volcanogirl

Is Lombardi's the pizza spot that's supposed to be the original NYC pizza place? Can someone tell me what neighborhood that's in?

ekscrunchy

Nolita, just north of the current Little Italy.



Yes, it is reputedly one of the first pizzerias. Not sure how true that is but that is the legend.

Aduchamp1

Eks

Lombardi's is on Spring just off Mott which would put it in the old Little Italy. NOLITA is just another real estate excuse to change the name of neighborhood in the 1990's when they wanted to change the image-see Clinton (Hell's Kitchen) East Village (used be part of the Lower East Side) SOHO, NOHO, DUMBO, Tribeca.

So yes it is in Nolita, but there is no official designation or usage except by real estate people.

Tomsd

Lost post? Anyhow - here is some history on Pizza in the US from the Lombardi's page - http://www.firstpizza.com/history.html

and there are also some good pizza pies found on Bleeker St - in Greenwich Village - such as John's, Keste and the appropriately named Bleeker St. Pizza.

volcanogirl

We've been to John's in the Village and loved it. And the Times Square location too.

ekscrunchy

Thanks, Adu. Sad but true that the current LIttle Italy has been reduced to just a few blocks.
I have to admit that I am guilty of using the Nolita designation myself, though. But the word "Clinton" will never pass my lips, at least not in reference to Hell's Kitchen.

Not many people remember that even large swathes of the West Village were once home to a large immigrant Italian population. And following that thought, I don't think I've seen a reference here to one of the best of all New York food shops, the miniscule and haimish Joe's on Sullivan Street. They supply the larger, more glossy outlets like Ideal and Murray's with mozzarella.

Speaking of ethnic pockets, I had a good day yesterday on a jaunt to Brighton Beach. Too foggy to see the ocean from the Boardwalk, but I did come home laden with interesting edibles!

Centralparkgirl

Speaking of Italian immigrants and the West Village - Rita Sodi is a more recent transplant and her tiny restaurant, I Sodi, is well worth trying. The olive oil served there is from the family trees near Florence. Her delicious gelato, however, is from Cappogiro in Philadelphia.

eks - Unfortunatley, Mrs. Stahl's is long gone from Brighton, but the memory of the best knishes still lingers.........as well as Zei Mar's Deli.

Aduchamp1

Both of my grandmothers lived in Brighton Beach and I went to high school very hear to there.

Centralparkgirl

Lincoln on Ocean Parkway.

Aduchamp1

Yes, Lincoln.

ekscrunchy

CPG: Want to hear a coincidence?

There is a woman who often swims at the same time as I do, in the early morning.

Yesterday , in the locker room, I mentioned to her that I had gone to Brighton the day before and had such a good time. Her response: "My mother-in-law had a knish shop in that area!" Yes, THAT was the "knisherie!" (nosherie, knisherie....)

I like I Sodi, too.

ekscrunchy

PS. Does Rita Sodi sell her oil?


When you are in that area next, check this place out for fancy salt:

http://www.atthemeadow.com/shop/

It's right next to Red Farm, the newly popular Chinese restaurant.

Tomsd

BTW - for you Banh Mi/Num Prang fans - this webpage has some interesting reviews - http://gastronomyblog.com/ and out here in San Diego, my favorites did have the garlic/butter/spicy mayo sauce. (see NY Times article/reference below). Our first/trusty Banh Mi store was marvelous - and back then (over 15 years ago was when I first discovered these treats) - a great sandwich was only $1.25.

The proprietor was a real dynamo - and she also had a Banh Mi shop in "Little Saigon" in LA (run by her son) - and one in Long Beach (run by a daughter) - and a fourth somewhere else in Orange County - but then she sold them and the new owners here in San Diego didn't make their sandwiches as good. As a consolation however, a new Dim Sum place opened up in the other end of the Linda Vista/Asian shopping center and is very good, and they also offer Bahn Mi sandwiches, which are good but not like those my little Vietnamese lady had.

As previously noted - my favorite was the BBQ Chicken - but they had pictures of about 10 different fillings/offerings up on the wall (BBQ Pork/Beef etc) - and while I am a big pate fan - never liked what they offered in their sandwiches.

From the NY Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/08/di...pagewanted=all

"In New York, chefs are obsessing about precisely how to slice the cucumber, whether the carrot-daikon pickle should be crinkle-cut or julienned, and how to make the sandwich ever better, richer, spicier and bigger. “I think we’re the only ones using both butter and mayonnaise,” said Ratha Chau, the chef and a co-owner of Num Pang, a new sandwich shop in Greenwich Village. “And of course it’s a chili mayonnaise and garlic butter, and we toast the bread with the garlic butter first so that the outside is crisp and the inside moist.” At An Choi, which just opened on the Lower East Side, Tuan Bui, the 34-year-old co-owner, adds caramelized onions to the traditional filling of shredded roast chicken. He may be the first on the East Coast to serve the upscale delicacy banh mi thit heo quay — stuffed with banquet-style roast pork belly and slivers of crunchy pork skin."

Centralparkgirl

eks - I don't know if she does. We've eaten at Red Farm (before the review), but missed The Meadow (too busy waiting online!). Chocolate, flowers and salt, oh my!

That's so funny about Mrs. Stahl's. Small world, but the Knishe's were big - great crust! My father used to bring them home on Saturday afternoons after work.

ciaony

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...-manhattan.cfm

Aduchamp1

Mrs. Stahl's was purchased by the Weinberg Brothers, I would say in the late 60's or early 70's. They sold it, I would guess in the early 1990's and the knishes were subpar and they finally closed in about 2005.

Although I am happy that Yonah Schimmel's exists, they are no where as good as Mrs. Stahl's. Zabar's makes an excellent knish and many think a knish is that fried thing that looks like third base, that you get from a street vendor. And for some reason it has a green lining when left on the grill too long, but that is what is left.

ekscrunchy

Well if you want to fill in any additional minutae of the Mrs. Stahl's saga, let me know and I will ask in the locker room! The place I remember was Knish Nosh on Queens Blvd, but I was never a big knish-eater.

If you want to talk about doughy treats, I have to mention my newfound love: The cabbage vareniki at Cafe Glechik on Coney Island Avenue. Will someone please tell me how they transform plain cabbage into that unctuous, slightly sweet, brown filling? (The waiter swears that the filling is only cabbage, and there are no onions involved!)

http://glechik.com/Welcome_to_Cafe_Glechik.html

Two of us had a great and very filling lunch for $14 each, including tax and tip. And it was an easy straight shot on the D or F train from Manhattan.

emd3

I've been dreaming of this place for a wk now so I wil throw in something else ethnic.

Favorite japanese dining but in an NYC way = Ippudo (65 Fourth Ave)

NOt just for Ramen, but for their japanese specialties also.

Great authentic atmosphere, cooks and servers chanting to each other in Japanese, totally buzzing vibe. Wonderful food, japanese comfort food. Esp. great to sit at the bar in the back.

Nothing like it outside of Japan IMO. And I have been to restaurants in many large US cities, searching for one that is this good. (I have not been to Hawaii on the Japanese restaurant quest though.)

Aduchamp1

My wife tutors a young Japanese woman in English and her favorite is Ippudo and she does not know anyone who works there. We have never gone since there are always lines.

emd3

You can get in if you are willing to sit at the back bar and if you go early when they open. Along w/Ramen, get the pork Hirata buns appetizer (or another falvor if you don't do pork but pork is traditional japanese for these buns). A thing of great beauty and enjoyment.