| New York has a long love affair with pizza. Italian | | | | into a shape that only roughly approximates a circle. |
| immigrants brought the dish here long ago and the | | | | Artisinal cheeses and salumi make great starters while |
| first pizza restaurant opened in 1905. It's still in | | | | you wait for your pie. Toppings here include quail |
| operation today. Whether you want Neapolitan, | | | | eggs, roasted cauliflower, veal meatballs, and |
| Roman, Sicilian, Chicago deep dish, or New York-style, | | | | guanciale. |
| you'll have no trouble finding a pie to fall in love with. | | | | If Grimaldi's was good enough for Frank Sinatra, it |
| Try the local pie, which is baked in a coal-fired oven. | | | | should be good enough for you. Baked the |
| Located out in Brooklyn, Di Fara's is worth the trip. | | | | old-fashioned way in a coal-fired oven, the pizzas |
| The owner here, Dominick DeMarco, has been | | | | here have a subtle, smoky flavor that can't be |
| making his pizzas by hand for 50 years. He makes his | | | | produced any other way. The mozzarella and ricotta |
| own sauce from San Marzano tomatoes that he | | | | cheese is made in house, as are most of the pizza |
| imports from Italy, and each pie is made to order. | | | | toppings. If you have to wait for a table, you'll enjoy |
| You'll have to wait, but by the time if comes out of | | | | the smashing views of the Brooklyn Bridge. Start |
| the oven, you'll be really ready for it. Each pie is | | | | your meal with one of the tasty antipastos or salads. |
| topped with a little olive oil, some fresh herbs, and a | | | | Off the beaten tourist path on Staten Island, |
| grating of Parmigiano-Reggiano. | | | | Denino's has been run by the same family since 1937. |
| While you're in Brooklyn, check out Franny's. The | | | | With a thick, chewy crust that's dusted with bread |
| married couple who run it use mostly organic, locally | | | | crumbs instead of cornmeal, legions of fans think this |
| sourced ingredients to make California-style pizzas. | | | | is New York's best pizza. It's cooked in a brick oven |
| They use a wood-burning oven to produce a thin, | | | | and loaded with traditional Italian toppings. Order the |
| crispy crust that's lightly charred, in the Neapolitan | | | | MOR, which stands for meatballs, onion, and ricotta, |
| style. They make their salumi and sausages in house, | | | | or the Garbage Pie, which is a meat-lovers dream. |
| and use vegetables purchased that day at the | | | | John's has been in business since 1929, and there's |
| market. A special here is the little neck clam pie. If | | | | hardly a New Yorker who hasn't eaten here at one |
| you're not in the mood for pizza, several pasta dishes | | | | time or another, including Regis Philbin and Jack Black. |
| and appetizers are available. | | | | Unapologetically New York in style, their pizzas are |
| Baker Jim Lahey was something of a legend at the | | | | baked in a coal-burning oven and have delicious |
| Sullivan Street Bakery, so when he opened Co. - | | | | toppings, including ricotta cheese, fennel sausage, and |
| which is pronounced company - expectations were | | | | fresh garlic. The calzones here are as good as the |
| high. He's managed to exceed them with a pizza | | | | pizza, and the rich, gloppy meatball subs are the kind |
| that's not duplicated anywhere else. He barely handles | | | | you dream about. |
| the dough - leaving it to rise and then just pulling it | | | | |