After
spending the past six years taking tours in mid-town Manhattan, with an
occasional side trip to lower Manhattan, I decided I needed to branch out. I first learned about the Slice of Brooklyn Pizza Tours,
owned and operated by Tony Muia, in a travel magazine. After doing some research, I decided it was
time for Davis Day Trips to visit the place that all Brooklynites know is the “real”
New York City.
Our tour
started with guide Paula Berkenstadt bounding onto the bus, enthusiastically proclaiming
that she was “stupid happy” to be with us.
I knew right then that she was going to show us a good time. And she did. In spades! It takes a special
type of person to command the attention of four dozen people (who had already ridden
2+ long hours on a bus, without a rest stop), making sure that her spiel and video clips matched up
exactly to our specific locations, while simultaneously directing our driver (the
extraordinary Don Sapp from Delaware Express who did an amazing job maneuvering
some VERY tricky, tight twists and turns).
My only prior
experience with Brooklyn had been walking over the bridge (you MUST do this at least once in your life), having an awesome spinach
omelet at Celeste Diner, and
then turning right around and walking back to Manhattan, simply because I didn’t know
any better. Boy, did I miss a lot!
Along the way
to our first stop, Brooklyn
Bridge Park (which has amazing views of the bridge), we learned how the
area known as DUMBO got its name. I’m
not going to tell you what DUMBO stands for or give you the answer to how it
got its name because you should take the tour yourself to find out.
(And don’t cheat by searching the Internet.)
The first
pizza stop was Grimaldi’s, the last
remaining coal-fired pizza joint in New York.
I love a good thin-crust basic cheese pizza and Grimaldi’s, with the
addition of fresh basil on top, didn’t disappoint. There are always long lines waiting to get
in, but since we were with A Slice of Brooklyn Pizza Tours, we strolled right past the line and were immediately seated (another big plus to taking their tour!) As
much as I enjoyed Grimaldi’s (even with the super-tight seating arrangements), I’m still a huge fan of Gus’s Pizzeria in Pennsville which makes
the absolute, hands-down best thin crust white pizza with spinach in all the world. (Just had to throw that shout out to you
Gus.)
Back on the bus, we drove past quite
a few locations where famous movies scenes were filmed, including John Travolta’s
Saturday Night Fever strut down 86th
Street in Bensonhurst and the house where Joe Pesci drives into the garage
right before he gets “whacked.” Plenty of other interesting movie locations, but like I said, you should take the tour and find out for yourself.
Enjoyed the
drive through Bay Ridge (think ultra-rich neighborhood) where, according to
Paula, a lot of the residents make their living as car dealership owners. I have to wonder who in the heck buys all the cars though since I thought that very few New Yorkers actually drove. Should have asked that question while I was
on the tour…
Our second
pizza stop was L&B
Spumoni Gardens for Sicilian-style pie.
I’m generally not a fan of thick crust, but Paula was absolutely right
when she told us that even though the crust looks thick, it's actually very
light…and VERY good!
I felt that I
had to try the spumoni while I was there and, once again, my South Jersey roots
are coming out when I say that I prefer the custard from Hudock’s in Salem or the
Pennsville Custard Stand. But others on
the tour loved their spumoni, so I say try it yourself to decide.
The final
stop on the tour was Coney
Island which is home to Nathan’s (and their famous hot dog eating contest), the historic Cyclone roller coaster, and so much
more. When I do this tour again, I definitely
want to let folks spend a little more time on the boardwalk. I did a Davis Day Trip to Coney Island several
years ago (LOVED the Freak Show!!) and I think that a stop there deserves more time. Granted, we have our fair
share of beaches and boardwalks in Jersey, but there’s just something about Coney Island…
I was
definitely impressed with A Slice of Brooklyn Pizza Tours and am hoping to be
able to include their Christmas Lights and Cannoli Tour on next year’s trip schedule--if I can find a time slot before I leave for Hawaii. (And no, Hawaii is NOT a Davis Day Trips—it’s
just Paul and me on that one!) Kudos to both Tony and Paula--thanks so much for showing us the REAL New York City!
