Latest news with #Lucali
New York Times
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Why Lucali (Still) Isn't On Our Best Pizza List
For those of us in the business of being journalistically critical, there is a grab bag of ways that the job can go wrong. A chef could confront you over your review. Your social media mentions could become a garbage fire. Your inbox could pile up with emails from angry readers. But the greatest nightmare might be sending someone into a subpar dining experience — one that might not be worth their time, effort or hard-earned money. In October we published our list of the best pizza spots in New York City, and hawk-eyed readers noticed that Lucali, the infamously hard-to-get-into restaurant and pizzeria in Carroll Gardens, was nowhere to be seen. This week, we updated that list and, once again, there's no Lucali. Why? Well, the hassle-to-quality ratio is out of whack. Lucali is still difficult to get into — would-be diners often have to stand in line for hours before the restaurant opens — and if you are able to secure a table, the food might not deliver. For this go-round, I sent Luke Fortney, an energetic and intrepid food reporter, to retest the waters after Priya Krishna's visit last fall. On a Monday in March, Luke lined up at 1:30 p.m., two-and-a-half hours before a host appears and starts taking reservations. At 7 p.m., he and a few friends were seated for dinner. I'll let Luke take it from there: I had done this song and dance before but I didn't remember the service being so rushed once you were inside. Our dinner for a table of three — two pizzas, a calzone and a pasta — lasted 72 minutes. We would have lingered, but we were asked to leave with a half-finished bottle of wine. I liked, not loved, our pizzas. The tomato sauce was as good (salty) as ever but the dough was denser than I remembered. A few weeks later, I returned to order a takeout pizza with a 20-minute wait. That was when I realized it wasn't really about the wait or the service. The pizza just wasn't there. Both Priya and Luke made the point that you could enjoy equally good pizza at nearby restaurants without the hassle. (Embrace the hot restaurant dupe!) And I've lived here long enough — going on 13 years — to know that at the end of most long lines there is regret, disappointment or a mixture of both. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
The Age
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
Sex, drugs and a place in the queue: Waiting in line at the Sean ‘Diddy' Combs trial
Some news organisations had paid $US500 ($775) for a professional line-sitter. This is a miniature industry in New York; you can pay people to wait in line outside court, or at hotspot restaurants such as Lucali in Brooklyn. Then there are the supporters, the court-watchers and the clingers-on. Some appear to have little interest in the case itself, but are drawn to the cameras and the crowds – they rant about Jesus or the Rapture, or hope to be paid to go away. The ones who line up, get through security and go into the court or overflow room are more likely to be supporters of the accused or a victim. One woman, who said she had attended court every day since jury selection began last week, caused a scene in the overflow room by audibly reacting to testimony from Combs' ex-girlfriend Casandra Ventura. She complained that prosecutors should not have brought the case while Ventura was heavily pregnant, and said they would be responsible if any complications arose. Outside the courthouse, the same woman yelled at paparazzi and reporters as they waited for Combs' family. 'Give them their f---ing dignity, pardon my French,' she shouted at the scrum. 'Don't be up in their six feet unless you wanna start.' The Combs case has also attracted a throng of social media influencers. One regularly attending court is Stephanie Soo, a YouTuber and podcaster with 5.6 million followers on TikTok. In a recent video, she compared Combs' appearance to a koala. 'You know koalas, when they get fuzzy – like if it's really humid and they have, like, very fuzzy greyish-white hair,' Soo said. 'He is reminiscent to that.' Other people stopped by the courthouse to catch a glimpse of the commotion. Four young men in T-shirts and shorts, who didn't want to give their names, said Combs was a major music figure when they grew up, even if he had become more of a business mogul than a performer. 'It's super-surprising that something like that would happen,' one man said of the case. 'You never think that somebody that big could be capable of doing stuff like that.' Such is the essence of the celebrity trial, and this one is more salacious than most. We have heard awkward, intimate details about Combs' sexual fantasies, and graphic accounts of how he would realise them. We have glimpsed a world most of us will never access: luxe hotels and boat parties and escorts being flown across the country, and a seemingly endless supply of sex, drugs and money. Loading And we have seen the star witness, Ventura, provide two days of painful, personal evidence while pregnant. Now, she is to be cross-examined by the defence. It is a reminder that justice rarely comes easily.
Sydney Morning Herald
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
Sex, drugs and a place in the queue: Waiting in line at the Sean ‘Diddy' Combs trial
Some news organisations had paid $US500 ($775) for a professional line-sitter. This is a miniature industry in New York; you can pay people to wait in line outside court, or at hotspot restaurants such as Lucali in Brooklyn. Then there are the supporters, the court-watchers and the clingers-on. Some appear to have little interest in the case itself, but are drawn to the cameras and the crowds – they rant about Jesus or the Rapture, or hope to be paid to go away. The ones who line up, get through security and go into the court or overflow room are more likely to be supporters of the accused or a victim. One woman, who said she had attended court every day since jury selection began last week, caused a scene in the overflow room by audibly reacting to testimony from Combs' ex-girlfriend Casandra Ventura. She complained that prosecutors should not have brought the case while Ventura was heavily pregnant, and said they would be responsible if any complications arose. Outside the courthouse, the same woman yelled at paparazzi and reporters as they waited for Combs' family. 'Give them their f---ing dignity, pardon my French,' she shouted at the scrum. 'Don't be up in their six feet unless you wanna start.' The Combs case has also attracted a throng of social media influencers. One regularly attending court is Stephanie Soo, a YouTuber and podcaster with 5.6 million followers on TikTok. In a recent video, she compared Combs' appearance to a koala. 'You know koalas, when they get fuzzy – like if it's really humid and they have, like, very fuzzy greyish-white hair,' Soo said. 'He is reminiscent to that.' Other people stopped by the courthouse to catch a glimpse of the commotion. Four young men in T-shirts and shorts, who didn't want to give their names, said Combs was a major music figure when they grew up, even if he had become more of a business mogul than a performer. 'It's super-surprising that something like that would happen,' one man said of the case. 'You never think that somebody that big could be capable of doing stuff like that.' Such is the essence of the celebrity trial, and this one is more salacious than most. We have heard awkward, intimate details about Combs' sexual fantasies, and graphic accounts of how he would realise them. We have glimpsed a world most of us will never access: luxe hotels and boat parties and escorts being flown across the country, and a seemingly endless supply of sex, drugs and money. Loading And we have seen the star witness, Ventura, provide two days of painful, personal evidence while pregnant. Now, she is to be cross-examined by the defence. It is a reminder that justice rarely comes easily.
