A Wired reporter bemoaning the pizza backwater that is San Francisco rang up Mario Batali to find out why New York Pizza is so magnificent and got an intriguing theory out of the celebrity chef: New York’s old pizza ovens “capture the gestalt of beautifully cooked pizza.” A food development consultant believes Batali’s abstract ‘gestalt’ is, to scientists, vaporized ingredients that become “volatilized particles and attach themselves to the walls of the baking cavity. The......

"spot on" by ShhPeKo on flickr Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a baby in cardiac arrest on West 96th St. in Manhattan, a shooting on Church and Flatbush Aves. in Brooklyn, and a found grenade on East 196th St. and Bainbridge Ave. in the Bronx. More hand-sifted material has been transported to Fresh Kills, Staten Island. The material does not contain any human remains and is not located on a site that contains landfill.......

Rainbow cookies are quite possibly our favorite cookies. Ever. Whenever someone brings a cookie assortment from an Italian bakery we always eat all the rainbow cookies first and usually discard the rest. The best rainbow cookies money can buy are available at Isaac's Bake Shop, 1419 Avenue J in Brooklyn, NY, right across the street from Di Fara's pizza, and just a few blocks away from where we grew up. (We still think it's......

In addition to running the kitchen at NY dining landmark Brasserie, Chef Franklin Becker is also a tireless advocate for two particular causes: Raising awareness for Autism research, and developing recipes and healthy food choices for diabetics. Becker, who turned 38 at the beginning of the month, has been in the business for a staggering 24 years. Many New York Times stars later, he now cooks at Brasserie, and was an awarded a StarChefs Rising......

This month's Bon Appetit is the restaurant issue, highlighting recipes from restaurants all across the world, but our own Little Owl made the cover photo with their delectable meatball sliders. Other hometown shout-outs went to The Good Fork, for their Korean-style steak and eggs, a spiced plum chutney from Tabla, and WD-50's music playlist (including one of our current obsessions, Hall & Oates). A feature article focuses on some of our finest pastry chefs, who......

Pizza lovers in the city can breathe a sigh of relief as Di Fara is back, after being temporarily closed by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. We couldn't detect any obvious changes to the pizzeria and Dom DeMarco was with head gear and sans gloves creating pizzas in the traditional way. When we visited yesterday, they were doing their normal brisk business with a mix of locals, some MTA employees having lunch,......

Bruni puts in his two cents about the latest crop of contestants on Top Chef. Season three premiered earlier this week, and Frank has already highlighted some of his favorites, including CJ ("I've got a false testicle and I'm ready to cook." If only for that quote alone), Hung, and Lia. In a Times Op-Ed, The Zagats tout the idea of a culinary visa program to open up America's tastebuds to something beyond the lackluster......

Something to complement Slice's Sunday item about Di Fara possibly reopening this week: Reader Jim sent this photograph a friend took of the beloved pizzeria - this note has been written on a pizza box! Last week, Di Fara had been closed by the Department of Health; most of our readers were okay with Dominick DeMarco not using gloves but were concerned with evidence of mice.......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a shooting on Madison St. in Manhattan, a homicide on Wyckoff Ave and Himrod St. in Brooklyn, and an overturned auto on Hone and Mace Aves. in the Bronx. A trio of yeshiva students and their teacher were rescued from a 200-foot-high ledge by rapelling park police yesterday, after straying from a trail at Bear Mtn. State Park. The news of a crash that persists in Chinatown, as the......

Di Fara, the famed Brooklyn pizzeria that claims a space in many people's hearts, has been closed since Monday after failing five of the last six Department of Health restaurant inspections. Now, the media has flocked to get sad reactions from customers. The NY Times talks to a Brooklyn College student, who says, "I come twice a week, at least. This is the best pizza. I don't want to find a new place." The......

Today on Gothamist Newsmap: A ceiling collapse at Bowling Green/Battery Park on the subway's 4 line this morning, a bank robbery at 206th St. and Bainbridge Ave. in the Bronx, and a report of a missing child at Franklin Ave. in Brooklyn. Imminent end of an era as the actual physical floor of the NYSE gets quieter daily. Original "Buffy" Kristy Swanson to appear on L&O as Anna Nic a drug-addled blonde bombshell with......

- Is New York going to go the way of LA with posted letter grades for restaurant health inspections? - If you are getting your Seder meal planning underway, feel free to ping the experts over the NY Times with any questions you may have. Click here to email them a question or send it direct to diningqa [at] gmail.com. Funny how the Times even knows Gmail has great spam protection. - Sometimes not eating......

Di Fara's pizza still isn't open, a week after it closed by health inspectors. Maybe all the mouse droppings have something to do with that? And to top off a very bad week for the De Marco clan, their other pizzaria, recently the scene of the Greenwich Village shooting, announced that it will be closing for good. Still no answer on the cause of the mysterious, high-pitched ringing noise in Brooklyn Heights. Our theory......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: large protest at a school in Brooklyn, person in water in the Bronx, and two funerals for the slain Auxiliary Police Officers-- one in Brooklyn, and one in the Manhattan. Good news for St. Brigid's-- demolition stayed for now. Are Park Slope parents angry about school overcrowding, or scared of an Arabic-language middle school? Shake Shack opens on Wednesday-- let this year's backlash begin! Bronx Boulevard of Death: six......

Don’t be fooled by the tired lasso of rope lights in the window; the standard issue take-out cups with frilly script “Cappuccino” on the sides. Don't be waylaid by the miniature vortex of sales circulars attacking your ankles as you approach 1985 Coney Island Avenue in Brooklyn: The winner for the hardest working phyllo in the five boroughs is steps away, inside Güllüoglu. With a few hardwood tables and some scattered recliners, Güllüoglu (julie-oo-oh-la )......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: person down elevator shaft in Cobble Hill (!), a suspicious package at 96th and Lex, and an escaped prisoner in the Bronx. Bad news if you're a junkie squatter in the greater Park Slope area: the Batcave is now closed. Hank Greenberg is taking a run at the New York Times, but the Ochs-Sulzberger family seems unlikely to lose control, given that they control a restricted class of powerful......

Whether you're ready or not, the holidays are fast approaching. Thanksgiving is just around the corner with Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa just a hop, skip and a jump behind. For many of us that brings happy thoughts of turkey, bourbon and pie but for others, it brings anxiety about all those gifts we have to buy. Now, save the “It’s not about the gift, but rather being with the people you love” speech. Whether we like it or......

The New York Times City section profiles Domenico DeMarco, who has operated Di Fara Pizza for 40 years. Although pizza has become fast food, he says, "[t]his one is slow food. Anything you do, when you do it too fast, it's no good." Amen to that. This week's Time Out New York features a "Pie Chart" comparing six new thin-crust pizzerias, and rates them based on a "slice" scale -- two of the six, Canapa......