There have been so many great Italian-Americans who have come from Brooklyn or have made their marks there. The city has produced Phil Rizzuto, Lou Ferrigno, Rudy Giuliani, Tony Danza, The Super Mario Brothers…and now Chef Sergio and Johnny Meatballs have produced our own little documentary in the “4^th Largest City in America” as the sign read in the opening of “Welcome Back, Kotter.” When you see this video we shot, you’re gonna wanna visit too! Let me tell you all how this whole concept came to be…

Ok so I’m not sure how it worked out this way, but my good friend Sergio and I celebrated the 2012 Jewish New Year, Brooklyn-Italian style! No, neither of us are Jewish, but Rosh Hashanah will forever stick out as a big day to us—it was the Jersey boys’ great adventure in “BK”—or as we goombas say, “Brook-a-leen.” On that Monday, yours truly and my cugine co-host, Chef Sergio began filming our new web series “Cooking Cugines With Chef Sergio & Johnny Meatballs,” our Italian-American style travel program.

Sporting our trademark black monogrammed chef coats, we made our way into the most populated of NYC’s five boroughs with 2.5 million residents, many of which who are proud paisans. Of course our mission statement is: “Proud Paisans on a Mission…On the Road and in the Kitchen,” with our passionate goal being to showcase old-school joints while always staying true to our Garden State roots. But to kick things off, we decided to go through the tunnel and over the Brooklyn Bridge, visiting two iconic pizzerias for our pilot episode.

This exclusive “Brooklyn Pizza Tour Show” co-starred Mr. Tony Muia, the world renowned tour guide from “A Slice of Brooklyn Pizza Tours” as seen on The Travel Channel. I say exclusive because we weren’t on the actual tour bus. Me, Sergio, Tony and our producer Lisa, all cruised around in Sergio’s Hummer, getting the behind-the-scenes V-I-P treatment. We all collectively agreed that on our New York jaunts, we’d take the Hummer and for our Jersey journeys, we would ride in my Cadillac. But I digress.

Tony instantly became our third cugine for the day. He was such a class act with an encyclopedic knowledge of his childhood city, directing us to lots of cool spots—including the “FUHGEDDABOUTIT” sign on the highway—and the actual bench in the park overlooking the Verrazano-Narrows where John Travolta sat in “Saturday Night Fever.” But besides these special sights of this beautiful borough, we were there for the FOOD, in particular pizza. Or as we goombas say, ahhhhh-peetz!

We decided to skip any “New York style” or “American” pizza on this day. Not that there is anything wrong with that at all, but that will be for another adventure. No toppings either, this was all about pizza in its purest form. On this trip, we decided to hit up two very different—but very delicious places: Grimaldi’s (19 Old Fulton Street) and L&B Spumoni Gardens (2725 86^th Street).

At Grimaldi’s, we enjoyed a Margherita pie made in a coal oven. At L&B, we devoured a Sicilian pie made in the traditional pizza oven. While the ingredients are similar, the preparation and cooking methods are not even close. I can say this, there was not one piece left at the end of the day!

Which did we think was better you may ask? Well, you will have to wait for the video tape! In early October, you will be able to live this day with us. The episode can be watched right here on this website as well as on our own official website: (www.CookingCugines.com), our youtube channel: (www.YouTube.com/CookingCugines), and facebook fan page: (www.facebook.com/YouTubeCookingCugines).

In the meantime, I will give you my analysis of each pizza to really make your mouth water…

Lunch Part I: Grimaldi’s –

Their Napolitano style is true Italy pizza in America. People not familiar with this specific kind of pizza, do not expect American style, this is Old Country old-school. Crushed imported San Marzano tomatoes are spread down first on homemade dough followed by slices of fresh (delivered daily) mozzarella which is then topped with fresh basil leaves. Yes very simple stuff, but all extremely high quality ingredients, so you can pick up each flavor with each bite.

Then she’s baked for literally no more than a minute or so. It comes out piping hot, bubbly and crispy, but not like a cracker. There’s still a good chew in the texture combined with the classic charred-crust. Understand, the bottom is not “burnt,” it’s supposed to be slightly blackened in spots. It’s really an art form to make this perfect—and they actually have someone who just watches the pies all day long. They are cooked in one single brick encased coal-fueled oven which reaches close to one thousand degrees! There’s a smoky ting to it, which you can’t achieve in a gas or even wood oven. Delicious!

We also guzzled some of Grimaldi’s private label soda. Sergio and I had root beer and Tony drank the orange flavor. It was very smooth, made with pure cane sugar. An ideal complement to our meal.

Two huge thumbs up for Grimaldi’s Margherita pie, definitely worth the trip, located right under the Brooklyn Bridge with stunning views of Manhattan from the nearby pier. Big thanks to the staff who were all so friendly and welcoming!

Lunch Part II: L&B Spumoni Gardens –

The specialty at L&B is the square Sicilian style. They are done in double-deck metal encased ovens. I believe there was a row of at least four or five of them, with sheet pans of pizza constantly being rotated. Ok, so unlike Grimaldi’s, where the pizza is cooked directly in the oven, these go into the oven inside pans like grandma used to do it. But this Sicilian is special. It’s not thick and doughy, but it’s not paper thin either—it is right in the middle—but what really makes it unique is that it is “inverted” as Chef Sergio says. Let me explain…

First, the cheese is cut into pieces and placed on top of the dough in a pan which then “rests” inside a rack for a period of time. This allows the cheese to “marry” into the dough—almost becoming one. When someone orders a pizza, the pan of cheese covered dough is removed from the rack and then their sweet tomato sauce is ladled over the cheese. If this backwards recipe is wrong to you, wait until you see how right it tastes! But I’m not quite done. The next steps include a sprinkling of grated cheese and then a drizzling of olive oil all over. Then it’s into the oven.

The result: a heavenly flavor that is unmatched by any Sicilian slice you have ever had. By having the mozzarella on the bottom, everything stays intact. A lot of the time when the cheese is on top, you take a bite and then you find all that cheese falling right off. But here, being that it’s baked deep down into the dough, you can truly appreciate every square inch all together in harmony.

Of course we could not go to a place called Spumoni Gardens without eating some pistachio spumoni. This is a cross between Italian ice and gelato, an Italian ice cream that I personally consider to be my favorite sweet treat. So fresh and refreshing!

The ambiance of L&B is like a Jersey Shore seaside resort, with a giant outdoor patio and picnic tables with umbrellas. They’ve been there since 1939, and still owned by the founder’s family who treated us like their family.

Well, there you have it ladies and gentlemen, two pizza institutions serving styles that are completely distinctive but authentic as can be. I guarantee you will want to go check out both establishments when you see our video. While there is certainly enough room out there for “artisanal” pizza, we really aren’t going to focus on new places run by folks from Seattle who attract the foodie crowd and want to capitalize on a “trend.” No, we want to perpetuate the pizza parlors that started it all and pay homage to the ORIGINALS not the “retro.” See, there’s a big gap between these frou-frou eateries and the carbon copy chains like Olive Garden and Pizza Hut. We will continue to only focus our attention on the classics that started it all. They deserve the spotlight and the attention.

This experience was part lunch, part history lesson, all made possible by the famous Tony Muia, who we felt like we knew for years as opposed to just meeting. We laughed, we ate, we laughed some more, you’ve seen the pictures, you’ve now read the blog…now just wait for the video. You’re gonna get educated, entertained, but more than anything you’re gonna get hungry!

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“Cooking Cugines With Chef Sergio & Johnny Meatballs: Brooklyn Pizza Tour” will make its internet debut in about 2 weeks. Stay tuned!!!