Never a pizza-purist, one of my very favorite pizzas — EVER — was once found at 53rd and Second Avenue in Manhattan. Founded and run by Larry Goldberg, served in individual foil pie tins, deep dish, not excessively cheesy and with the crushed tomato sauce on top, this pizza was heaven to me. Virtually every time I visited NYC from 1975 through around 2000 (around the time that it closed for good) I made Goldberg’s Pizza a pilgrimage. I last tried to visit in 2002 but there was no trace of it…. tremendous sadness ensued.
He passed away in 2003 after having sold the business some years earlier. Here’s a link to his NY Times Obituary:
I forgot that he had died. We had his pizza cookbook when I was a kid. Great stuff. I remember that he strongly discouraged readers from making a Nixon pizza (ketchup and cottage cheese toppings). Smart guy.
Yeah, I wish he hadn’t. I still remember my first visit. I was excited to be able to use a knife and fork — this was soon after my first having tried any pizza at all (I was 11!).
I bought a copy of the book a few years ago — very ’70s and kind of cool, but quite worthless in terms of actually tying to make a true Goldberg’s pie as he leaves out the “secret” ingredient.
any chance you could share what the “secret” ingredient is? I’m kind of surprised there is one, as, you might remember, the kitchen (at the 51/52 street location) was totally open; you could stand at the rather high counter and watch it made, all the ingredients were right up against the counter. That being said, it’s one of my best food memories ever, and, I’m trying to recreate it, so, would appreciate any thoughts you have at all on this.
Thanks so much,
Dan
Hey Dan,
Thanks for your interest!
Hmmm, I have no certainty, but I believe it is a proportion of rye flour. I’ve been experimenting with approximately 1/5 — it might be more complicated than that though. And furthermore, it was now so long ago that it’s difficult to trust my memory of the exact characteristics….
I worked with Goldberg in his last years. He was probably one of the funniest people I knew. I loved hearing his stories and watching him interact with other people. He will be missed
Thanks for your comment! You don’t happen to know the missing ingredient in his dough recipe, do you? We suspect it was rye flour, but I still haven’t determined the correct proportion.
(just getting back to this blog now….)
I started eating Goldbergs Pizza when I was too young to walk. There was a Goldbergs on Third Ave between 21st-22nd for a few years as well.
It was always my favorite food and my favorite restaurant in the world (which is saying something, since I’ve traveled just about everywhere except Antarctica, and have settled down in Western Europe).
I went there every year on my birthday until it closed down, no matter where I was living at the time. I really miss it.
I’ve searched online for the recipe, but everything I’ve found so far seems to contradict eachother.