Totonno's Reopening Is Nigh

New York magazine has the scoop that the long-closed fire victim, Totonno's, will reopen..."soon." The piece is interesting in that it tells us a lot about the fire and damage that we didn't know before.

Louise Ciminieri is squinting at the ceiling and frowning. “This is annoying me right now,” she says. The rectangular area in question, roughly four by three feet, is slightly in front of the hulking brick-lined, coal-fired oven that has produced, since 1924, arguably the greatest pizzas in New York City: Totonno’s... The original tin walls and ceiling survived, except for this rectangle. Louise could buy new tin to line it and no one would know. But if she couldn’t have the original, better to leave it bare. “This is New York,” she says, gesturing around the room. “Some things shouldn’t change.”...

The fire gods spared the dining room: The vintage framed photos of everyone from Joe DiMaggio to Lou Reed are in storage, along with the tables and chairs. The two narrow booths are intact. ...

I ask about the recipes for the incomparable dough and tomato sauce, whether they were written down and lost in the blaze. She shoots me a disbelieving look I remember from my first visit to Totonno’s... Now she doesn’t answer my question about the recipes being at risk in the fire. She merely points to her head.