Busy today and will write more later, but it was an honor and humbling to have been included in such a great group of knowledgeable and passionate pizza makers and eaters. Definitely a pleasure meeting everyone and wish I could have stayed on longer to get a better opportunity to talk with everyone.
The short regarding the pizza itself (company was great at all places):
Totonno's: Hugely disappointing. Nothing like my previous visits here.
L&B Spumoni Gardens: As always, rock solid. Yet to have a bad pie here. Fresh out of the oven, the Sicilian is definitely benchmark material for the style. Chau and I agreed on one aspect (TF), but these are an accessible study for pizza makers in how even a thicker crust can be light as a feather and easily digestible. Love the sauce.
New Park: Even with the pies clearly burnt on the bottom in places...I'm not the smart guy who ordered them well done
...I still enjoyed this pizza immensely. Easy to see that this place, along with places like Best, is archetype, benchmark pizza for the NY-Style. Cannot wait to come back here (and to visit Pizza Town for that matter). I've never seen lots of salt thrown directly onto the oven floor before, which gave the pies a unique textural profile.....
Bob, I missed my bus and could not catch a train or bus until 3 hours later! How was dinner with your son?
Scott, monster kudos for being a taskmaster extraordinaire!
Tons of fun everyone. Cannot wait to see the night time recap.
I'll put up a few pics and more details later. --K
