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| Lombardi's Pizza | 32 Spring St, NYC, New York, USA (at the junction with Mott Street) ⏰ 12 noon to 10pm ☏ (212) 941-7994 |
Lombardi's Pizza is on every list of top New York City pizzerias. As the first pizzeria established in NYC in 1905, Lombardi's is also on many tourists' bucket list.
A tourist trap for sure but I had to look up the historic New York City institution ;-D
A tourist trap for sure but I had to look up the historic New York City institution ;-D
At Lombardi's door, you will be greeted by a famous smiling Italian while you wait to enter the restaurant :-)
This is Lombardi's main dining hall. The place had a rustic charm and the walls were bedecked with old and new photos of the current owner and celebrities.
Lombardi's have many dining sections - this long and narrow one was outside the kitchen. There was another dining room, at the back, through the kitchen :-D
Dining under the gaze of a Roman goddess in her flowing toga,
and serenaded softly by Frank Sinatra.
As soon as Lombardi's opened for the day, the kitchen sprung into frenzied action to feed the curiosity of hordes of tourists.
The chefs still use that vintage 1905 coal fired brick oven.
To make the best pizza, the dough needs to be fired at constant high heat. Burning coal is the best as it is steady at 500°C, while wood fired oven temperatures are not as steady, and electric ovens can't normally go above 400°C.
My freshly baked small six slice Margherita pie with additional roasted red pepper topping. Nearly USD30 after tax and tips (in 2014 price).
The melted mozzarella cheese and crushed tomatoes with sprinkle of shredded basil was on a thin crust with hard, browned rim with some charred edges.
The Margherita which is considered the first modern pizza bears the colours of the Italian flag - green (basil), white (mozzarella) and red (tomato). The Margherita pizza is credited to Raffaele Esposito who created the tri-color pizza to celebrate the visit of Queen Margherita to Naples in 1889.
The thin crust was like dense bread with charred edges and dry chewy yeasty insides. I like Lombardi's crust.
Eating pizza the New Yorker way - fold the thin slice together. Lots of melty mozzarella cheese which was stringy and chewy, nearly like a mild, rich savoury chewing gum.
In addition to juicy fresh tomatoes, my pie had roasted red peppers added on. It was loaded with savoury sweet juices. Yum! Yum!!
Some people may call this soggy but I enjoyed the juicy tomato and red pepper mash / jam on top of the thin, crisp, chewy bread with gummy melted mozzarella cheese.
You can easily get an equally good coal baked pizza at a lower price elsewhere in New York City, but then, this is Lombardi's - USA's very first pizzeria.
Restaurant name: Lombardi's Pizza
Address: 32 Spring St, NYC, New York, USA (at the junction with Mott Street)
Hours: 12 noon to 10pm
Tel: (212) 941-7994
Written by Tony Boey on 5 Dec 2014
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