Lucali in Brooklyn
I’m not exactly sure when I first heard about Lucali. All I knew was that there was a candlelit pizzeria in Brooklyn that you had to wait hours to get into, and that was all it took. I needed to try this pizza.
Dani and I decided to plan a long weekend in NYC in November of 2019. Honestly we needed to go on a Trader Joe’s run and NYC is only a 6 hour plane right from Madrid… so… seems logical to me!
Lucali doesn’t take reservations, you just have to show up and wait, which is honestly one of my favorite things to do in the whole world. I know that normal people hear there’s a wait to eat and are frustrated, sad, disappointed, hangry. I’m the opposite. You tell me there’s a wait to get seated and I’m thrilled! It means the food is good and the place is crowded and that I get to have drinks beforehand and work up an appetite. I just love a good wait.
We took the subway from Manhattan to Brooklyn, and walked among the brownstones until we arrived at the candlelit restaurant in a brick building. There was even a velvet rope blocking the door, I guess to prevent the peasants from barging in and sitting at an open table reserved for someone else. A host quickly approached us and let us know it would be a three hour wait, that it was cash only and that they didn’t serve alcohol there but that we could bring our own. She helpfully pointed us in the direction of a lovely wine shop just down the street, Henry Street Wines and Liquors, and also recommended a couple of different places where we could have a few drinks while we waited.
After we bought a Sicilian red from the wine store, we headed to a speakeasy cocktail bar housed in a former brothel, Barely Disfigured. This place was maybe a little too cool for me but we ordered some fancy cocktails and chatted with the bartender, who was European, and I pretended to be cool and European too. The vibe of the place is dark and sexy, with a candlelit terrace out back.
After our sexy brothel cocktails, we walked a couple blocks to the other bar the host recommended, Brooklyn Social. Apparently it used to be a private Sicilian club, so we fit right in with our Sicilian wine in my bag! What is a private Sicilian club? I have no idea, but it sounds cool, so obviously I had to mention it. I was starting to get the vibe that I will never be cool enough for Brooklyn and that it is mandatory that all establishments be lit only by candlelight, but I was still having fun and still pretending to be European so I could be cool like the Brooklynites. We ordered a couple beers and before long, they called. IT WAS TIME.
Listen, here’s the thing about Lucali. It’s kind of annoying, yes. No booze, no credit cards, long wait etc. BUT it is an experience. You walk in and the smell of the wood fired oven hits you and you’re just… happy. We sat down and looked at the menu, which is tiny. It’s basically one margherita pizza for 24 dollars, and then you can add toppings for 3 dollars each. (They also have calzones of different sizes). So, we can also add that it’s expensive to the list of points against it. But you get to bring your own wine so that saves you money! I realize that not everyone is going to like Lucali, you just have to embrace it for what it is and when you do that, you will be HANDSOMELY REWARDED. (With pizza, obvs)
We ordered a simple margherita and HOLY COW. When it came to the table I was speechless. First of all, it was huge. I’m so used to all pizzerias nowadays with the same medium-sized pizzas, that when this monster arrived I was delighted. Then, and what I believe really sets it apart, was the basil. Not just a couple of leaves here, oh no, the pizza was covered in basil, stems still attached! It was a basil jungle on there! I took one bite of that hot, melty, smoky, tomatoey, basily goodness and I was speechless. I kept nodding my head and saying, “Okay, Mmm hmmm okay, okay Lucali I see you, I see you here, Mmm hmmmmm, okayyyy”.
I am telling you it was one of the TOP THREE pizza bites of my life. We ate the whole big ole’ pizza and I’ve thought about it so many times since. There was so much going for it: the ambiance, the smell of the fire, the brick walls, the hunger we accrued while waiting and cocktailing, the kindness of the host and the staff, the neighborhood, the amazing bottle of wine we bought, just the vibes in general.
My only complaint about Lucali is that when I asked for olive oil to dip my crust in I was told they didn’t have any, so our server brought us some tomato sauce on the house instead. No olive oil? What? I’m sure they have their reasons and I respect that, but what the freak? Mama needs her olive oil. Next time I go, and there will be a next time, I’ll just bring a lil’ EVOO in my purse.
This was the only pic I took that night… I guess the excitement overhelmed me. Check out that basil jungle!
