Mike's In Town! Time For Some Brooklyn Pizza.

Aug 31, 2007

It's bad enough that Dani lives three-and-a-half hours away in Saratoga Springs. That means we don't get to see her and Erik very often. Not to mention we don't get to see our new grandson Ethan every day! Worse than that, Mike lives in L.A. so visits from or to him are few and far between. I miss him terribly as months go by without a sighting (or a hug). Phone calls don't quite cut it.

So it was with great excitement and anticipation that a trip east has been in the works and now it's here. Mike came in on Wednesday and is staying for six days. With him is his friend Yen, a lovely young woman, who we've been getting to know. Every trip home for Mike is a chance to recharge his New York batteries. Living and working in Los Angeles, he misses his home town and his New York roots. Today he's out carousing in Manhattan. Yesterday, after a trip to Brooklyn's Avenue J for some pizza at DiFara's (consistently rated one of New York's top slices), he and Yen took the subway to Green-Wood cemetary for a walking tour. After that, they rode into Manhattan, explored the electronics store J&R and then walked back over the Brooklyn Bridge, one of the great NY experiences, where we met them for dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Noodle Pudding.

Mike's back in town. Getting ready to hit the street in search of Brooklyn pizza.

Mike working remotely from Brooklyn on jobs he's involved in back west.

Like parents, like son. Mike loves food and claims that L.A. doesn't begin to compare to New York. So we headed to Avenue J for Brooklyn's best pizza: Di Fara's. And they even sell slices! But be prepared for a very long wait: tremendous demand. Agonizingly slow, old-world supply.

"I brought this poor starving kid here to get him some good, nutritious Brooklyn pizza." What a good mom!

Here's the master at work: Domenico DeMarco of Di Fara. Wonderful pizza. Maddening system ... or no system at all; thus, people crowd the counter ordering slicers and whole pies, but who knows who's first, second, next? No one, that's who! And Domenico makes each and every pie all by himself ever since he landed here 40 years ago. A high stress waiting game but in the end delicious pizza made from imported San Marzano tomatoes and fresh buffalo mozzarella laid upon a thin and crusty base.

Even though his son and daughter are there to help, Domenico is the one who produces the actual pizza from beginning to end. Including the cutting of the slices.

Time to start another pie.

Pizza in. Pizza out. All day long.

It's hot and crowded inside so here's a better place to enjoy your pizza.

Now it's off to other NYC sights. Mike and Yen on the subway to Green-Wood cemetary.