Over the weekend Grimaldi's made the move to their new location, just around the corner from the home of their longstanding tenancy. The big upset in all this was that Grimaldi's would be leaving their coal oven in the dust, as concern about city licensing raised some doubts as to whether they would be granted permission to install a new coal oven. When the city issued stop-work orders and put a halt on building at the new locale, the prospect of coal remaining king at the new Grimaldi's looked grim.
After the eviction papers were served last year it was clear Grimaldi's tenancy would have limited standing. Despite making arrangements to pay the back rent, owner Frank Ciolli lost the right to renew the pizzeria's lease. With that lease expiring at the end of this month, Grimaldi's will be moving next door, sans the oven that started it all.
Oh, boy. This week the Travel Channel will be airing an episode of Food Wars that pits Grimaldi's against John's of Bleecker. Above is a preview video. There are probably some nits to pick, primarily that the host says "San Marzano tomatoes, in Italy it's the only kind of tomato they're allowed to use by law." I hardly doubt that. I'm sure she got the whole certified DOP/VPN stuff confused. But it's TV — they're always starting trouble ;) Looks like it'll be worth a watch. They've got friend of Slice Mark Bello of Pizza a Casa as one...
From Slice'r Jeff R. comes this news: FYI, we saw that a new Grimaldi's [Coal Brick Oven Pizzeria] opened up in Highlands, New Jersey at 123 Bay Avenue. They built a huge coal-fired oven and had a soft opening last week. The official opening date is sometime this week. Grimaldi's (Highlands) 123 Bay Street, Highlands NJ 07732 (map)...
[Photograph: Adam Kuban] First Lady Michelle Obama visited Grimaldi's in Brooklyn yesterday with her two daughters. The New York Times's City Room blog quotes their server, Ralph Harajda, as saying, "They loved everything," he "I think they said it was better than Chicago pizza." Of course, the Chicago Tribune had to confirm this, and there they quote Harajda as clarifying his statement: "No, what she said was, 'It's the best pizza, and I'm from Chicago.' She liked the pizza very, very much. They were pleased." Of course, it's been reported here on Slice that the Obamas' favorite pizza can...
[Photograph: Adam Kuban] From Slice'r Matt comes an email heads-up that Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, visited Brooklyn's River Cafe for a belated Valentine's Day meal. The New York Daily News reports: As the veep and his wife dined, Secret Service agents gobbled down pizzas from the nearby iconic Grimaldi's Pizzeria. They always say that cops (or in this case, law-enforcement/security types) know where to eat....
The relatively new food blog Eat This New York searches for the best pizza in the city but finds that, "Pizzas are just like you and me—they're all so different. Instead of trying to be the best, you just have to be yourself." With bonus tips on picking up women and Italian pronunciation. And a surprise appearance by chef Art Smith. Pizzerias visited: Grimaldi's, DUMBO, BrooklynKesté Pizza & Vino, Greenwich Village, ManhattanRizzo's, Astoria, QueensDi Fara (of course), Midwood, Brooklyn Watch the video, after the jump....
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...
If you don't follow the comings and goings of coal-oven pizzerias around the country—and, really, if you're halfway normal, why would you?—then you may not know there are other Grimaldi's outside the New York City area. Sure, you might know about the Hoboken Grimaldi's, but, wait ... there's one in Texas? Say wha? Yes, there are a handful in Texas and the Southwest, all (or most) rocking coal ovens, from what I can tell. Also, from what I can piece together, they are loosely affiliated with the original only in that a different set of owners licensed the name...
