Click me bigger » Not much to say here. Just got back from a Slice–Serious Eats field trip to Di Fara. I'm embarrassed to admit this, but until earlier this afternoon four of the seven people in this office were Di Fara virgins. Unacceptable. Anyway, they're not anymore—and I'll be gathering their thoughts and posting them here by end of day. Until then, amuse yourselves with this photo. I haven't been to Di Fara since mid March, and since then it seems this nice piece of artwork has taken up pride of place on the side of Dom's oven....
Now that the $5 Di Fara slice has hit the New York Times, I've got friends and strangers emailing and twitting me with questions I feel I've answered a million times here on Slice—albeit over the span of many different blog posts. So, as a public service, here is all the info you need to know about Di Fara gathered in one place—a Di Fara FAQ, if you will. What's So Great About It? This "crowd" is fairly light, as far as Di Fara goes. Do I really have to rehash all this? A pie from Di Fara can...
You heard it here first, kids, but the New York Times finally filed a story on the Di Fara $5 slice price, so I guess it's officially news now. Best quote of the story: “It’s like they dug up my grandma and she made the pie." But perhaps the most interesting part of the story is the revelation from Dom's daughter Maggie that something has changed in the way he makes the pies.......
Nothing could ever pursuade me to go back to that farce of a pizza joint. THey could raise the price to $10 a slice or drop it to $1 a slice, they've got the worst service on the East Coast.--Larry "mrgrooism" Steller, Master Mendicant...
The New York Post checks in with the news that Slice readers have known for weeks—that Di Fara has raised its regular slices to $5. The paper talks to those opposed and those still willing to pay. Point "They must be out of their minds. It would have to be the best slice of pizza in the world," said Phyllis Turim of Brooklyn, who doesn't plan to find out for herself. Counterpoint "When I shop, I always buy what's high-priced," [Dom DeMarco] said. "What I use, other pizzerias don't use." Yours truly was quoted as well, if you feel...
Some dudes go to Di Fara and order: We figured out how to order and when I looked to Zack for opinions on what toppings to get I got the usual "Whatever you want, man" response. So I came up with half pepperoni, sun dried tomatoes, onions and half sausage, sun dried peppers, onions. And then complain that the slices fell apart when they tried to pick them up!...
"It starts with hipsters trickling into Midwood, probably the most unhip neighborhood in all the five boroughs. This is a ZIP code where people wear plastic bags on their heads when it rains. So why the skinny jeans and the Airwalk Kicks, the scruffy faux-slacker dudes and the ironic model-gorgeous-geek girls? 'They are lost,' I tell my wife. 'They are lost.'" —Peter Catapano, on Di Fara...
I just got some Di Fara news from Dom DeMarco's daughter, Maggie. She says that the celebrated Midwood pizzeria will be raising slice prices to $5, a sum that we at Slice believe is the highest priced plain slice outside a ballpark or airport. Plain slices at Di Fara were previously $4 a pop. Pie prices will also go up for a few dollars, Maggie says. Other news: Di Fara will now be closing on Tuesdays as well as Mondays. Update (7/7/2009): Just got further word from Maggie. The plain pies are now $25, square pies are $30, special...
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....
If you're a participant or lurker on Chowhound, you know there are certain restaurants or vendors on the boards there that have attained mythic status and are and talked about over and over. The Arepa Lady, Lotus of Siam, and, yes, Di Fara are just three of many such places. If you've been reading long enough, there's very little new to be said about most of these places. But I thought I'd point out this recent Di Fara thread because Chowhounder "pizzajunkie" seems to have summed up several years' worth of Di Fara wisdom in just 101 words: Okay, so...
