I heard a rumor that there was a New York-style pizza shop in Tokyo Station that was importing water from New York City. That's how hard they were trying to make their pizza taste authentic. This was exciting news: New York-style pizza, served by the slice with long trails of gooey mozzarella (and maybe a dash of parmesan or red pepper) is pretty much nonexistent in Japan.

The pizza shop in question is Famous Famiglia (www.famousfamiglia.jp). It's part of KG's New York Deli, a cluster of imports in the basement of Tokyo Station's Daimaru department store that includes Ess-a-Bagel and something called SoupMan — an outlet of the place that inspired the "Soup Nazi" on long-running American TV show "Seinfeld." (I guess he's lightened up a bit?)

Never mind what the branding says: Famous Famiglia is not New York City's favorite pizza. (Search online for Jon Stewart's "Daily Show" rant against Donald Trump's visit there with Sarah Palin; incidentally, this video is also an excellent primer in how not to eat pizza like a New Yorker).