slice after doing web searches for Di Fara, no doubt in response to last night's broadcast. Rest assured in the knowledge that Di Fara's truly is remarkable pizza. This is one story that broadcast news didn't get wrong.
Click here to view the video from last night's broadcast. Once in the WPIX "Feedroom," you'll see, second column from left, the Best Of New York videos.
A friend's fianc is in town on vacation this week. He lives abroad at the moment, and we decided he needed a good taste of home before returning to Europe. A trip to DiFara was arranged.
What we had: just a simple plain pie. But that's not important.
Here's what is: We noticed a woman waiting on her square pie at the counter. In front of her, two pint-size containers of sauce!
Turns out you can buy sauce there—either the "uncooked," as the woman was calling it or the "cooked."
The uncooked (though I suspect it spends some time simmering on the stove) is the same stuff proprietor Dominick Demarco uses on his round pies. The "cooked," is what goes into pasta dishes and (we're guessing) the heroes. We heard Dom's daughter Maggie telling the sauce buyer that the pasta version "is cooked for hours and hours."
I bought a container of the pizza sauce, intending to use it on my own homemade pies, not that they'll come anywhere near Dom's.
Both versions are $6 a pint. Whether you can duplicate Mr. Demarco's results at home is doubtful.
On a side note, regular patrons may have noticed that gone are the bullhorns that used to hang above the large black-and-white photo (above). I was told that they fell and broke.
We at Slice believe that the passing of all special occasions should be marked with food. And what better way to start 2004 than with a delicious pizza?
Nestled incongruously among kosher restaurants and variety stores in the largely Orthodox Jewish section of Midwood, Brooklyn, DiFara Pizza is easily our favorite pizzeria in the city. So when I woke up—late, not surprisingly—it was the obvious choice. I called Seltzerboy, Slice's wire editor, and we were off.
Readers who have been to DiFara already know what makes it so good. For the rest of you: It's Dom's stubborn perfectionism—he's the only one to touch the pies there—and use of only the finest and freshest ingredients that set his pizzas apart.
Mr. DeMarco uses a combination of fresh and canned San Marzano tomatoes for the sauce, which he makes daily—sometimes several times a day, from what we understand. Then there's the cheese: a combination of high-quality regular mozzarella, fresh buffalo mozzarella that he imports from Italy, and a dusting of sharp, slightly nutty-tasting grana padana. All this goodness sits atop a thin crust that Dom somehow coaxes to near-coal-oven crispness.
While doing a Google search for Di Fara Pizza, I happened upon this image of Dom DeMarco on the photo blog A Day in the Life. The photo, by Allison Garber, is part of a series A Day in the Life did in April, in which 200 photographers set out to capture a slice of Brooklyn life.
More DiFara Pizza on Slice.
This one's a little late, but Dom DeMarco gets a nod from the Village Voice's 2003 Best Of list as the Best Off-Off-Off-Off-Broadway Show:
After you order a pizza, you could try to snag a table in the run-down seating area, but you'll have to wait an hour for your pie anyway and there's barely room for the customers who are eating. Plus you'll miss the second-best part: watching DOMINICK AT DIFARA PIZZA carefully assemble each order...
"Run-down"? OK. I agree that the less-than-tidy dining area leaves a little something to be desired (a wipe-down of the tables every now and then comes to mind), but it adds character. And it probably helps keep anyone other than diehard DiFara fans at bay. Here's to anything that keeps our wait for one of Dom's deliciously perfect pies to one hour or less.
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