Grimaldi's Pizzeria

I've been waiting to try Grimaldi's pizza for about three years, so yesterday, when Roger and I happened to find ourselves in Dumbo for a gallery opening, we decided to finally try it. After waiting on line outside for about 40 minutes, we finally entered the building, which is decorated with a lot of Frank Sinatra pictures and red-checkered tablecloths. It was crowded and we sat between two other couples, which was fine. We ordered two cokes and a pizza.

Let me preface the rest of the review by saying that I firmly believe that New York's Best Pizza should be New York-style pizza.

The pizza, coal-cooked, arrived very hot, and legitimately tasted pretty good. However (and perhaps this is my fault, for not fully understanding what I was getting myself into), it is very much Italian-style pizza. In case you've never been to Italy, this means a very thin crust, a somewhat chunkier tomato sauce, and slices of mozzarella strewn about, with some basil leaves. It's good. This pizza is also good (although, not as good as it is in Italy; the burnt bit on the bottom was a little too charcoal-y for me). It's also healthier than New York style pizza. But honestly? Is it the best pizza in the city? No, of course not. To say that it is the best is to deny all that pizza in New York stands for.

Pizza in New York is a horse of another color, and damn it, I like it better than Italian-style. For example, see the two images below. They both have their charms, but the pizza on the right is better. Why? Because it is New York style. Notice that the sauce and cheese is mixed together in a fusion of happiness. This is true pizza, and it is a pizza of this sort that should be rated New York's best. I will continue my search for this elusive morsel, for the unicorn of food, The Best New York pizza, and I will report back.

For now, visit Grimaldi's, but only with the right expectations: a long line for okay Italian style pizza. And then head over to the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory, where they will help to make it all better with their sweet, creamy cones.

DELICIOUS: Bubble Tea

I really enjoy bubble tea, which apparently has its origins in 1980s Taiwan. It tastes pretty much like cold, sweet, milky tea (at least the milk teas do), and has delicious balls of tapioca (called pearls) at the bottom. The consistency of the pearls is a little chewy, but not as chewy as gummies are. Overall, it's a lovely little drink.

Right now, for lunch, I'm having a big glass of it from Koryod@ng, a bakery in Koreatown that sells it for $4.25 (a nice little side for it is the red-bean bun, which goes for $1.35). However, you can get a slightly smaller glass of it at Vanessa's Dumpling House (probably one of my top ten restaurants in NYC) for only $3.00, and I'm sure that there are places in Chinatown where it is even cheaper.

If you'd like to try to make this yourself, I quickly googled "bubble tea recipe" and came across this. Apparently Epicurious doesn't have a recipe for it.