Entries tagged with 'Coney Island'
Posted by Adam Kuban, April 17, 2007 at 3:36 PM
Slice reader Conduit Design Group just asked how Pizza Club No. 8 went. So, without further delay, the quick rundown.
Numero Ocho was scheduled for this past Sunday at Coney Island. Unfortunately, so was a crappy nor'easter. Girl Slice and I made our way to Totonno's anyway, just in case any stalwart readers made the trip. Nobody did. Oh well. It turned into a soggy private date for just us two.

We knew the Cyclone would be closed, but we exited at the Surf Avenue end of the station (above) because we had to meet any prospective attendees at noon at Nathan's (below).

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Posted by Adam Kuban, November 7, 2006 at 7:48 PM
Kim Severson of the New York Times does the best job yet of getting to the bottom of the puzzling Domino's Brooklyn Style Pizza kerfuffle. We're surprised she lived to write the story, after having brought the chain pie into Coney Island's Totonno's for comparison:
“Get that thing out of here,” was the first thing Totonno’s owner, Louise Ciminieri, said when she saw the Domino’s box.
Once we explained that we were on a mission to determine exactly what constituted a Brooklyn Style pie, she softened. Sort of. “When they say Brooklyn Style Pizza they’re referring to us,” she said. “We were the first ones.” [That's a snippet of a Totonno pie at right here. Ed. ]
And here's a gem from Ms. Severson: "We purchased our Domino’s pie just a few blocks away from Totonno’s on Neptune Avenue. That it was handed to us over bulletproof glass turned out to be the most authentically Brooklyn part about it."
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Posted by Adam Kuban, October 30, 2006 at 11:48 AM
Pity poor Ed Levine. When his workday doesn't involve ordering one of each doughnut at a well-regarded New York City doughnuttery, he gets to eat pizza from some of the country's best pizzerias and write about it for Details magazine. His findings cover some familiar ground to readers of Slice and of Mr. Levine's 2005 book PIzza: A Slice of Heaven, but there are some new entries to be savored.
Pizzeria Bianco [623 East Adams Street, Phoenix AZ 85004; map]
"The sauce tastes like a distillation of the ripest tomatoes."
Di Fara[1424 Avenue J, Brooklyn NY 11230; map]
"... a Di Fara slice has a one-of-a-kind flavor."
Totonno's [1524 Neptune Ave., Brooklyn NY 11224; map]
"Order the white pie, made with ricotta, mozzarella, and enough fresh garlic to ward off a roomful of vampires."
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Posted by DJ Bubbles, October 19, 2006 at 10:05 AM
An interesting item hit the Slice inbox yesterday.
OK guys, put this in your pie and smoke it!
A couple of caveats: The list isn't quite as definitive as it claims to be, as it is missing any critical analysis of Staten Island, Queens, and Bronx joints. When you guys post this on the site (front page, please), perhaps you may want to refer to it as "The Definitive Manhattan and Brooklyn Top 10 List." We've all been to these places enough times to know what's going on and who's coming with their A game and who isn't.
Seltzerboy, as a fellow SU alum, I tried to get in touch with you when I first moved to New York, and I also furnished you with a copy of the Syracuse Pizza Manifesto, another masterwork I coauthored. But to no avail, I never really heard back from you other than a weak Orangeman shout out. We'll take you choads in a pie-off any day of the week! Now, without further ado....
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Posted by Adam Kuban, April 9, 2006 at 11:22 PM

The Cyclone has been ridden and the pizza has been eaten, and so spring begins for Slice.
Earlier today, Seltzerboy and I were joined by five friends of Slice in a tradition he and I have shared since 2001, way back in the pre-Slice era. On hand for the coaster ride were Dan, Katie, Tien, and our Queens correspondent, Chito. We met up in front of the 'Clone, bought tickets ($5 a ride), and submitted our bodies for a little Jazz Age G-force testing.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, April 7, 2006 at 2:34 PM
Creeping up into the sky. Stopping at the top and starting down. The girl grabbed my hand. I clutched it tight. I said good-bye to the ground.
Just a reminder: The long-dormant Slice Pizza Club will be revived Sunday at noon in Coney Island. We'll be meeting outside the ticket booth of the Cyclone. At noon.
As per tradition at Slice, we'll ride the world-famous roller coaster once or thrice on what is its opening day (Palm Sunday every year) and then adjourn to nearby Totonno's for some pizza.
As is usually the case, this Slice Pizza Club event is open to anyone who simply shows up. So don't worry about reservations, etc. There are about 10 or 12 people who have expressed interest already. The more the merrier. One caveat: Totonno's doesn't take reservations, so it might be dicey trying to get a very large group in there seated together.
Archived: Coney Island according to Slice
Posted by Ed Levine, February 16, 2006 at 8:43 AM
Here's the American Pizzeria Timeline, which includes only two nonPizza Belt entries, Tommaso's and Uno's:
1905: Lombardi's, on Spring Street in New York City, is granted the nation's first license to sell pizza.
1910: Joe's Tomato Pies opens in the Trenton, New Jersey, Chambersburg neighborhood.
1912: Papa's Tomato Pies in Trenton opened by Papa, who learned his trade at Joe's.
1924: Anthony (Totonno) Pero leaves Lombardi's and opens Totonno's in Coney Island, New York.
1925: Frank Pepe opens on Wooster Street in New Haven, Connecticut.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, October 4, 2005 at 12:00 PM
An email from a reader ...
To the editors:
I really enjoy your site. Thought I'd give back a bit and send in a report from the field.
The other day I went to Totonno's and Grimaldi's. I'd wanted to try both places for a long time, and since I had the time, I couldn't resist going for it with both. I had one large, half-cheese and halfroasted pepper at both places.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, December 10, 2004 at 9:17 AM
A sad bit of news to wake up to:
Joel Cimineri has run out of dough for the last time.
Brooklyn's legendary pizza man — who manned the oven at Totonno's in Coney Island and famously closed for the day if he ran out of dough — died this week from diabetes. He was 59.
A Brooklyn legend, Cimineri not only helped keep alive a pizza-making tradition dating from the turn of the 19th century, but with every thin-crusted pizza he made, he stood up against fast-food culture.
"We live in a Burger King world of 'Have it your way,' " said Dick Zigun, who runs the Coney Island sideshow. "But when you ate at Totonno's, you were with a loving Italian family that did it their way"
Cimineri learned the art of pizza-making from his uncle-in-law, Jerry Pero, who learned it from his father, who learned it from Gennaro Lombardi — the man who brought pizza to America more than 100 years ago....
Posted by Adam Kuban, May 20, 2004 at 2:13 PM

No Pizza for You, Joey: Joey Ramone, whose birthday was yesterday, in a video capture from the movie Rock 'N' Roll High School. To the right of Joey's head, you can make out the stack of pizza boxes that the rest of the band is tearing into. The band's manager only lets Joey eat health food.
Yesterday, May 19, was Joey Ramone's birthday. Although the frontman of legendary punk rock band The Ramones died in April 2001 of lymphatic cancer, his friends and family have continued to throw the annual bash that had been his tradition.
To honor Joey in our own little way, we present to you a couple of our favorite scenes from the 1979 movie Rock 'n' Roll High School.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, April 4, 2004 at 11:57 PM

Special Ed:Besides the spectacular turn-out for this month's Pizza Club at Totonno's in Coney Island, we were also excited to meet Ed Levine, who writes about food for the New York Times. From left: Seltzerboy, Adam, Totonno pizziola Lawrence Ciminieri, and Mr. Levine, who happened to be at the pizzeria doing research for an upcoming book on pizza and who was kind enough to give us some tips for upcoming pizza road trips.
Timing is everything. We learned that thrice over earlier today down in Coney Island, where Slice editors were joined by ten readers braveor foolhardyenough to tackle Nathan's, the Cyclone, and some of the best pizza in the city.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, January 20, 2004 at 6:25 PM


In lieu of a detailed write-up of Tontonno Pizzeria Napolitano, let us offer you this gallery of photos from a recent trip out to the venerable Coney Island pie shop. Because we enjoy the icy desolation of the boardwalk in winter, we'll be sure to make it out there again soon to give you the full low-down. Bon appetit!
Posted by Adam Kuban, January 5, 2004 at 3:57 PM
We're clocking in a little late with this one, but the holidays, man, the holidays.
The Village Voice's Annual Manual is out and food critic Robert Sietsma writes about 25 Places Where Two Can Eat for $25. Among this listings is a smattering of pizza joints. The usual suspects take a bow:
This list of inexpensive and excellent eats would be incomplete without including one of the city's venerable pizza parlors, which collectively count as one of our greatest culinary treasures. Besides his own restaurant on Spring Street, founded in 1905, Lombardi's immediate dynasty includes Totonno in Coney Island, John's on Bleecker Street, and Patsy's in East Harlem. Nephew and Patsy's veteran Patsy Grimaldi started his own parlor only a decade ago in Fulton Ferry, Brooklyn, and it rapidly rose to be one of New York's best pizza joints. The toppings are perhaps a bit more lush, the crust a little more thick and flavorful than the austere Lombardi's style, but that's just fine with the patrons who throng Grimaldi's (19 Old Fulton Street, Brooklyn, 718-858-4300) every weekend and evening. Go at weekday lunch if you want to relax.
The same article also makes mention of Joe's of Avenue U in Gravesend, Brooklyn, which is one of the few places I've found in the city that makes panelle specials, chick-pea fritters served on a warm sesame roll (usually with ricotta). It's not exactly pizza, but it's not to be missed!
Joe's of Avenue U
Address: 287 Avenue U, Brooklyn (F Train)
Phone: 718-449-9285