DiFara Pizza & The Master of Midwood, Brooklyn, NY

Let’s be clear right from the start. DiFara Pizza and owner-pizzamaker Domenico DeMarco have received as many in-depth reviews and interview coverage as anyplace and anyone in the pizza world. This is as a beloved and hotly debated pizza shop you are likely to encounter in your lifetime and to make a long long story short, there is little new, or improved, I can add to the throngs of experiences and opinions already created from visiting this old school, small pizza shop occupying a corner deep in Brooklyn on Avenue J, or about the somewhat diminutive in stature, but large in pizza lore figure that is Domenico “Dom” DeMarco, a man whose pizza causes people to line up and wait for up to two hours or more before obtaining a slice. 

DiFara Pizza

Before being able to add my voice to the throngs, I first had to get there and my journey to DiFara took much longer than expected. I had to fight to get to DiFara and thought I would surely miss the end of lunch business hours at 4:30pm. After two auto accidents early in my drive put me behind schedule, I nearly flew up the New Jersey Turnpike and at 3:34pm the tall, blue-greyish towers of the Verrazano-Narrows bridge could be seen on the horizon. I thought, “I’m gonna make it”.

It took some 40 minutes to get across the bridge and onto the Belt Parkway. By the time I wound my way up the Bay Parkway, past the cemetery at McDonald Avenue and veered right onto Avenue J, the wind bringing the wonderful smell of salt air into my car window the whole way, the digital clock on my dashboard read 4:38.  My heart sank, but I figured I would drive by just to see DiFara, even if it was now closed for lunch. Then suddenly, there it was, sitting on the corner like I had seen on the internet a hundred times….and the doors were flung wide open, with Dom clearly visible at the counter! I turned left onto East 15th, immediately found a parking spot and jogged across Avenue J and into DiFara. My delayed arrival would turn out to be perfect timing.

Inside of DiFara Pizza

Two couples, a kid and an older gentleman were the only people in DiFara. Dom’s daughter (I believe Maggie) was at the counter and I ordered a slice. “We’re out, but have one square left”. I thought about breaking out the sob story about driving from Maryland, but I asked if I could get a whole pizza. She asked Dom if he could make one more and he came out to make my pizza. The older gentleman eating left, as did the one couple with their kid, leaving one couple debating about politics and me as the only ones in DiFara as Maggie shut the doors and locked them for the close of lunch.

I knew DiFara was a small space, but it is smaller than I thought. There area between the edge of the counter and the wall behind it which contains Dom’s workspace is narrow, which means Dom is literally right in front of you when making the pizzas. This close proximity and connection to Dom has to be a big part of the allure of DiFara and I was immediately drawn into it. Dom grabbed some flour and spread it on the peel and then grabbed a dough ball and began stretching it out. I got very excited. I was finally inside DiFara watching Dom make pizza as I have done on YouTube so many times before, to the point of ad nauseum (see Dom in action on the videos page). I asked, “Mr. DeMarco, may I take pictures of you and your place”, to which Dom waved his hand casually with his back to me as he made pizza, “sure, sure”.

L to R: Olive Oil Canisters (Oliera), Dom liberally pouring on the olive oil

I wanted to liberally snap away, to ask questions, but I mostly just watched. Leaning on the counter, drinking a San Pellegrino Limonata and with absolutely no crowd, I was thrilled to be here soaking in this moment. Yes, it’s just pizza, but as with any endeavor it is a joy to see an artist at work, to see dough stretched, cheese hand grated onto the pizza and olive oil liberally spread onto the pizza by a man who has done this tirelessly, in this exact spot, since before man landed on the moon. While Dom has missed the occasional day, he is very much the Cal Ripken of pizza. I wondered what changes Dom has witnessed in the neighborhood over the past 45 years, how different he must have looked manning this spot as a 28 year old, how many times he has had issues with importing his bufala and a host of other queries. This is a man who has most likely made over a million high quality pizzas with his own hands, right here in this spot. I was in pizza heaven, and virtually alone inside of it to boot.

L to R: Freshly grated cheese and bucket of Grande Rotondino fior-di-latte mozzarella, Dom's office

The pizza cooked in the oven, Dom checked it mid way through with his bare hands, gave it a turn and then after about eight minutes, Dom took out the pizza, put it in a big pizza box, sprinkled on what was either some freshly grated parmegiano-reggiano or romano cheese and then took out a big handful of basil and began to cut it onto my pizza with a pair of scissors, not more than two feet from me. He sliced it, banging the slicing wheel on top of the end crust a few times to cut it fully and then said “oh-kay, here you go” before disappearing into the back. Here it was, the DiFara pizza, and it was mine. Would it be everything many people have claimed it to be…the best slice in Brooklyn, the best pizza in New York, the best pizza anywhere?

Dom slicing my pizza

I took my prize to a long folding table, you know the ones with the wood textured top, and sat down. As I carried the pizza to the table, the smell coming out of the box was literally intoxicating, with the very pungent and noticeable aroma of basil riding on top of the smell of the cheese and bready smell from the crust. My mouth watered in anticipation.

Looking at the pizza, it was everything I expected it to be. Texturally, it’s pretty much a wet, sloppy mess from the abundance of olive oil and cheeses that can and will get on you if you are not careful. Visually it is a very colorful pie, the translucent green olive oil laying on top of melted, but still individually identifiable shreds of reggiano or romano cheese, an overall creamy looking coating of fior-di-latte with occasional concentrated splotches from the melted bufala and the bright, nearly brick-red tomato sauce peeking out from underneath the mass of toppings here and there before holding sway near the end crust, which itself has a puffy, brown-goldish cornicione.

Melted Goodness

I was prepared for a crust with not a lot of flavor due to Dom preferring a quick one to two hour rise for his dough and was expecting a powerfully tangy and salty onslaught from the cheese balanced by the spiciness of the fresh basil. I haven’t heard a lot mentioned about the sauce, yet suspected it had to be good. However, I was completely unprepared for how good it was. The tomato sauce on my pizza was excellent in every regard, having a very noticeable natural tomatoey sweetness, tasting very bright, very fresh and having a nice acidity. These aspects are needed to cut through the heaping of cheese and olive oil on these pizzas and the sauce does this competently.

The cheese onslaught was as expected; tangy, salty, creamy, being mild in the places dominated by the fior-di-latte and more tangy where the melted “blob bombs” of bufala were. Riding over all of the pizza was the saltiness and slight nutiness of the reggiano or romano cheese, which contrasted and added to the tangy-creaminess of the mozzarellas. The nutty note I picked up in the cheese may indicate it was parmegiano-reggiano being used today, but the joy of my first trip to DiFara helped make me forget to ask a lot of questions. Some “blogger” I am, huh?

DiFara Upskirt

Adding to the already delicious interplay of the sauce and cheeses, which were used in a good ratio even though heavy overall, are a faintly fruity olive oil and all that fresh basil. There are a LOT of flavors happening on top of Dom’s pizzas and I love the fact these flavors meld together so well, even if the overall effect is messy.

Nothing against Dom, but his crust, often a mixture of 75% Italian Tipo 00 Flour and 25% All Trumps high gluten flour, which has enough strength from the high gluten flour to support the prodigious toppings while having the pleasing soft chewiness from the Italian 00 flour, is not worth writing home about. The bottom of the crust had a nice, albeit uneven char on the bottom, with one half of the pizza having a good deal more char than the other. The hole structure of the crust is very standard and the flavor of the dough is very mild. Anyone with a high temperature oven could make this dough with relative ease, but therein lies the rub. Not many pizzerias using a deck oven have one which can reach up to 750°F.

The small amount of people in the shop when I walked in all had ordered slices. I would imagine a good amount of the people usually waiting in the lunch rush, evening and reportedly ungodly weekend waits are also ordering slices. Maybe because of the old school sliding window in the front the shop, I tend to think of DiFara as being primarily a by-the-slice shop. Viewed through this lens, DiFara is easily the greatest piece of pizza I have ever eaten from a slice shop. Yes, my pizza was fresh, but even after eating the last slice of it at home two days later, limp crusted by that time, it still had more flavor than virtually every slice-shop slice I have ever had, whether fresh from the oven or a proper re-heat.

The slice-window at DiFara's. Dom's daughter and the person who claimed the last square strike up a conversation

If DiFara is in fact primarily a slice shop, it is a testament to the quality of the pizza that DiFara is generally compared against every pizza shop in New York, whether slice or whole pizza shop. Personally, divorcing all sentimentality and focusing on the pizza itself, I feel anyone who thinks DiFara is the best pizza in New York needs to visit the new pizzerias which have opened over the past ten years and are pushing the envelope, but who am I to dictate what another person thinks?

Still, whether slice shop or whole pizza shop, the fact is these are simply very delicious pizzas. I felt blessed to have been able to have my first visit be untainted by the long lines and unruly ordering system which are purported to be the norm here, to have sat in DiFara virtually all alone and being able to take in the store and the pizza in quiet reflection. Dom’s pizzas are full of fresh, well integrated and balanced flavors which are both intense and mild at the same time. This is the type of pizza shop steeped in mystique which causes people like the Sticker Dude to wax poetic on postcards about “DiFara’s Freehand Recipe”. I would like to see Dom’s “freehand” technique add the toppings with more of the sensibility of a seamstress or a tailor, as opposed to the way he adds toppings with all the finesse of a sledgehammer. A little less of everything would result in a pizza which is less messy and would allow your mouth some reprieve and more time to take in all of the flavors in these pizzas. I would also love to taste one of Dom’s pies with a more flavorful crust as well. But what do I know? Dom has been carefully making his pizzas, his way, for 45 years now. I’m looking forward to once again tasting this powerfully topped, both texturally and flavor wise, balanced amalgam of fresh, delicious flavors just the way it is. After all, maybe Dom really does know best.

L to R: Limonata and Dom, a slice ready for a toothy immolation Sticker Dude's Postcard at DiFara

Sticker Dude's Postcard at DiFara

Verdict: Love. Best visited during lunch after 2:00pm or arrive early before it opens in the evening to alleviate your waiting time. Based on people citing anywhere from one to three hour waits, this is not recommended during peak evening hours and especially during weekends. NYC has several excellent pizzerias and more seem to be popping up all the time, so two to three hours is a subway ride to another pizzeria and time for a meal. For those visiting when you have the chance of experiencing less of a crowd, you will be rewarded with very well balanced tangy, salty, acidic, sweet and slightly fruity flavors laying on top of a pleasantly crispy-chewy and charred crust. The quality of the sauce and toppings are excellent. Aside from the pizza itself, seeing Dom operate is a joy and should be something every pizza lover does once in their life. With Sal of Sal & Carmines recently passing away, realize nothing in life is guaranteed. A visit here soon should be in order for anyone who wants to add their own opinion of what to make of these extremely flavorful slices and pies.

Epi-Logs insightful Secrets of DiFara article.

DiFara Pizza
1424 Avenue J (at 15th Street)
Brooklyn, NY 11230
(718)258-1367
Wednesday-Sunday
Lunch: 12:00pm to 4:30pm
Dinner: 6:00pm to 9:00pm
Please place all orders by 8:30pm
Closed Monday & Tuesday

Cash Only
Q Train to Avenue J
Exit station, turn left, walk 1/2 a block