Manhattan May Finally Be Getting a Pizzeria From Di Fara

Renowned pizza institution Di Fara may be expanding with its first Manhattan brick-and-mortar restaruant. The pizzeria, which operates a ghost kitchen on the Lower East Side and recently announced plans to expand to Staten Island, is looking to open at 108 South Street, between Beekman Street and Peck Slip, in the Financial District, realtor Luis Vazquez tells Tribeca Citizen.

The restaurant is apparently in talks to open in the Seaport but no lease has been signed yet, says Richie Holmes, owner of Staten Island barbecue joint Juicy Lucy BBQ, who’s in the process of opening a restaurant in the southern borough with Di Fara. According to Vazquez, the building’s owner confirmed that Di Fara will open and that construction is under way. Eater has contacted Di Fara for more information.

The expansion news comes less than a month after Domenico “Dom” DeMarco, the Midwood pizzeria’s longtime owner, died from unspecified causes. DeMarco immigrated to New York in 1959 from Italy, opening Di Fara on Avenue J in 1965. The pizzeria has been named one of Brooklyn’s most iconic restaurants, while its slices have consistently ranked among the city’s best over the last six decades.

Bao Ong contributed reporting.

‘Do you want to own a piece of Forlini’s history?’

Almost a month after Forlini’s announced its permanent closure, the decades-old red sauce restaurant appears to be selling its entire art collection online. “Do you want to own a piece of Forlini’s history?” a note on the restaurant’s website now reads. The works, priced between $1,000 and $5,000 each, are sold on a first come, first served basis, according to the website, and can be ordered by emailing owner Joe Forlini at joe_forlini@yahoo.com.

A food-filled block party returns to Manhattan

Forsythia returns this weekend with a food-filled block party that’s “BACK AND EVEN BETTER” following a packed, sold-out run last year, according to an announcement on Instagram. The event, held in and around the Lower East Side Italian restaurant, at 9 Stanton Street, between Bowery and Chrystie Street, kicks off at noon on Sunday, April 24, with vendors selling food until they’re sold out. This year’s lineup includes showings from seafood hotspot Dame, smash burger counter Smashed, Gramercy’s popular Caffè Panna, Tex-Mex hit Yellow Rose, and uptown pizzeria Mama’s Too.

Burritos, potato chip doughnuts, and free joints

Boutique weed company Gossamer is handing out free joints from two restaurants this week to promote the launch of its “too high hotline” (ostensibly a phone number for people who are too high but capable of dialing 202-866-4444). Starting at noon today, Lower East Side restaurant Wildair is giving away pre-rolled joints to those who purchase its potato chip cream and grape jelly “stoner donut.” From 6 to 8 p.m. on Sunday, April 24, the company is headed to For All Things Good in Williamsburg, where free joints will be handed out with burritos as part of a pop-up with Los Burritos Juarez.