If It Says N.Y.-Style Pizza--It Ain't

A View From The Corn Field by Douglas Delaney

Published Week Of December 14-22, 2022

Hey Gals and Guys,

I’d like to thank  Dave Gil de Rubio and Anton Media Group for publishing my column in Long Island, NY newspapers this week (Print Editions December 14-22, 2022.) Dave is an extraordinarily talented and dedicated journalist and editor and one helluva guy! 

Many people claim newspapers are on their last leg.  And it’s true that they face a host of challenges.  But don’t count them out. A columnist I know is fond of saying “local newspapers, such as The NASSAU OBSERVER (formerly THE LEVITTOWN TRIBUNE) LINK us to our past, INFORM our present, and PROTECT our future.”  She’s not wrong.   

And I couldn’t be happier that the local newspapers I was given the opportunity to support are the ones in my hometown and across Long Island.

PLEASE SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL NEWSPAPERS!

LEVITTOWNERS AND LONG ISLANDERS--Copies can be ordered from Anton Media Group’s circulation desk.

BETTER YET, CALL NOW & SUBSCRIBE!

516-747-8282

And I’m not looking to start any fights, but just so you know—My “Best” for Pizza is Domenico’s and My “Best” Deli is Fred’s!

Keep your pizza normal and your bagels pure.

Doug

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If It Says N.Y.-Style Pizza--It Ain't

Growing up on Long Island, a kid would sometimes just have to make a stand. You had to take a side. Some allegiances were built-in: your friends, your school, your Little League Baseball or Pop Warner Football team… These were no-brainers.

But there were far more divisive decisions to be made that could easily set you and even your best pals or siblings tumbling across the lawn in disagreement. The Great Quisp vs. Quake Debate between me and my little brother raged on for months, as did the Bugs Bunny vs. Tom and Jerry campaign. Good Humor versus Mr. Softee “discussions” would often draw blood.

No quarter was taken here and none was given, as in the cases of: Yankees or Mets? Jets or Giants? Matchbox or Hot Wheels? Sgt. Rock or Sgt. Fury? Betty or Veronica? Officer Joe Bolton or Captain Jack McCarthy? And of course, Ginger or Mary Ann?

You can insert your personal bones of contention here: ___________.

These debates invariably carried over into what deli or pizzeria was “the best.” And the really great part about that is there were truly so many fantastic places to argue about. The Italian spectrum in Levittown included Domenico’s, Don Ciccio’s, Caruso’s and Sammy’s Inferno.

As for delis we had Torino’s and Fred’s and the half-dozen other nameless delis we just called the German Deli, Jewish Deli or the other Italian Deli. Toss in the grocery stores and bakeries and candy stores and that’s a lot of fodder to fight over.

And I have a theory that it is because of this variety and competition among the family owned & operated small businesses of not only Levittown, but most towns on Long Island from Mineola to Montauk, that Long Islanders have developed a more expert and discerning taste for food than almost every place else I have been. And I have been everywhere.

We Islanders might not agree on where the best pizza is to be had, but at least we know what pizza IS. And that goes for bagels and pretzels and heroes and knishes and Lo Mien.

I once stopped at a “Chinese” Restaurant in Western Oklahoma and I ordered pork lo mien. I swear I got ramen noodles and bacon bits. It was then I only noticed there were no Chinese people actually working there. Never a good sign.

And chain pizza joints (from the seemingly dozens of faux-Italian crap factories) are to real pizza what Enya is to rock & roll. It just don’t work.

I have been to New York-style pizza places in Kansas, California, Tennessee, Louisiana and a dozen other states and if it says New York-style pizza—it damn sure ain’t. You can bank on that. If it says New York bagels and you ain’t in New York—it damn sure ain’t.

I think it’s okay if you think pizza should be made with gouda and asparagus and guacamole but call it what it is. If it is your own misguided attempt to improve upon pizza, then say it. But don’t slander my state with your suspect culinary creativity.

If you want to put gooseberries and sunflower seeds on your bagels, go for it. But don’t say you got that idea on Long Island.

And if you think I might be making too much of out of this, I have to point out that though I have seen New York-style this and New York-style that from coast to coast, conversely I have never seen a place on Long Island advertising Memphis-style grits or Colorado-style bull fries or Kansas City-style chicken gizzards.

This is because, while fiercely protective of what we consider to be “that food of ours,” and how it is represented about the country, Long Islanders are not so presumptuous as to usurp another regional favorite as our own.

Let Buffalo have its wings.

Let Chicago have its deep dish.

Let Maine have its lobster roll and Maryland its blue-claw crab.

But leave our pizza and bagels alone.

And if you’re ever driving through Western Oklahoma and have a craving for Chinese Food, stay away from Bubba And Pedro’s Peking Palace.