Wonder where the best pizza is? Take a look at this interactive pizza map. When you are talking pizza, you need to dream up and use terms like ‘puffy’, ‘charred’ and ‘flirting-with-burnt crispness’ to partake in a serious pizza conversation.
I think pizza-world’s #1 certified pilgrimage is the one to Di Fara in Brooklyn, a time-capsulized pizza restaurant probably unchanged since 1964. It takes a good 45 minutes to get there from midtown.
There, you buy a divine slice with fresh cut basil; 80+ year old Domenico De Marco uses scissors to clip the leaves for each slice with craftsmanship and love.
The bottom line is, I can’t put it better than the writer of this website: “If you’re a New Yorker, all I have to tell you is that there’s a really long fucking line. Isn’t that enough? If you’re not a New Yorker, you wouldn’t understand.”
The New Yorker magazine has just agreed with the consensus regarding Di Fara’s quality by publishing a video interview, well worth watching.
From Manhattan, take the QTrain (Yellow) to Avenue J in Brooklyn. Go downstairs, walk west about one short block. The store front is so old and weathered, you might overlook it at first. Look for the line!
I was there recently, had two slices, one plain, one sausage. I’ll stick with plain in the future. Fine, unadulterated, Di Fara’s crust really sets it apart from generic pizza.
Di Fara was closed by the Health Department for food prep violations. Again. Reopening scheduled for 02 June.
