The pizza at Lucali is worth the lengthy trip on the F train. The restaurant, dimly lit, with faded yellow walls, feels like a Tuscan trattoria. Mismatched wine bottles bedeck the walls and windowsills, and wooden tables give the place a rustic charm. Squint a little, ignore the American patrons, and you’re in the middle of the Tuscan countryside.
All the pizzas boast eight oozing slices, and cost $24.00 (including tax). My friends and I split a cheese pizza, opting for no toppings. Simple, but excellent, was what we craved, and what we received. The pie consisted of thin, charred crust, slightly sweet tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, and basil for garnish. The blobs of mozzarella had melted unevenly across the tomato sauce, as if painted by an impressionistic artist.
It’s probably not the best pizza in the city, but it came pretty darn close.
Next we journeyed back in time to the golden age of ice cream; the age of the soda fountain. This was a surprisingly short trip! Turn right out of Lucali, continue a few blocks down Henry Street, enter Brooklyn Farmacy and Soda Fountain, and you’ve successfully time traveled!
This place is as close to the real deal as you’re going to get. They’ve thought of everything from the long counter lined with stools, to the old-fashioned memorabilia lining the walls (ranging from typewriters to old jars of medicine). A mix of oldies and Motown hits (think “Dancing in the Street” and “All You Need is love”) completed the time warp effect; truly, they were the cherry on top. And speaking of cherries on top…yes, they actually do that! I ordered an “Any Day Sundae” with vanilla ice cream, which came with thick hot fudge sauce, homemade whipped cream, and, of course, a cherry on top. I asked for toasted pecans, to add a little crunch. The Sundae of Broken Dreams also sounded scrumptious; vanilla ice cream, warm caramel sauce, broken pretzels, and whipped cream. "You can cry over it," the menu jokes. Asides from sundaes, the menu includes a wide variety of ice cream sodas, shakes, and egg creams, many with intriguing names such as The Pink Poodle (hibiscus soda and a scoop of vanilla ice cream).
The only thing not from the sixties? The prices. The sundae cost about $8.00, $10.00 with tip. It’s okay. I’ll think of the $10.00 as not just purchasing ice cream, but time travel. And $10.00 to travel back in time? I think that’s a pretty good deal.
Lucali is located at 575 Henry Street, and Brooklyn Farmacy and Soda Fountain is located at 513 Henry Street.
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