Who doesn’t love pizza? If there is anybody out there, we haven’t met them yet. With that in mind we present this story from our tour a few years ago.
Could there be a single food that is quintessentially New York City?
Maybe a hot dog from the cart on the corner, or a sandwich piled high with pastrami from the deli defines The Big Apple.
No, if there is one food that screams New York from the top of the Empire State Building, it has got to be pizza. The tasty pies are so popular that even the boxes have become iconic and spawned the genre of Pizza Box Advertising.
How did this happen? We didn’t know, but we do now. The Crosstown Pizza Walking Tour took us right to the source. We got to spend an afternoon with an expert exploring the area where it all began, Little Italy and Greenwich Village.
We met Cedric (and yes, he was entertaining), our tour guide/pizza aficionado extraordinaire, at the site of the first pizzeria ever opened outside of Italy, Lombardi’s.
The Spring Street location was a bakery, then the original Lombardi’s, and is now home to Gatsby’s, a neighborhood bar. While there are no longer hot, delicious pies flying out the door, the historic spot still occupies a big slice of pizza history.
Before we bit into the crust of the matter, Cedric gave us the lowdown on how pizza migrated from Naples to New York.
Back in 1904, a teenaged Gennaro Lombardi came across the Atlantic and found work as a baker.
The history of pizza in New York City can be traced to
Genaro Lombardi,
click to enlarge
Since he was from Naples, he knew how to make his hometown favorite, pizza.
Soon he was baking a few in the big coal fired oven at the old bakery. The new taste sensation was a big hit, and became the bread and butter of the business.
But in 1970 the huge brick oven collapsed from the vibrations of the subway running underneath it and, without his signature pies, Lombardi’s soon went out of business.
That triggered a search for a similar oven. After several years a giant, 1890s vintage, brick coal-fired oven just like the old bakery had was discovered only two blocks up Spring Street.
A new Lombardi’s was opened, with Gennaro’s grandson Gerry at the helm, and pizza lovers started flocking in just like the good old days.
To demonstrate the difference between a regular oven and these classic stone behemoths, Cedric whipped out his handy dandy laser thermometer. The big coal oven was burning at over 900 degrees–regular gas or electric runs about half that.
The pies cook in a matter of minutes and have a chewy, fiery flavor that is unlike any pizza most Americans have ever experienced. While we ate, we discussed the reasons why.
High-protein wheat gives the crust a more chewy body, uncooked crushed tomatoes give the sauce a tangy zip, and soft, fresh mozzarella adds a mild sweetness.
Somehow these qualities have been long lost in most fast-food versions.
After tasting the New World original, the pie-o-neer, we figuratively stepped back in time to give the old Neapolitan style pizza that started it all a try.
At Forcella, the pizzas are cooked in a smaller wood-fired oven, just like back in the old country.
Cedric’s magic laser hit 1000 degrees inside their oven, which cooked the pizza in just two minutes, and made for a slightly crispier, smoky flavored crust.
We have enjoyed many a pizza Margherita in Italy, and this was the closest we’ve experienced in the States.
As wonderful as those two notable offerings were, they did not embody the classic New York slice, a big greasy wedge of cheesy, saucy goodness that has to be folded to be eaten properly.
For that experience, we headed toward Joe’s in Greenwich Village.
The Village is packed with great pizza places, but its real claim to fame are the nightclubs that helped launch the careers of some of the world’s top musicians and comedians.
Since Joe’s has been around for almost forty years, some of those stars must have snagged a slice from time to time.
How could they resist?
This is the grab and go pizza that New York has become famous for, no fancy brick ovens, definitely no knives and forks–just a soft, chewy crust, some sauce, and lots and lots of cheese served on a paper plate.
It’s a style of pizza that caught on in the sixties and seventies, after the advent of a low-moisture type of mozzarella.
The old soft, high-moisture cheese had a short shelf life and was next to impossible to shred, but as the harder, drier variety became common, pizza ingredients were much easier to ship and store.
Hundreds of little walk-up, by-the-slice pizza joints sprung up throughout the city. These are the pies that became synonymous with The Big Apple, and Joe’s is widely considered to make one of the best.
Cedric’s final performance as our guide was to pass around the giant slices that topped off our tour, and our bellies.
It was enough to quell our craving for John’s of Bleeker Street — just down the block — and home of our favorite pizza in New York.
We asked Cedric what he thought about John’s and it is high on his list too. It is also often included in the tour as the stops rotate among a group of Manhattan’s best pizzerias.
We felt good that our top choice got the expert’s seal of approval, but mostly we felt full after taking some big bites out of the Big Apple’s favorite food.
David & Veronica, GypsyNester.com
Big thanks to Viator for providing this delicious adventure! As always, all opinions are our own. To see more about this tour, click here.
See all of our adventures in New York City!
YOUR TURN: Could there BE a better day than walking off pizza around New York City? Where would YOU start?
Omg Lombardis pizza. I have searched and searched and nobody but nobody makes it as good. Mmmmmmm I would drive the 12 hours just for a slice
Lombardi’s is great, but we like John’s on Bleeker even better.
You really covered all the best pizza pies in NYC and I’m impressed. We loved the sidewalk, buying a slice, pizza places. Although these weren’t the oven fired bestest pizza.
In Wisconsin, Lombardi is linked to the Green Bay Packers so this is a famous name for many achievements.
Thanks Neva. Perhaps the Lombardi trophy should have a slice of pizza on it. 😉
Love Manhattan, love pizza–the Crosstown Pizza Walking Tour sounds a great way to learn about and burn off all those luscious pies!
For those of us who love pizza and New York it just doesn’t get much better.
Hard to argue with your premise after that tour! I love the fact that entrepreneurs are really embracing tours of a city they know and love so well all over the country. And a pizza survival kit, well Cedric sounds like he really did his job-what fun!
Cedric was great, and you’re right about the entrepreneurs. We also met Scott who started the tours and they really know their stuff.
This post made me so hungry! I will save it in my NYC file! Thank you!
I took a tour like this of NYC a few years back and just loved it. Food tours are always tasty, and sometimes you meet some interesting people, too. Here’s my blog post, http://travelswithcarole.blogspot.com/2010/05/things-to-do-scotts-pizza-tours-nyc.html
Food tours are the best. Thanks for the link Carole.
What a great tour! Living in a country where the favorite pizza toppings are corn and potato, I crave a good pizza. My stomach is growling now 🙂
Corn and potato pizza? Now we’ve heard everything!
A pizza history lesson sounds delicious!! This is a great way to taste the old recipes from a classic oven and also try some more modern slices. Thanks for sharing your tour!
Mmmm a NYC pizza tour is a great idea, and your photos are making me so hungry. Doesn’t that fountain in the last photo look like it should be full of chocolate?
The we would have been in it! 😉
For my liking they are unfortunately too thick and heavy… You can give me a thin crust wood fired gourmet pizza every (second) day!
Good thing I read this after dinner! Just saying:-)
True! 🙂
Love it! We’ll have to try the walking pizza tour next time we’re in NYC. Chicago Pizza Tours in our hometown does an excellent job too!
Didn’t know about a tour in Chicago. Maybe they should have an Italian beef tour too.
LOL! that would be fun. Next time you’re in the Windy City let us know and we’ll take you on one. 🙂
Thanks Sue, sounds good!
There are SO many pizza places in NYC that most visitors have no idea where to start. This Pizza Walking Tour is a fantastic idea. (and naturally you have to walk, otherwise you’d never fit through the door of the final destination!)
There are several different tours too, so you could go back and check out some more.
Thank you so much for the kind words! It was great to meet you both, and I’m glad you had fun on the tour!
Thanks for the great tour Cedric!
A pizza walking tour sounds wonderful. I enjoyed reading the history of the pizzerias and the pizza making. Such subtle but important variations on the ingredients and process. The pictures made my mouth water.
Yum! I’d love to go on that pizza walking tour – the pizza survival kit is priceless! It sounds as though you tasted and learned a lot!
We most certainly did.
Wow! I love pizza! (Who doesn’t?) I would love love love to go on this tour!!!
Great way to spend a day.
We are BIG fans of Lombardi’s, but had absolutely no idea it was their second oven! I couldn’t convince Pete that John’s is the better pie. First went to John’s back in the 70’s, and so happy to learn we are kindred pizza spirits!
Lombardi’s is our second choice no doubt. Also Grimaldi’s in Brooklyn is right up there.
Yum, I could go for a decadent slice of that pizza and a nice cold beer right now, just did a lot of weed whacking and need a reward!
Beer and pizza, pizza and beer… always a good combo!
As a pizza freak, I would love to go on a tour like this … they would take me to heaven I’d bet!
It’s about as good as it gets for pizza lovers!
According to Jon Stewart, it’s maddening for New Yorkers to see out-of-towners eat pizza with a knife and fork. Based on your photos, it doesn’t look like there were a knife and fork in sight on your tour.
Only for the authentic Neapolitan one, the way the Italians do. 😉
What a fabulous idea! A walking pizza tour–and of NYC yet! That would be such an awesome experience. You’d be able to wear off the slice by the time you get to the next venue! Count me in.
We did walk it off along the way, but still ended up full and satisfied.