
5

"I was sitting in Velma in Ridgewood when I ordered a plastic cup of Ken’s Steak House ranch with our vodka pie and realized in one bite that this was ranch pizza: the pies were fine by New York standards but perfect for ranch — impossible to pick up without cheese oozing everywhere due to too much sauce and heavy-handed toppings, a thicker-than-usual crust ideal for dipping and lacking charred bubbles; the ranch triggered my lactose intolerance, the place felt like the sports bars we hit after little league games with bottles of Smirnoff Ice on the menu and what appears to be a Tommy Gun mounted above the kitchen, and overall Velma seemed to be saying, “New York, it’s not that deep.”" - Luke Fortney