Best Pizza Contender: Di Fara's

Slowly but surely, I am eating my way through Brooklyn's best pizza. First was Totonno's (fab), then came L&B (won't rehash that debate), and now we have Di Fara's. (To give you a full view of pizza eating experience, you should know that among other well-known spots, I've been to Manhattan's Una Pizzeria Napoletana (lovely) and Lombardi's (good, but maybe not amazing) and also Grimaldi's (disappointing trip, haven't been back to re-evaluate).

First, I must report on a most tasty celebrity sighting. No sooner had we walked up to Di Fara's, than Bobby "Bacala" Baccalieri walks out. This may seem obvious, but there's nothing that makes you feel more like you've chosen an appropriately old-school spot than having a "Sopranos" cast member sighting. But about that pizza ...

The owner of the shop, Mr. DeMarco knows he's good--very good--at what he does, and he's right. He knows that customers will endure a stifling hot store (interior room temp must have been hovering near the 100 mark) for their turn at a perfect pie, handmade with love. He knows that the oven smoke filling the restaurant and burning the eyes is all part of the payment. He knows that bussing one's table is small penance. He knows that eventually everybody will leave happy, and despite what I had read elsewhere, he does smile!

The pizza is otherworldly, and unlike other pies, it's not one ingredient that makes it good--it's the combination of many good ingredients. The building blocks are fresh dough and a light but flavorful tomato sauce made in the back from canned San Marzano tomatoes. Watching Mr. DeMarco work may be half the fun. Every pizza gets the same slow-motion attention, which includes meticulous hand-slicing of regular and buffalo mozzarellas, and a dusting with the much sharper grana padana.

What emerges from the oven (gas? electric?) a short while later is a bubbling pie, edges crisped, bottom browned. But, Mr. DeMarco isn't done yet. He labors to the herbs in the windowsill and, scissor in hand, he tops his creation with fresh basil and/or  thyme.  Though his son was on hand to help relay orders, nobody touched the pizza but him and nobody complained about the wait.  We managed to land two pies in under 45 minutes, and that was without much of a line.

All agreed that the cheese ($15) was best for its perfect melding of crisped dough, tomato and rich cheese combo and because the crust better maintained its integrity without heavy and potentially wet toppings. Still, nobody complained about the pie topped with sausage and porcini mushrooms ($22). Though four adults could eat a pie and leave happy, we ordered two, and the happiness followed us home--this is one pizza that almost gets better the second time around.