Great American Bites: Best pizza in New York? DiFara stakes a claim
— -- The scene: In a recent online poll, USA TODAY readers narrowly picked New York as their favorite U.S. pizza city. If you are visiting New York, or even if you live there, and want to try genuine New York-style pizza, you might as well eat the best. For that, you must go to Brooklyn, but not the trendy hipster Brooklyn where new restaurants open (and close) daily. Instead you should head to a longtime classic in the way-off-the-beaten-track Midwood neighborhood - because that's where DiFara Pizza is.
DiFara is everything a New York pizzeria should be, a neighborhood establishment that has been on the same block for over 40 years, owned by the same man, Domenico DeMarco. DiFara is among the last of a dying breed, with New York increasingly the province of the fast-food chain pizzerias once completely unknown here, and at the higher end, endless brick oven faux Neapolitan "gourmet" pizzerias. DiFara is the real deal, an immigrant Italian holdout on a corner in a very heavily Orthodox Jewish neighborhood (where even the Dunkin Donuts down the block is certified Kosher). This means that on Saturdays, DiFara's is the only restaurant open, and since the city shuts parking meters here, free spaces abound.
There is usually a line outside when the metal gates open at roughly noon. The schedule is imprecise, since DeMarco is an artist who opens when he is ready, and closes when he runs out of pizza, often hours before the posted 10 p.m.closing time. Inside, the place is quite humble, with a counter down the left side where you order, behind which sits the oven, which DeMarco mans all day. He has made every pizza served here, and continues to do so, assisted in prepping and order taking by one of his children. I was somewhat horrified to discover that a spin-off location is about to open in Las Vegas, which does not bode well considering he won't trust his own family to make pizzas in front of him!
But Vegas or no, this is a true classic where orders are scrawled on well-used legal pads and only cash is accepted. Unlike modern gussied-up pizza places, but very much in the local tradition, DiFara also sells by the slice. There are half a dozen tables, and that's it, other than the framed awards on the wall. After all, DiFara is perennially the city's highest rated pizzeria in the Zagat Restaurant Survey, and has been repeatedly proclaimed New York's best pizza. Guess what? It's true.
Reason to visit: Round pie, square pie, artichokes.
The food: I grew up in New York reared on New York-style pizza, which I have eaten in all five boroughs at places big and small, famous and unknown. I can say with conviction that DiFara's pizza is simply the best of its breed. New York-style pizza is unique because it has a thin crust, but sturdy enough to support the slice held in one hand, crispy yet still flexible enough to fold without shattering. It has a pronounced outer crust that is raised and airy, and pies tend to be large. There is a second style that is also uniquely New York, the Sicilian (you won't find it in Sicily), a rectangular sheet pie with much thicker, bread-like crust and corners. DiFara makes the very best of both types. When it comes to classic New York-style pizza, DiFara is not about reinventing the wheel, it is the wheel.
