NYC EATS

 “You better cut my pizza in four pieces because I’m not hungry enough to eat six.” – Yogi Berra

If you’re passionate about pizza (and who isn’t) then you owe a debt of thanks to Gennaro Lombardi, an immigrant from Naples, who made the first pizza in America. Of course, it was “New York style”. How could it not be?

In 1897 Lombardi opened a grocery at 53-1/2 Spring Street, in the neighborhood which was quickly becoming known as Little Italy. Surrounded by fellow Italians, he decided it would be a good idea to make and sell them pizza for lunch. He wrapped his pizza in paper and tied it with string, to make it a “to-go” meal. 

Lombardi applied for and received New York’s first license to operate a pizzeria. He would now concentrate solely on his pizza business. He soon enjoyed a clientele that included Italian tenor Enrico Caruso.

A wood-fired oven, such as those used in Naples, was impractical in New York City, so Lombardi invented a coal-burning oven to bake his pies. In doing so he created the signature taste of New York-style pizza, with a slightly charred crust. The best classic New York pizzerias still use coal ovens. He also baked large pies, then cut them into slices for easier handling by customers...another tradition which Lombardi inaugurated. New Yorkers began folding their slice in half to maneuver it into their mouth, which was called a “liberetto”, meaning “like a book”. Today you’ll still see many happy pizza fans walking the streets with folded slices. 

Lombardi had hired a few helpers to cook his pies. The first were Antonio Totonno Pero, John Sasso, and Patsy Lancieri, who perfected their trade at Lombardi’s. All went on to open their own famous pizzerias: Totonno’s opened in Coney island in 1924, Sasso opened John’s Pizzeria on Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village in 1929, and Lancieri started Patsy’s on First Avenue and 116th Street in 1933. Brooklyn, the Village, and East Harlem were all growing Italian communities. Eventually Lancieri’s nephew Patsy Grimaldi opened his popular pizzeria at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge.

Coal ovens produce fine pizza, but they cook crusts so fast and hot that they’re best sold as whole pies and eaten right away. In 1924, Frank Mastro invented the gas-fired pizza oven which has become the standard in most pizzerias. It cooks the pizza slowly at a lower temperature, drying out the crust, so the pie can be easily sliced, last longer, and be reheated...a boon for morning-after pizza breakfasters.

Unfortunately, Lombardi’s closed in 1984. But ten years later, Lombardi’s grandson, Genarro Lombardi III, reopened the famed pizzeria a block away at 32 Spring Street, where you can still find his grandpa’s famous charred pies...if you’re willing to wait on line with throngs of tourists!

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