New York pizza

The only times in my life I have been in Midwood. ... was to go out there to try his pizza. In fact, I probably wouldn't have known there was a Q train (prior to the 2nd Ave. line; it's the Q, right?) if not for Dom.

I did think it was really good, but for me not great enough for the trip more often. Also, he did more of a neapolitan soft dough than the crispy NY kind of crust, which I prefer.

But regardless of what you thought about the pizza, that man was a craftsman. I love people like who he was. He did a lot of things that nobody will do in this day and age, like proofing his dough a little longer to let it ferment, he was hand ripping cheese and grating it fresh per pie, and it wasn't just cheese, he was getting buffalo mozzerella from Naples because his ingredients were so important to him. The san marzano tomatoes had to be right, and he was finishing off his pies with gran padano and snipping basil leaves right off the plant when it came out of the oven, etc. ... and on his toppings? People talk about places with rewarmed slices in these discussions, but his attention to the quality of his ingredients was unreal. I am really glad I got to pay homage while he was still around.

My criticisms would have been that, 1) it really wasn't a great crust, in fact I thought his ingredients were so ridiculously off the charts good that it hid the deficiencies, and 2) He was sort of doing his thing by feel, so my sense was there was no consistency from week to week in exactly what you might get. He was so good, though, that I think people didn't cared.

 

https://nypost.com/2023/06/25/nyc-r...pizzerias-must-cut-carbon-emissions-up-to-75/



I swear, that isn't me.

Also, I wish I could have been a fly on the wall when he got asked, "So what are you in for?"