Di Fara’s Pizza Brooklyn

Posted By: augie on November 9th, 2009

difara I have mixed feelings about Di Fara’s and have put off writing about it for a while. It’s considered an excellent (if not the premier) pizzeria in NYC. I went over a year ago, days before hopping on a plane to Naples, and didn’t think it was worth the hype.

http://www.worstpizza.com/2009/11/di-faras-pizza-brooklyn/

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Franny’s Pizza Brooklyn

Posted By: augie on October 10th, 2009

Ah the provolone pie! We went to Franny’s the other night and tried a uniquely deliciously pie. It had provolone piccante, tomato sauce, and onions.

It’s quite refreshing to see another cheese compete for the spot light on pizza’s center stage. Far too few pizzerias are willing to venture outside the mozzarella safe zone. This pie is an edible monument towards the glory that is provolone. Every other ingredient is (for better or worse) an aftertaste.

http://www.worstpizza.com/2009/10/frannys-pizza-brooklyn/

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Joe’s Pizza Carmine Street – Famous Isn’t Always Better

Posted By: augie on July 1st, 2009

Augie from the salted espresso just tried Joe’s Pizza. Next to Ray’s, Famous Joe’s is probably the most obvious spot to start my New York Slice education. It holds a cult status among New Yorkers in the west village as being the “real deal” without being ostentatious in the process. Unlike some other famous pizzerias (which will go nameless in this post), Joe’s hasn’t become a caricature of itself. Joe’s occupies a small outlet on Carmine street just off of Bleecker. It’s so unassuming that I almost missed it from the street. Inside, the walls are unadorned and there are no big tables. You’ve got to eat your slice standing up or sitting on a high stool.
When I asked for a slice of cheese pizza, the cashier asked me if I wanted a slice with mozzarella or a just a “cheese” slice. This confused me a bit. Isn’t mozzarella the standard cheese for pizza? When I asked about the difference, he seemed a bit flustered and never really answered my question. He just kept saying the word “fresher” to describe the more expensive slice. My guess: the “fresher” slice, with big, white globs melted all over the top, used a higher quality mozzarella while the other slice-cooked with a shredded, yellower cheese- used a less expensive, more processed mozzarella.

The slice on the left is the one with “fresher” mozzarella
So what did I order? One of each, of course. When in doubt, always order both. As I carried my lunch across the street I wondered which one would be better. The slice with white globs was more aesthetically pleasing, more comparable to the type of pizza I’ve been trained to make. The neapolitan snob in me had already picked a favorite. But I was surprisingly disappointed. The cheese on the “mozzarella” pie, as I guessed, was fresher and of higher quality. But fresh mozzarella is only as good as its other ingredients, and in this case, it drew attention to the blandness of the tomato sauce . The sauce had no tang or salty tweak to it. It was flatly sweet from beginning to end. The mozzarella did taste better, but only at the overall expense of the pizza. I then realized why there were countless containers of garlic powder scattered across the countertops.
If the pie with real mozzarella was boring, how would the “other” mozzarella pizza hold up? Surprisingly well! The yellow, processed cheese has a secret weapon that the fresh mozzarella can’t account for: more grease. This slice was greasy- greasy enough that afterwards my paper plate could have been used as a pane for a circular window. Fortunately, grease does more than just give you heart attacks; it tastes delicious while doing so. The grease drew attention away from the mediocre sauce, which is a good thing, I guess.
It feels counter intuitive to say, but in the case of Famous Joe’s, the fancy, more expensive slice with “better” cheese isn’t always the better choice at all. Joe’s gets 4 out of 8 slices.

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http://www.worstpizza.com/2009/07/joes-pizza-carmine-street-famous-isnt-always-better/

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First Pizza Lombardi’s Is It The Best as Well

Posted By: augie on June 24th, 2009

Augie from The Salted Expresso shares with us his first experience at eating NYC pizza. Ah, my first pizza review in the big apple. What would have otherwise been a depressing, rainy day turned into the beginning of a wonderfully edible adventure. It’s only appropriate that I start my New York pizza search at the Pizzeria that claims to have started it all, Lombardi’s.

Located in little Italy, Lombardi’s was started by Gennaro Lombardi, a Neapolitan immigrant, in 1905. This pizzeria has a long and extensive history, most of which can be found in framed pictures on the wall. I don’t want to go too deeply into its past because I’d rather talk about the pizza, but one interesting fact about Lombardi’s that made me smile is this: For almost 80 years Lombardi’s stayed in the same building, until, according to our waiter, the vibration from the 6 train broke its coal burning oven. The owners refused to use an electric oven in its place and shut their doors until they found another location with a real, coal burning oven.

What we ate: A half and half combination of

the classic margherita and Lombardi’s own “Gennaro” white pie.

Let’s start with margherita. With fresh mozzarella, San Marzano tomato sauce, and basil, these ingredients were neapolitan through and through. Since returning to the states, I’m often hesitant to try this simple type of pie in the fear that, well, I’ll actually taste the quality of the ingredients. Ever wonder why most American pies are flavor chameleons, constantly changing their toppings? Last time I checked BBQ chicken and pineapple were the “it” toppings, though, they might now be outdated. It’s not simply because it’s “gourmet” or “original”, though that’s definitely part of it. It’s often because the overall quality of ingredients is so bad that if you were to sample a margherita type pie with only three ingredients from say, Domino’s, you’d quickly realize how processed, bland, and unimpressive the ingredients actually are. So they pile high the ”gourmet” ingredients in the hopes of hoodwinking our taste buds and tricking us into believing that we’re eating “flavorful” pizza. But I digest.

The margharita pie at Lombardi’s actually was flavorful. The mozzarella melted into pretty white puddles – looking more like flower peddles than cheese – and was used sparingly enough, allowing the tomato sauce to shine through at points; creating a nice white and red contrast. The cheese was creamy while still remaining cohesive. The tomato sauce added a pleasant tang towards the end of each bite though I’d prefer to trade in some of that tangy for salty. The basil, which was visibly present on each slice, left my taste buds searching for its strong, spicy aftertaste. I never found it.

I wasn’t as excited about the white pie. This pie had mozzarella, ricotta, and romano cheese, with garlic infused olive oil and a few strips of scissor cut basil. But it was hard to taste anything besides the ricotta. Usually, I have a beef to pick with ricotta on pizza. Instead of acting as a mild medium to balance stronger flavors, it overwhelms the palate with its

creaminess. This pie was no exception. The romano and mozzarella fell by the wayside And the basil? What happened to the basil?

If the ingredients on the margherita and white tasted neapolitan, the crust that supported them tasted like it was from New York. It was golden- brown, salty, pliable. Yet it was tough enough, I imagine, to be thrown like a frisbee. When we were finished, I slide my leftover slice into my message bag like I would a paperback novel.

But the crust’s strength was also its weakness. It felt too dense, too heavy. I stopped after two slices, under protest from my stomach.

Go to Lombardi’s. Order the Margherita. Watch them cook your pie in a 1000 degree coal-burning

oven. Enjoy the fresh mozzarella, rich tomato sauce, friendly environment, and smile when you

can do it all for under twenty bucks. Lombardi’s Pizza in NYC gets 6 out of 8 slices.

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http://www.worstpizza.com/2009/06/first-pizza-lombardis-is-it-the-best-as-well/

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Di Fara’s Pizza Brooklyn

Franny’s Pizza Brooklyn

Joe’s Pizza Carmine Street – Famous Isn’t Always Better

First Pizza Lombardi’s Is It The Best as Well

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