No longer will you need to wait two hours under the Brooklyn Bridge for a famed Grimaldi’s pizza! Grimaldi’s has added another notch on their belt by opening up a sister restaurant in Douglaston Plaza!
With locations in New Jersey, Las Vegas, Texas and even Arizona, it seems about time to add this brick oven stand out to Queens. Originally created by Patsy Grimaldi, student of Patsy Lancieri who is credited with opening up the very first pizzeria in NYC, the unique pizza is born inside a coal-fired brick oven, adding a smokiness rarely found in this Italian staple. Two of their biggest fans include former Mayor Rudy Giuliani and “Ol’ Blue Eyes,” Frank Sinatra.
Heralded as New York’s premier pizzeria according to the Zagat Survey, my expectations were high walking in. A humble faade and interior, that includes tables draped with the typical red-checkered cloth, leaves hungry visitors unprepared for what might be some of the best pizza they taste outside of Italy. A point must be made that there are no reservations taken, no delivery, and no slices at Grimaldi’s; this is simply pizza in its truest form with traditional toppings of the highest quality.
We started our gastronomic excursion with a simple antipasto, which consisted of homemade slabs of mozzarella, sweet oven-roasted red peppers, paper-thin slices of Genoa salami and rotund Sicilian olives, with thick crusty hunks of crunchy bruschetta wedged between them.
Fighting the urge to finish the antipasto, the alleged “small” calzone came out next, and it was far from small. Between four people, it was imponderable to attempt to finish this massive horn shaped turnover. Italian for “stocking,” soft ricotta cheese ruptured from the calzone and had a golden crust that made the marinara dipping sauce glisten.
The white pizza arrived next, and gave
us a first glimpse of the charred crust that has made Grimaldi a mecca for foodies. In absolute harmony, fresh crushed garlic and olive oil danced on top of the fresh mozzarella cheese, none of the flavors competing for dominance but all joined in unison to create pizza nirvana.
Big brother came out next, the historic pizza pie that has garnered so much attention for decades! We requested to have our pie divided into quadrants, each with its on own topping. On one corner we had short rounds of thick pepperoni, rich in flavor and with a kick, while on the opposite side crumbled sausage was sweet and full of aromatic fennel. Mushrooms on the third quadrant were an excellent contrast and helped us rationalize all the fats we just devoured. The last section was kept plain, and was the best way to enjoy this light, crisp crust with the freshest ingredients imaginable.
We tempted fate one last time and dug in to dessert. Tortoni, a soft amalgam of vanilla ice cream and amaretto with a macaroon crunch topping and a cherry within, was a pleasant, nutty treat. The real standout was the homemade cannoli, with a light flaky shell, wrapped around smooth sweet ricotta with a dash of vanilla to lighten the flavor up, chocolate chips added texture and a bittersweet contrast.
Grimaldi’s does more than live up to its hype, and the best part of the new Queens location figures to be no more long waits with hungry pizza-lovers wrapped around the block. But with the way this pizza tastes, hurry in before lines start to form!
242-02 61st Avenue
(Inside Douglaston Plaza)
Douglaston, NY 11362
Phone: 718-819-2133
www.grimaldis.com
No credit cards accepted
Private parties & Catering available
