Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Didn't find this story until now, but if you're still checking the comments, Ed, you did a fabulous job with this. Very nice tribute to a true culinary genius. I lived in NYC for several years starting in 2000. A friend of mine at the time, an Upper West Side native, took me to Sal and Carmine's. I, being from California, believed all NY pizza was good and anything that said "Ray's" was the best. Oh how wrong I was! I didn't get around to all the city's pizza places, but my first cheese slice from Sal and Carmine's remains one of the most memorable eating experiences of my life.

Oh indeed. I did the same thing the week after Sal's passing, heading up to the UWS from Williamsburg and buying a whole pie to take back home for my friends, who were too busy/lazy/skeptical to make the trip up and try a slice for themselves. Carmine gave me a fresh pie out of the oven minutes after I'd paid. I carried it, tied up in candystripe, onto the 3 train and then onto the L, attracting more stares than I've ever gotten in my life - just imagine someone balancing a hot pie on one hand while maneuvering through the commuter crowd during rush hour.

I reheated the slices for my friends on a cookie sheet until the cheese was just starting to burn. We had them with a few beers. I made believers out of everyone that night.

Great story, Ed!

PS: Wrote my own tribute to S&C here!

That's a really wonderful tribute... I will have to make a point to go up there and try it. Thank you.

When I moved to NYC in 1999, I was 20, broke and sharing an illegal sublet two blocks from Sal & Carmines, where I ate late dinners at least twice a week. Besides the great pizza, I appreciated the no nonsense vibe of Sal & Carmine - they never tried to talk to me beyond getting my order and then left me alone. They made me feel like I could be a real new yorker.