Pizza Tour and Photoblog
On Sunday John and I drove from his mom's in Cranford, NJ to NYC to go on our very first Scott's Pizza Tour around the city.
First we went to Lombardi's (tour starts here on Spring Street) because of it's pizz-significance. Everyone else who owned/started other pizzerias in NYC at the time were all trained/apprenticed at Lombardi's first. Lombardi's has a coal burning oven which is now illegal by government and EPA regulations. Luckily they were grandfathered in to allow their coal oven (built in 1897). Their pizza was my favorite - creamiest cheese, subtle basil, light on sauce, crunchy crust.
After Lombardi's we walked down Spring Street to view the honest goodness first original Ray's Pizza (27 Spring Street). At the corner of Spring and Bowery is where we were picked up by Scott's touring school bus.
We drove then to Fornino's in Brooklyn where we were treated to a cheese AND mushroom/truffle oil pizza. Both were great and they had best crust. Fornino's uses a wood burning oven which allows the crust to be crunchy on the outside but fluffy and light on the inside.
Next we drove to Coney Island to go to Totonno's. As we were driving I got one of those moments of total core shaking bliss. We were driving, and it was so hot in the bus, but there was a gorgeous breeze and Scott's pizza tour mix was playing R.E.M.'s "Untitled" and I snapped a picture of a hazy Lady Liberty I smiled so hard I wanted to cry.
The pizza was going to take a while so we drove to Coney Island and walked around a bit. I had never been and was so happy to reach the 10 degree cooler beach. The boardwalk was awesome and I got see Nathan's! I had Death Cab's "Coney Island" in my head the whole time.
Finally our pizza was done and we drove back to Totonno's. They have a wood fired oven which I didn't get too good a look at but the pizza was good. Very similar to Lombardi's.
Last was Sam's Restaurant. We drove from Coney Island back to Brooklyn. It took a while to get back because of the traffic and by the time we got there we were all tired and full and loagy. Louie, the owner, was an awesomely Italian man who filled up my water bottle with ice, what a man! The pizza was gooey and cheesy, much like the type of pizza I'm used to and prefer. But for that reason Lombardi's reigned my favorite. Serpico was regaled with a Happy Birthday pizza.
After we took the bus back to Spring Street, chatted with Scott and the gang for a bit, parted ways, and John, Trisha, and I headed back to Boston.
What a delicious time!
This weekend's photoblog, Part II: NYC Pizza Tour
First we went to Lombardi's (tour starts here on Spring Street) because of it's pizz-significance. Everyone else who owned/started other pizzerias in NYC at the time were all trained/apprenticed at Lombardi's first. Lombardi's has a coal burning oven which is now illegal by government and EPA regulations. Luckily they were grandfathered in to allow their coal oven (built in 1897). Their pizza was my favorite - creamiest cheese, subtle basil, light on sauce, crunchy crust.
After Lombardi's we walked down Spring Street to view the honest goodness first original Ray's Pizza (27 Spring Street). At the corner of Spring and Bowery is where we were picked up by Scott's touring school bus.
We drove then to Fornino's in Brooklyn where we were treated to a cheese AND mushroom/truffle oil pizza. Both were great and they had best crust. Fornino's uses a wood burning oven which allows the crust to be crunchy on the outside but fluffy and light on the inside.
Next we drove to Coney Island to go to Totonno's. As we were driving I got one of those moments of total core shaking bliss. We were driving, and it was so hot in the bus, but there was a gorgeous breeze and Scott's pizza tour mix was playing R.E.M.'s "Untitled" and I snapped a picture of a hazy Lady Liberty I smiled so hard I wanted to cry.
The pizza was going to take a while so we drove to Coney Island and walked around a bit. I had never been and was so happy to reach the 10 degree cooler beach. The boardwalk was awesome and I got see Nathan's! I had Death Cab's "Coney Island" in my head the whole time.
Finally our pizza was done and we drove back to Totonno's. They have a wood fired oven which I didn't get too good a look at but the pizza was good. Very similar to Lombardi's.
Last was Sam's Restaurant. We drove from Coney Island back to Brooklyn. It took a while to get back because of the traffic and by the time we got there we were all tired and full and loagy. Louie, the owner, was an awesomely Italian man who filled up my water bottle with ice, what a man! The pizza was gooey and cheesy, much like the type of pizza I'm used to and prefer. But for that reason Lombardi's reigned my favorite. Serpico was regaled with a Happy Birthday pizza.
After we took the bus back to Spring Street, chatted with Scott and the gang for a bit, parted ways, and John, Trisha, and I headed back to Boston.
What a delicious time!
This weekend's photoblog, Part II: NYC Pizza Tour