Video Log: Day 32, Totonno's

DAY 31: OCTOBER 31st, 2010
Totonno's (Coney Island, Brooklyn) - full review


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Day 31b; Pizza Month 2010 - Totonno's (Coney Island, Brooklyn)

DAY 31: OCTOBER 31st, 2010

LOCATION: Totonno's (Coney Island, Brooklyn)

ORDER: 1 slice of cheese

GUEST: Scott Wiener, Ronnie Palmer, various other pizza tour guests

REVIEW:
Oldie but a Perfect-ie.

Anthony "Totonno" Pero began making pizza at Lombardi's, America's first pizzeria, back in 1905. After distinguishing himself as a master pizziola, Totonno opened his own pizzeria in Coney Island in 1924. It still stands in the same location, still run by the same family, and, fortunately for us patrons, still uses the same recipe. Why alter perfection? Instead, Totonno's embraces it and somehow manages to repeat it.



The experience at Totonno's is like stepping into a delicious time capsule, where each ingredient and technique has been carefully preserved. Photographs hung throughout the dining area immortalize Totonno and his pizzamaking techniques. Aside from the man behind the counter, nothing has changed. The ingredients, dough arrangement, flour type, and coal-fired brick oven are exactly the same, except, of course, the photo is sepia tone.

In addition to using top quality ingredients including imported Italian olive oil, homemade mozzarella and savory tomato sauce, the secret of Totonno's success lies in their mastery of the coal burning oven. Maintaining a temperature of around 600'F enables the pizza chef to evenly and thoroughly cook the outer edge. Typically, coal-fired pizzerias cook pies at temperatures in excess of 800'F resulting in various degrees of charring. While, in moderation, charring can be a good thing, too much can add a carbon-filled bitterness that may affect the flavor of the whole pie. Totonno's has the cooking process down to a science and the culinary "scientist" wearing the apron is one of the best in the business.

Although the oven does not burn quite as hot as other coal-fired pizzerias, with coal comes risks and no one is more aware of the risks than Totonno's. Two years ago the old wood foundation of the oven caught fire overnight. Luckily, no one was injured but the oven was in need of serious repair. After a year and a half, Totonno's is back and, in my opinion, better than ever.

In Manhattan, there are other franchised out pizzerias with Totonno's name but nothing beats the no frills Coney Island original. Served on disposable plates and paper napkins by direct descendants of the founder, a visit to Totonno's is an old timey trip to the local pizzeria. Next time you go to Coney Island whether it's to take in a Cyclones game or a day of people-watching at the beach, I say forego the requisite Nathan's hot dog and head on over to Totonno's instead.



Irrefutably, Lombardi's became America's first pizzeria in 1905. However, there is some debate about which pizzeria, Lombardi's or Totonno's, is the orginal New York pizzeria.

Here is why...

1. Totonno used to work at Lombardi's so, technically, has been making pizza since 1905 as well.


2. Totonno's still stands at its original 1924 location. Lombardi's was forced to move in the mid 1980s from its original location on Spring St. when the coal oven deteriorated from decades of NYC Subway trains literally shaking its very foundation.


3. Totonno's in Coney island is still family owned and has (with the exception of the fire renovation) been continuously operated by Anthony "Totonno" Pero's direct descendants. Lombardi's did not operate between the mid 1980s and the mid 1990s when John Brescio, a close family friend, took over and moved it to its current location at Spring and Mott St.

VIDEO CLIP:



RATING:
5 out of 5

• VALUE:
  5/5


• AMBIENCE:
  3/3


• TASTE:
  10/10


• SERVICE:
  3/3

21/21 = 1 x 5 = 5

MISCELLANEOUS:
1. Scott Wiener has pizza tours on foot and on the bus to any borough.
2. Ronnie Palmer is the name of the bus driver that drove us to Coney Island.
3. Louise "Cookie" Ciminieri, the granddaughter of Anthony "Totonno" Pero owns and works at the Brooklyn location. I was fortunate enough to meet her.

Day 31; Pizza Month 2010 - Scott's Pizza Tours (Brooklyn)

DAY 31: OCTOBER 31st, 2010

LOCATION: Scott's Pizza Tour (Brooklyn)

ORDER: 4 slices of pizza at 4 different pizzerias including Lombardi's, Totonno's, J&V Pizzeria, and Sam's Restaurant

GUEST: Scott Wiener, Ronnie Palmer, various pizza tourists

REVIEW:
Eat your way through pizza history.

Rarely are New York City tours both informative AND delicious. Scott's Pizza Tours tosses aside the "look, don't touch" philosophy and replaces it with the much more fun "learn it then eat it" philosophy. Whether by bus or by foot, Scott takes his tours to historically significant pizza related institutions that have created, redefined, and perfected New York pizza over the past century.

A true expert in all things pizza, Scott articulates facts about pizzerias, owners, ovens, timelines, and ingredients. He even answered the age-old question of why certain cheeses burn the roof of your mouth.

"The cheese is not what's burning the roof of your mouth," Scott explains, "it's the oil within the cheese." He went on to point out that fresh mozzarella, since it is filled with water, does not pose the same danger as the "aged" or 'low moisture' mozzarella. The oil contain within them, while making the cheese more resilient (and easier to transport), retains much more heat than water, thusly, putting your mouth at risk. Be warned as most pizzerias use aged mozzarella.

All the tours begin where it all began, at Lombardi's, New York's first pizzeria. Here Scott distributes his Pizza Survival kit which contains a small notepad for recording pros and cons of each slice. There are also lemon candies for pallate cleansing between slices and a wet nap "if you get schmutz on you." And finally, each goodie bag contains a gummi pizza that Scott refers to as an "emergency pizza."

Soon enough, the whole group gets to taste a slice of Lombardi's pizza. While we eat, Scott breaks down the composition of this (and every) slice along the tour. His fascination with each component from heat source to eating technique is contagious. By the time the tour leaves Lombardi's, Scott is leading more than a dozen pizza connoisseurs into the streets of New York.

Here's where you have two options - outer borough by bus or Manhattan by foot. We signed up for the Brooklyn by bus tour, so we boarded the cheesewagon (school bus) driven by Ronnie Palmer, a New York area road warrior.

First stop, Totonno's in Coney Island. With the help of the bus's Public Address system, Scott's pizza knowledge continues to flow. Tomatoes, Protected Designation of Origin, and the canning process all become interesting when Scott speaks. Then comes the trivia and the interactive discussion. It's like a road trip and a tour in one! Before long, we're there!



And our pizza is there too, having just exited the oven. Slices are consumed, notes are made, pictures are taken, and then it's back to the bus. Next stop, J&V.

The road trip resumes with Scott and Ronnie at the helm. Each place offers a different version of the same thing that we all love. Conversation amongst the fellow passengers organically pop up and, before long, we're all a happy bunch of friends eating pizza together - a testament to Scott and to pizza, in general.

Despite having already eaten three slices, the bus pulls up to a fourth. It's Sam's Restaurant. We make our way to the back, ushered by Louie, the current owner. Waiting for us is a long table with a red checkered tablecloth, plates, and water. We sit down, find room for our final slice and discuss the differences between all the pizza we have consumed.

Inevitably, according to Scott, one person's favorite component of a slice will be someone else's least favorite. These disagreements often spark friendly debates but, in the end, there is no "bad pizza," especially on Scott's tour.

Everyone will leave Scott's pizza tour happy and full...full of knowledge, full of New York, and full of pizza.

If it's not clear already, I recommend going on one of Scott's Pizza Tours.



VIDEO CLIP:

RATING:
5 out of 5


MISCELLANEOUS:
1. Scott Wiener has a pizza slice costume he let me wear.
2. Scott has an awesome website and is on TV all the time. Check out his website here: ScottsPizzaTours.COM