A ‘SLICE’ OF QUEENS Rockaway Pizza Has Arrived!

By Robert Intelisano

The people have spoken!

After a month-long voting process and thousands of votes cast all throughout this great Borough of Queens, I witnessed Tom Grech, President of The Queens Chamber of Commerce, announce on “National Pizza Day” on Thursday February 9th, that “Rocco’s of Roc Beach” won the honor of Best Pizza in Queens contest!

Rockaway’s food scene started with “Rockaway Tacos” back in 2007. Slowly, foodie surfers migrated, mostly from Brooklyn, and the beach food morphed into ethnic delicacies, and then pizza followed.

If you told me back in 2013, when we were rebuilding after Superstorm Sandy, that 10 years later Rockaway Pizza would dominate the first annual Queens Pizza Contest during a pandemic, I would say you should go get your head checked for “delusions of grandeur!”

Don’t pinch me, this just happened! Vinnie and JoAnne Cotrone opened Rocco’s of Roc Beach at 115-10 Rockaway Beach Boulevard in 2021, after a long process of working with local officials. “We believe in the community,” JoAnne Cotrone said.

The Cotrone’s took a major calculated risk and made a substantial investment of time and money opening this fine establishment. It is very difficult, nearly impossible, to open a “Coal Oven” Italian restaurant today, due to the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) cracking down on coal oven emissions.

All of Rocco’s of Roc Beach food is homemade, using family recipes made fresh daily with both the ingredients and the coal oven imported from Italy! My favorite is their white slice which has 4 different cheeses!

When I review a pizzeria, I always ask about the ingredients, the oven and the dough fermentation process. Dough fermentation is also called “proofing” the dough in the industry. As per Vinnie, “we use a 48-hour fermentation process in a secret room in the back.”

Fermenting dough that long takes a coordinated approach. The longer a dough ferments, the lighter and airier it becomes, and it is easier to digest with less gluten. Pizzaiolo Angelo and Chef Bruno Milone (of 5-star Il Mulino fame) take their craft seriously. Their delicious pasta is also homemade daily and Bruno (from Puglia, Italy) told me that he sleeps upstairs overnight occasionally to make sure everything is perfect for the next day.

I mentioned to Chef Bruno that although inflation peaked at 9.1% last year, “Pizzaflation” was much higher as mozzarella prices went up almost 40% in 2022, and the price of flour went up over 30%. When asked how this affects Rocco’s, Chef Bruno said, “I’ve been doing this for 33 years, I will only use the best ingredients, regardless of price!”

The Queens Chamber of Commerce Pizza Contest was no “one trick pony” as Rockaway had several horses in the race. “Pizza D’Amore,” literally around the corner from Rocco’s at 208 Beach 116th street, finished a close second place and “Pizza on the Point” also finished inside the top 10. “Plum Tomatoes” and “Pop-up Pizza Maestro” Seany Slices, also received numerous votes as Rockaway was very well represented.

“Pizza D’Amore’ (Pizza of Love) also a family-owned business, was launched back in 1997 in Caesar’s Bazaar mall of Brooklyn by Frank (RIP) and Ann Marie Skollo. They opened a 2nd location in Mill Basin and their Rockaway pizzeria opened in 2016. They quickly built a reputation as a favorite on the peninsula featuring their New York style slice, Sicilian, pepperoni and upside down (meaning the cheese on top of the dough with sauce on top) slices.

Frank Skollo Sr., of Sicilian descent, has a street named after him on Mill Avenue and Avenue U in Brooklyn, and his son, Rockaway resident Frank Jr., manages their Rockaway location.

On October 29th, 2022, “Pizza on the Point” opened at 202-20 Rockaway Point Boulevard in Breezy Point! They came out swinging as lines were out the door on the first day. Locals Tom McGoorty and Mike Strong of Breezy Point teamed up with Rockaway’s Pat Hayden and “Meat Up Grill’s” Chef Michael Fiore to open in the space originally occupied by Country Heart Cooking.

Longtime Rockaway resident Chef Michael Fiore knew he would eventually open up a brick-and-mortar location in Rockaway, now he has two! He started testing the Rockaway market with a pop-up Meat Up Grill at the Riis Park concessions in 2016, which led to a summer location at Riis concessions in 2017, before opening his current Meat Up Grill restaurant with his business partner Scott Kargman on 116th street, next to Cuisine by Claudette.

With over 10 years in catering experience and clients such as Jerry Seinfeld and Jimmy Fallon, Chef Michael Fiore is no stranger to creating quality food for savvy critics. He is both a master and a student of the “science of food,” and it took him 6 months of experimentation in order to be comfortable with the “Pizza on the Point” sauce recipes. They have 4 different sauces, and I was fascinated to learn that they adjust their dough formula based on weather conditions, as each season has different humidity and dryness levels.

Pizza on the Point (POP) offers the traditional New York slice, an upsidedown Sicilian with sweeter sauce and specialty pies like the McGoorty Vodka Roni pie with Tito’s vodka in it. They shred their own cheese fresh daily, which is a combination of mozzarella and provolone. What really sets them apart is their unique Detroit Sicilian, which is a hybrid of Sicilian and Detroit deep dish pizza, featuring an outside crunch, soft on the inside and crispy cheese on top.

The common theme is Rockaway is the home of quality people creating delicious and mouth-watering pizza. One thing is for sure, Rockaway Pizza has arrived!