Here I am sitting at my desk munching on a couple of slices of Red Baron frozen pizza, when guess who calls--my gal Sammi from Brooklyn. She's calling to say hey and tell me how bummed she is to be missing the festivities this week--can't get a babysitter, although JetBlue still has seats available through the weekend. Of course she's jealous that we're all in Vegas without her this week, but once she found out I was chowing on store-bought frozen pizza, she gave me the business.
Brooklyn, if you're not aware, is home to a couple of world-famous places that can honestly make the claim to serving the Best Pizza on Earth, Grimaldi's and Di Fara. Of course, I have been to neither, my only trip to The City was a quick don't-slow-down trek along the Cross-Bronx expressway on my way to Connecticut. So we didn't get to take a side trip to Brooklyn for pizza. Some day, I'll get there. But every time I talk to Sammi, she asks me when I'm coming to Brooklyn for dinner, and every time my mouth starts watering thinking of those perfect NY-style slices.
Long-time readers will remember my complaints about the dearth of good pizza in Nashville. You want grits, fried chicken, or biscuits and gravy? No problem, they've got it in spades. But if you wanted a good pizza, fuggedaboudit--there was none to be had. I tried a couple passable joints in my two years there, but I had nothing that could be considered great pizza.
In Phoenix, there was a fantastic place on Highland Ave. and 20th St. called NYPD pizza, and it was by FAR the best I'd ever had--two slices of 'Brooklyn Family' and I was in heaven--a thin crunchy and chewy crust, topped with pepperoni, sausage, and fresh basil. It was soooo good that sometimes I went back and got a third slice. And some may call me a heretic, but I loved dipping the crusts in ranch dressing, too. Rumor has it that they were one of those places that imported NYC tapwater which they used to make their dough. I don't know if that's true or not, but whatever it was, it was like heroin to this pizza junkie.
Since I've come to Vegas, I've found a couple of decent places--the brew pub at the Monte Carlo makes surprisingly good pies, and of course there is Metro Pizza which has made a few nationwide 'Top 10' lists by people who compile that sort of thing. And Metro is my current favorite--a nine inch pepperoni pizza and a Newcastle draft is my lunch of choice about every two weeks. They have an outlet at Ellis Island, but the slices there don't seem to get the love and attention that the main restaurant on Tropicana provides.
When I first started as a dice dealer at the Golden Gate, a couple of guys on my crew were New Yorkers, and they swore up and down that NY Pizza & Pasta on Jones & Sahara was the best pizza in the city. I've been wanting to try it out, but since it's on the opposite side of town from me, I haven't made the trek yet (We East-siders don't like to cross the Strip if we don't have to). I'm thinking that the next time I go to the man-spa at Whiskers, I'll treat myself to lunch over there since it's in the same neighborhood, and of course post a review.
In the meantime, I'll sit here and dirty my shirt with the droppings from my Red Baron, wishing that I were under the Brooklyn Bridge, gorging myself on some Grimaldi's instead.
Mikey
PS--That link for Di Fara is to SliceNY.com--one of my new favorite websites. I never before considered the genius of a pizza blog, but there it is, catering to geeks like me!
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