Historic Pizza at Grimaldi's

The coal, brick oven-fired pizzas at Grimaldi's - direct descendants of this country's original pizza bakers - haven't lost anything since they opened here on Franklin Avenue a few years ago.

The thin crust pies ($9/13/15) emerge from the intense heat quicker than from a gas oven. They have just enough of a good desirable char on the bottom and edges of the crust, the authentic way for true pizza pies.

It may not be the way the average Joe likes it - one man's char is another man's burnt - but I like char and I never have to ask for it at Grimaldi's. It usually guarantees getting a crisp crust in the center of the pie, where the dough is sometimes thinner and where lesser quality pizzas display the dreaded sogginess problem. Tomatoes appear to be liquified, not crushed, but the mozzarella is fresh and sliced and the result makes this a serious pizza place.

At the beginning of the last century, coal ovens were common in bakeries in the New York area and pizza pies were just another item at local Italian bakeries. Legend has it that a hundred years ago, at Lombardi's on Spring Street - ground zero for generations of pizza restaurants to follow - Patsy Lancieri learned the art of baking pizza and later opened Patsy's in East Harlem. His nephew Patsy Grimaldi inherited the skill of a pizzaiolo and opened the first Grimaldi's in DUMBO Brooklyn in the early nineties. New owners took over much of  Grimaldi's operations, expanded in the area and to pizza-deprived regions out west, where I happily joined a crowd chowing down last year at the outpost in Scottsdale.

A mural on one wall depicts the original "Under the Brooklyn Bridge," the opposite wall has the requisite Sinatra mugshot and photos of Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn above old fashioned looking wood wainscoting. Two dozen checkered tablecloth covered tables, a bar (with happy hour $5 pizzas etc.) and the lively open kitchen complete the scene.

Top your pie with over two dozen options including chicken parmesan and sautéed spinach. Or be a rebel and go for a white pie with garlic ($15/17). I really liked the Portobello Napoleon ($10) appetizer which presents like a hot salad. Roasted red pepper, layered with fresh mozzarella, marinated portabello mushrooms and topped with swiss cheese in a warm balsamic dressing. Chopped salad ($10) is less impressive but more than enough for two. Dessert brings more of Brooklyn with Junior's Cheesecake ($6).