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Out to Lunch in NYC -- Grimaldi's Patsy's Pizza
Rate it! Votes (0) | Comments (0) By Clint Brownfield Posted August 6th, 2007 FabulousFoods.com Recommends: Hungry? New York City: The Lowdown on Where the Real People Eat! (Hungry? City Guides) (Hungry? City Guides), by , (2007, Hungry City Guides)	Hungry? New York City: The Lowdown on Where the Real People Eat! (Hungry? City Guides) (Hungry? City Guides)

It's Amore
I started writing this about an hour ago and got so hungry for pizza that I had to stop and resort to a local pizza joint in my neighborhood...close but no cigar to Patsy (Under the Brooklyn Bridge) Grimaldi's pizza across the river.

To reach Grimaldi's from Manhattan, get off at the first subway stop on the other side of the East River and direct yourself down toward the harbor and up two or three blocks to Old Fulton Street. There, literally under the Brooklyn Bridge, you will see a modest store with a green awning emblazoned with the words "Grimaldi's Pizza". If you've ever been there before, that's when your tongue really starts to water. If you haven't been before, you are in for one of the great culinary experiences of your life..."real" coal oven pizza...at its best.

When you are seated at one of the tables with red-checkered cloths and your eyes start to adjust to the room, virtually all of your senses are stimulated in a wonderful way. Sight: signed photographs of Frank, Dino, Tony and every other famous Italian singer line the walls. Sound: one of the above singers (and once in a while Elvis) can be heard wafting from the jukebox (three plays for a dollar). And smell: Wolf, wolf, wolf...the PIZZAS!

There is a moment of truth in every pizza lover's life. The pizza arrives at your table and you don't really care how badly your mouth might be burned...you just gotta have a bite. Patsy's pizza would cause even Queen Elizabeth to lose control and chow down...damn the crown...full speed ahead! I've taken a number of friends to Patsy's and I wish I had pictures of their faces after they've had their first bite...ding, ding, ding...Nirvana, Heaven, Cloud Nine...all at once. They all say:"This is the best pizza I've ever had". And it probably is, considering all the junk we eat that's passed off as pizza.

The classic Patsy's pizza is made from dough that has never been frozen, that has been made that day, to be used that day. Two to three hundred individual yeasty pillows of dough are made each day and can be seen rising in wooden boxes lining the back wall. This dough is twirled in to the thinnest crust imaginable and is topped with only four ingredients (and quite possibly a couple of secret things): fresh crushed tomatoes imported from Italy, homemade mozzarella, olive oil and fresh basil leaves. The pies are baked for three to five minutes on top of bricks that are made hot as hell from piles of burning coal...literally placed next to the pizzas. Extra toppings are available at two dollars each. But don't go asking for anything like spinach, broccoli or pineapple. Patsy sticks to normal things like pepperoni, fresh mushrooms, black olives, sausage, peppers, onions, and anchovies. And, by the way, the mozzarella Patsy uses is probably unlike any cheese you've ever had on a pizza. This cheese turns into beautiful, cloud-like pools of white heaven. Not like those other pizza cheeses that string half way across the room and then hit your eye like a big pizza pie (whoops, there I go singing again ). Now here's a useful tip: ask that anchovies be put on half the pie. That usually keeps most of the others at your table away from your half. I happen to love anchovies...a lot of people don't.

Another thing I like about Patsy's is the size of his sodas...nice 20-ounce bottles for only $1.50...less chance of running out before the pizza's gone. Beer and wine are also available. Small pizzas are $12, and can easily satisfy two people. Large pizzas are $14...feeds three. The only other things on the menu are calzones, which I've never tried, and antipasto. No chic little salads here.

Either Patsy or his wife Carol (the nicest people in the world) are always in the place, which opens at 11:30am and closes at 11pm; Saturdays and Sundays 2pm-midnight...closed Tuesdays. At about 12:15pm every day, it's like a dam breaks. Lawyers from downtown Brooklyn, dockworkers and tourists all start pouring in. Add to this...hods of coal being lugged in, pizzas being twirled, waiters who are way cooler than the "young" Elvis...and you don't need a floorshow. One day at about 12:30 I was sitting talking to Patsy when a big red ladder truck pulled up and parked outside. About six firefighters (who had obviously just been to a fire) came in and gratefully ate their pizza (I'll bet Patsy wouldn't take one nickel from those guys). You just don't see things like this at Lutece!

Another day, I asked Mrs. Grimaldi if Frank Sinatra had ever been in the place. She told me they had only been open at this location for six years and Ole Blue Eyes never made it in. He was a great friend of the Grimaldis though. They had a very special little boy and Mr. Sinatra saw to it that he got to go to the best school to fit his needs. The last time I visited Patsy's was the week that Frank Sinatra had been laid to rest. There was an extra large photo of him in the front window with a black armband across one corner. As we ate our pizza (half anchovy) The Voice was heard coming from the jukebox. Once in a while you just feel you're in the right place at the right time. But as far as I'm concerned...anytime is the right time to be at Patsy's Pizza.

Strolling and Promenading
Now let's just say you're like me and had one bite too many at Patsy's. It's time for "Clint's Out to Lunch in New York Walk". And what a walk it is. Just turn to your right as you leave Patsy's and walk down to the river a couple of blocks to the west. (By the way, anybody in New York who has been around a while still refers to Grimaldi's as Patsy's. It's like saying Sixth Avenue instead of Avenue of the Americas. Through some legal fluke Patsy Grimaldi can't use his own name on his own restaurant...place mats [great free souvenirs] at each table recount this saga as reported by the New York Times.)

Most everybody, myself included, considers the Chrysler Building to be the class act of the New York skyline. A three-way tie for me for second place would be Rockefeller Center, the Empire State Building and the Brooklyn Bridge. As you leave Patsy's and go down to the river to the Fulton Ferry landing, the bridge is above your head, spanning the East River. Its cables and towers form constantly changing designs as you walk along. There is a rhythm to it that you can see and hear, and from that vantage point...actually feel. This is America!

At the foot of the street is a park that consists of a stylized landing to commemorate the spot where the Fulton Ferry...and all of the other ferry services that predated the steam boat ...came and went...going back to the Dutch settlers and the Native Americans before that. George Washington crossed at this point August 29, 1776, to fight the British (we lost). At its peak the Fulton Ferry (1814-1868) took one million passengers across the river each week. One can only imagine the sinking feeling the ferry masters had when they saw the Brooklyn Bridge going up next door. It took around 12 years to finish...1870-1883.

After seeing the sights and reading the plaques at the landing, walk back up Old Fulton Street a couple of blocks and turn right on Columbia Heights. This street brings you up and into the Historic Brooklyn Heights area, and onto the spectacular Brooklyn Heights Promenade. This walkway with unparalleled views of downtown Manhattan, the East River, New York Harbor, Staten Island and the Statue of Liberty is one of the most special places in the entire city. Here, strollers of every age and stripe, joggers, dog walkers and people who just want to sit and take it all in, come together in one wonderful harmonic convergence. This is New York at its very best!

Anyone For Dessert
I must be honest at this point. Never, after Patsy's pizza have I ever been able to handle dessert...even after the walk down to the ferry landing and up along the Promenade. However, should you be able to pace yourself a little bit better than I can, you should make every effort to turn left (east) off the Promenade at Montague Street. This street begins at the Promenade with a large ship mast/flag pole that has a plaque dedicated to Geneieve Beavers Earle...a lifelong booster of Brooklyn Heights. Montague Street, the main artery of Brooklyn Heights, is lined with really wonderful shops and places to have coffee and desserts of all kinds...from the ubiquitous Starbucks and Hagen Daazs to all sorts of local sidewalk cafes where you can sit and watch this really special neighborhood at work and play.

Again, as per the rules and regulations of this column, this wonderful daytime excursion is best done during a weekday (not Tuesdays though...because Patsy's is closed) during the spring, summer and fall months. Please, stick with me, because I'm Out To Lunch in New York, New York...I want to be a part of it....(just can't stop singin!).!

Clint Brownfield

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