DiFara Pizza

[Jamon.Iberico]

Thank you for the write-up. It's 7am, and I *NEED* pizza. More than that, I need THAT pizza. I'm gonna go put on my walking shoes. I've got a few thousand miles to cover.

[ajgnet]

Thank you for the write-up.  It's 7am, and I *NEED* pizza.  More than that, I need THAT pizza.  I'm gonna go put on my walking shoes.  I've got a few thousand miles to cover.

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I understand the craving. I've done some pretty crazy things to get there, including once walking from times square. It'll be worth it ! Enjoy your lunch.

[davythefatboy]

Love DiFara.

One small correction - Fiore di Latte is mozzarella from Cow's milk, not buffalo milk.

[slkinsey]

Here's another perspective on Di Fara from David Rosengarten...

http://www.davidrosengarten.com/content.as...pe=ezine&id=131

I gotta tell ya—as if I have to—I was really scarred by my Di Fara experience. Usually, the food's the thing as far as I'm concerned. But the level of sheer managerial incompetence here was mind-boggling.

This was perhaps the worst restaurant operation I've ever stepped into—including a lot of huts and shacks from southeast Georgia to southeast Asia.

I have nothing against the old guy; he seemed kind of pleasant when I met him five years ago. And there's no questioning his talent as a pizza-maker. But how much hubris do you have to have to ignore the fact that people are waiting an hour-and-a-half for a slice of pizza.....and sometimes not getting it? Hire a few people! Hire one person! Fix this!

* * *

I am not planning to go back to Di Fara anytime soon. And that's coming from me—the one who has made a career favoring funk over fashion.

Edited April 6, 2009 by slkinsey (log)

[ajgnet]

Love DiFara.

One small correction - Fiore di Latte is mozzarella from Cow's milk, not buffalo milk.

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Haha ! Clearly ... thank you !

[bobg01]

discussion in today's ny times: what does $5 slice mean, is it worth it?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/31/nyregion...za.html?_r=1&hp

[Sneakeater]

It's a stupid question.

If you have throngs of people waiting an hour and a half for a slice, why WOULDN'T you charge five dollars?

[Steve R.]

It's a stupid question.

If you have throngs of people waiting an hour and a half for a slice, why WOULDN'T you charge five dollars?

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Absolutely correct. Every food board is having the same DiFara discussion. What kills me is the conclusion that some folks reach without thinking, which resembles a Yogi-ism: "no one goes there anymore, it's too crowded".

[Fat Guy]

Yes, simple supply and demand theory means the price is justified. I happen to think there's a market failure here, in that the pizza isn't good enough to justify that price, but as a matter of economics there's not much of an argument to be had here.

[slkinsey]

At $5 per slice, you're buying part of a $40 pizza. I find this funny because (a) no way do I think Di Fara's pizza is worth $40 for a whole pizza; and (b) at the same time we hear people decrying a $40 pizza at Lucali like it's highway robbery.

[Fat Guy]

Interestingly, a whole pie is $25. So the by-the-slice markup is similar to the wine-by-the-glass markup at some restaurants.

Of course, for someone who earns $25 an hour, the real cost of the pie is $75: $25 for the pie and $50 for the time spent waiting. Plus transportation.

[weinoo]

Domenico DeMarco, founder of iconic Di Fara Pizzeria, dies at 85

https://www.bkmag.com/2022/03/17/dom-de-marci-di-fara-pizza-death/

 

https://gothamist.com/food/domenico-demarco-founder-of-iconic-di-fara-pizzeria-dies-at-85

 

RIP to a fairly iconic NY pizza maker.

 

[Steve R.]

yeah.  I grew up 4 blocks away and hung out there as a teen.  I knew Dom for 55+ years & will miss him being there.  RIP

[cdh]

I'd read that there were DiFara expansions in other places in the works... hopefully he had worthy apprentices to handle the new ventures.

[weinoo]

Here's a little ode to Dom, and the quintessential New York slice, from Pete Wells...

 

Quote

 

That day, I began to see Mr. DeMarco as a living link between the cooking of Southern Italy, where he was born in 1936, and New York City’s corner-slice culture.

Pizza snobs 20 years ago thought it was self-evident that the only worthwhile pizza was the kind made by Neapolitan-style brick-oven pizzerias like Totonno’s and Lombardi’s, which could trace their culinary lineage straight back to Naples. It was less clear that the greasily reliable New York slice, baked at lower heat in gas ovens and consumed on the sidewalk by guys like Tony Manero, belonged to any culinary tradition at all.

 

Today the gas-oven slice is an object of serious study and appreciation. Shops like Scarr’s, Upside and Mama’s Too have re-examined the style and offered subtle, respectful improvements. And it all started at Di Fara.

 

 

@Chris Hennes and @Robenco15 - some day, you may both be Doms!

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/17/dining/dom-demarco-dead-di-fara-pizza.html