The Original The Famous

A pieman with a past, a business deal gone sour: New York's next great pizza feud ignites in Astoria.

- JOSHUA DAVID STEIN

LIKE SO MANY love stories gone bad, this one started with a Craigslist ad. “Pizza Chef Available Brooklyn/Manhattan,” read the headline. “I’m not just pizza,” continued the poster, adding that he was also a “pasta Jedi Master. And I make the Best NY cheesecake you’ve ever had.” The man behind the job listing was one Andrew Bellucci, a snowy-haired 58-year-old from New Jersey with watery blue eyes, deep worry lines, and a wide grin. Bellucci is well known in pizza circles not just for his pie prowess but for his historic partnerships. Although his Jedi mastery of pasta may be hyperbolic, he is an undisputed Yoda of dough.

At various points in his 30-year career, Bellucci has overseen the pie at Lombardi’s, Joe’s, and Rubirosa. He was, and is, acclaimed for achieving a wet and yielding dough that, when fired properly, produces a crisp, burbling crust, the stuff pizza dreams are made of. Bellucci’s virtuosity has taken him around the world, to Malaysia, Hawaii, and Shanghai. He’s also the subject of a four-hour documentary, Untitled Pizza Movie.