Results tagged “difara”

Adam Kuban at Slice took this cute photo yesterday of pizza artisan Dom DeMarco plying his trade at legendary Midwood pizza destination Di Fara. We're sharing it as a reminder that, to paraphrase Zooey Glass, there are still nice things in this world of death panels and Espadas. The only way this little scene could be improved upon is if the portrait, by artist Andy M. Sachs, featured a little infinity mirror effect by including the same portrait hanging on the wall in the painting. Woah. Oh, and if we had some hot five dollar slices right now.

A few weeks ago the price of a slice of pizza went up to a groundbreaking $5 at Di Fara, the Midwood pizzeria that's become something of a mecca for pizza nerds around the world. Today the Post ponders whether customers are ready to swallow the dollar increase, which owner Dom DeMarco insists is necessary because he imports all the ingredients from Italy and prices have gone up across the board. Brooklyn's Phyllis Turim groaned, "They must be out of their minds. It would have to be the best slice of pizza in the world." But many assert that, in fact, it is, and Slice blogger Adam Kuban declares, "If it were an everyday slice, no, $5 would be too much. But a lot of the people lining up at Di Fara are pizza tourists. It's like a vacation—you don't do it all the time, and you've already prepared yourself for the overcharge." Have you vacationed at Di Fara recently? Is it worth the expense or an overrated tourist trap? Charlie Fishbaum, who ordered a $25 pie from Di Fara the other day, has this to say: "Go somewhere else if you don't like it."

The folks at Serious Eats have launched the first of their city guides today, focusing on -- where else -- New York City. The guide is designed to highlight NYC's "essential eating experiences," and doesn't contain many surprises. You'll find quintessential New York icons like Russ & Daughters and Katz's Deli for "Best Old-School New York Landmark," Blue Ribbon for "Best Late Night Eats," and Blue Smoke, Hill Country and Daisy May's for "Best Barbecue," along with a list that should fill the bellies of many tourists. Visitors should take particular note of the list of eats under the category "Must Eat Before Leaving City," which includes the holy trinity -- a hot dog from Gray's Papaya, a slice of pizza from Di Fara, and a burger from the Shake Shack. Anything they missed? Not a whole lot of love for the outer boroughs, particularly Queens. . .

Di Fara Pizza in Midwood may be revered by everyone from Brian Chase from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs to New York Mag’s Josh Ozersky – who makes a point of living within walking distance of the joint – but Gotham City Insider is not impressed. After a recent visit, she slams the thin crust pizza mecca as “a spot for tourists to take pictures of an old man cutting basil onto a pizza.” And furthermore:

The shit people will put up with when they're told its "hip" is really unbelievable. The place was absolutely filthy - as its known to be - and I left with my eyes burning and my hair and clothes smelling like a burnt piece of crust. Clean the ovens, you old bat! When I worked in a pizzeria as a kid every night before closing we had to scrape the ovens and clean them out with hot water and rags. Is that too much to ask?

Continue reading "Acclaimed Di Fara Pizza Still "Filthy" After Last Year's DOH"

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 next time you use the oven, these bits get caught up in the convection currents and deposited on the food, which adds flavor."

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.

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 Star Award last year. After one recent lunch rush, Becker spoke to us at a side table about the benefits of growing up in Brooklyn, an Arthur Avenue restaurant with no menu, and what it’s like to clean the kitchen at 4 AM with the ghosts of Studio 54 keeping time at the bar.

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).

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.

• 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 Chinese cuisine to which we've become accustomed. Get ready for "tea-flavored dishes from Hangzhou, the cult-inspiring hairy crabs of Shanghai [and] the fabled honeyed ham from Yunnan."
• The Post dishes about the Spotted Pig's latest restaurant inspection, during which it receive 34 points, putting it over the 27 point pass mark.

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!

• 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 rest of the city moves on with little notice.
• Di Fara fans get ready: Slice passes along the following info that the restaurant is getting ready to re-open Wed. or Thurs. of this week.
• A 26-year-old man was killed in a hit-and-run accident shortly after 4 a.m. last night as he was crossing Park Ave. South at 22nd St.
• Four people were shot on Lenox Ave. between 126th and 127th St. in Manhattan last night.
• A Queens state assemblyman wants Google to start blurring sensitive NY satellite images, like pipelines, airports, and other assorted targets.
• A nice rememberance of The New York Times Building in its heyday.

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."

• 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 a dead son. Link has priceless pic of Chris Noth looking for clues in Swanson's decolletage.

- Is New York going to go the way of LA with posted letter grades for restaurant health inspections?

Forty-Second Street, by Joe Holmes.

Officer Crossing, by mdpny on Flickr. Tag yours with "Gothamist" if you want us to use them.

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.

Note From Nestor, by Frankenstein.

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 not, if we don’t give the super who took three weeks to fix our garbage disposal a present, we better forget about getting that clogged drain snaked. So, we are going to tighten our belts (at least until the pie comes, then nothing but elastic) and spend the next two months dining BYOB (bring your own bottle).

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.