DOH Must Be Stopped!
First John's, the The Coffee Shop, now the unthinkable—Di Fara's.
It is time for the police or some vigilante group to intervene and stop the Department of Health in its tracks. Look, guys, I'm sorry you're all so lame that you didn't spot the nation of rats forming a de facto government at the Taco Bell/KFC in the Village, and are so angry that the whole city caught you in your lameness (or, I suppose you might be feeling guilty—NAH!), but you're not impressing or fooling anymore with your Visigoth tear through New York's culinary treasures. Oh, yeah! You're BIG men shuttin' down classic joints instead of giving 'em warnings and a timetable to clean things up. You'll get a gold star for sure from Bloomie by year's end. And while he's pinning it on you, you might mention to him that all the rats scampering around might be coming from the thousands of green-lighted development projects ripping up the earth to make Gotham safe for condo-dwellers.
According to Slice, Di Fara owner Dom DeMarco's great crimes were not wearing a hat and gloves. Jesus. Anyone who's been there and seen the pies put together on the spot with only fresh ingredients knows there's not a healthier place in town. Dom said he will reopen his Midwood miracle by next Tuesday. But you know what? That's not good enough. Nobody has the right to shut down Di Fara's for six days, except Dom himself.
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5 comments:
OK, so a bunch of rats run around in Manhattan, and Brooklynites must suffer?
It ain't fair!
It ain't right!
I say we secede. C'mon, let's have an independent Brooklyn once again.
It's time to correct the big mistake of '98. Who needs Manhattan, anyway? Let 'em keep their rats and health inspectors to themselves.
Free DiFara's!
Free Brooklyn!
Blather From Brooklyn
We have the right to eat as many rat droppings on our "healthy" pizza as we want! Who are they to tell us which animal fecal matter we can unknowingly ingest! God forbid they put some traps out and store their ingredients in sanitary conditions! I like DiFara's as much as the next guy, but clearly Dominic needs to get his act together. And if your only (unfounded) argument is that "Taco Bell/KFC has rats too!", you're clearly missing the point, which is they had rat feces on the food preparation tables. Think about that the next time you see a "peppercorn" on your admittedly otherwise perfect DiFara's slice.
Don't believe I said my argument was "Taco Bell/KFC has rats too" as a defence for Di Fara's or any other place having mice droppings. I said Taco Bell/KFC had many, many rats, all on videotape, and as a result of the DOH's embarrassment at this, the department went on a make-good rampage from which lesser offenders are suffering closure, whereas in the past they would have gotten warnings and a timetable to clean up their act.
Yes, it seems Dom DeMarco has some cleaning up to do. No argument. But I stand by my claim that on my various visits to Di Fara, the preparation surface has appeared clean to me. I can say this, because I watch Dom closely as he prepared the pizzas—it makes for good entertainment. A mouse doesn't have a chance at Di Fara's while Dom is working because he doesn't let the pizza out of his sight for a minute.
I also say that the DOH and the outraged citizens of New York are experiencing a bad case of Claude Rains when they say they are "shocked, shocked" that they can't run their white glove along every restaurant's food preperation surface in New York City.
You're welcome to your opinion. You're also welcome to New York when the forces of real estate, city government and the marketplace make certain all the places like Di Fara's are run out of business.
Your anecdotal evidence of the cleanliness at this pizza joint is unimpressive, and your "slippery slope" argument to close the rebuttal is pure sensationalism. I'm not saying that every restaurant has to pass the white glove test, but having fresh rodent fecal matter in the storage and preparation area is pretty much over the line for me (you however can indulge all you like). From the report, it sounds like you could make a legitimate case that a temporary (they're opening back up tomorrow. Breathe.) closing was in order to prevent further food from being served in unsanitary conditions (when is that place not packed?), but you're right, hopefully the time they were forced to close doesn't negatively affect the business in any significant way. Like you, I want to know I can hop the Q to the best pizza I've ever had, but I also would like to know that I'm not getting any extra toppings with my pie.
I am the first to admit I err on the side of sentimentality with places like Di Fara's. Seeing it or John's or any other classic restaurant in New York endangerd, I tend to react like a parent whose baby was snatched out of his arms.
Thanks for your cogent comments, Anonymous.
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