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.