For lunch today my team and I trekked to Brooklyn to try the famous Di Fara pizza. We got there at noon, the time it opened, and there was already a line of about 15 people outside. The ordering process was not painful at all – we walked in, waited in line for about 5 minutes, and then I was able to order a slice of cheese-less pizza with mushrooms, onions, garlic, and peppers. The rest of the group ordered 1 plain square pie and 1 round pie filled with lots of toppings.
The painful part was the wait. It took almost an hour for me to just get my 1 slice of no cheese pizza. When it came out, Mr. Dom actually sprinkled cheese on it by accident (it’s so routine for him to do so that he doesn’t even think twice about it). His daughter was really apologetic and said she’d have him redo it if I wanted. I just stared at that slice of pizza, filled with oily goodness and peppered with parmesan cheese, thinking how good that would taste. I was extremely tempted to just tell his daughter to not bother and I would eat it, but I decided to stay true to veganism, and accepted her offer to make me another slice. When it finally came and I sat down to eat it, it truly was the perfect pizza. I didn’t even miss the cheese. The crust was the perfect thickness and was crisped to perfection. There were plenty of veggies warmed to just the right temperature. And there was so much olive oil – I personally saw Dom Demarco just liberally POUR olive oil all over his pies. My vegan pizza was so good that I ordered a second slice hehehe (so much for me trying to cut my portions!).
This was the first time I had pizza since becoming vegan, and to be honest, I’m not sure I can eat pizza again for a very long time. And there are a few reasons behind this. First, I’m not sure I can find vegan pizza THIS good anywhere else. Secondly, I’m STUFFED. I think I need to go run a half marathon and then detox by drinking only lemon water for the next week. And thirdly, on a more serious note, it really upset my stomach. Since becoming vegan, I haven’t eaten very oily foods. So gobbling up such an oily meal made me feel pretty sick. Even after four hours of digesting, I’m still not feeling so hot.
Also, I wasn’t happy that they charged me $6 a slice for getting no cheese. It’s $5 for a slice with cheese. Is it really that much effort to not put cheese on a slice of pizza??? But vegan taxes and stomach pains aside, this was one of the best pizza experiences I’ve had EVER, including all the non-vegan pizza I’ve eaten in the past. Di Fara is JUST THAT GOOD. It’s far for a Manhattanite like me, but I think it was definitely worth the trip!
Di Fara Pizzeria
1424 Avenue J
Brooklyn, NY
The famous Dom DeMarco
Delicious!
Mr. Di Fara is known for dousing tons of olive oil onto his creation. I’m also a vegetarian and I’m not good with oily food anymore (such as dim sum). It’s a pity, but yet, my body feels ‘better’ without the grease though.
[...] Something’s missing here … THE CHEESE! Say wha? Apparently, you CAN get vegan slices at Di Fara. [Photograph: EcoFriendlyNYC] [...]
Have you gotten to try the vegan slice at Pizza Junkie on Stanton yet? Really good.
Nope I guess I gotta go to Pizza Junkie! I’ve also heard that Co. and Motorino have good vegan slices too.
Thanks for expanding veganism wherever you go. I used to live around the corner from DiFara’s more than 10 years ago, when it was just us locals in the store…I constantly ordered vegan Eggplant Parmigiana without cheese from Dom, and he would tell me, “Without Parmigiana (cheese), it’s not Eggplant Parmigiana”. Eventually, he got used to me ordering it without cheese. I started ordering “Just Eggplant with Baked Ziti and Tomato Sauce” or something like that. It was very yummy. I am happy (and it’s a bit surreal) to hear that they are doing so well.