Pizza Today - May 2022 - 14

MAN ON THE STREET SCO TT WIENER
he shuffl ed across the room to grate some
Grana Padano cheese, which he'd cart all
the way back to the bubbling pizza. Next
was his most famous move, snipping fresh
basil directly from a bouquet onto the pie.
Finally, a swirl or two of olive oil. Th is
fi nal move triggered oooohs and aaaahs
from the audience, inspiring him to add a
bonus drizzle or two for good measure.
As all this happened, everyone in the
In Memory of Dom Demarco
O
n March 17, 2022, we lost a true
legend. Domenico DeMarco
was the co-founder and head
pizza maker of Di Fara Pizza in Brooklyn.
Dom inspired a generation of pizza
makers and elevated, maybe even saved,
the New York slice.
Visiting Di Fara wasn't just about
the food, it was about the experience.
I'll never forget my fi rst time. We made
the hour-long trek from Hoboken, New
Jersey, into the center of Brooklyn, where
we found a small storefront on the corner
of Ave. J and E. 15th Street. Th e windows
dripped with condensation because it was
so packed inside. We elbowed our way
through the crowd and found the counter,
behind which stood Dom DeMarco.
Everyone in the room watched him
intently. Dom's motions were thoughtfully
slow, soaked with intention. He moved at
his own pace, which seemed to sync with
the Italian opera emanating from a small
cassette player in the corner. His back
turned to the audience, Dom appeared
to ignore the crowd of hungry customers
behind him so that he could focus on the
pizza.
His ineffi cient process played into
Dom's performance. He sliced cheese
directly onto the sauced dough. When
he was using buff alo mozzarella, Dom
would cut open the bag (imported from
his native Caserta, of course) and let the
brine slosh into a bucket before applying
chunks of cheese onto the dough. When
someone ordered a topping, he'd have one
of his kids prep it in the back and bring it
out on a small platter. Placing the pie into
his oven required him to stand on a case
of tomato cans. To turn or remove a pizza,
he'd often stick his hand directly inside
the oven.
After pulling a pie, Dom let it settle as
room anxiously waited to fi nd out whose
hunger would be quenched. Just as Dom
repositioned a stray snip of basil, he'd look
up and make eye contact with the lucky
recipient - the fi rst real acknowledgement
of the audience. All you could do was
thank him, even after hours of torture.
Dom changed ingredients and tweaked
his methods constantly. Every other pizzeria
in New York repeated their routine
every day. Th ey followed the procedures
taught to them by their predecessors without
question. Th ey didn't change anything
unless it was to save a couple cents. Th at's
why so many slice shops fell into a trance
and went out of business. In the late
2000s, pizzerias off ering $1 slices knocked
out the mediocre spots and threatened to
take over the city. Dom's pie evolved over
time into the symphony it is today and
essentially saved the New York slice.
For the fi rst few decades after opening,
Dom made typical New York-style
pizza. It only became what we know and
love today because Dom wasn't interested
in merely maintaining - he wanted to
evolve. By doing so, he gave other pizza
makers a license to do the same. He
proved that there's value in the details and
that people will wait for quality. Th e man
may be gone, but his memory will survive
as long as there are pizza makers looking
to improve. Every snip of basil, every
handful of Grana Padano, and every swirl
of post-bake olive oil will be a reminder of
Domenico DeMarco.
SCOTT WIENER is the founder of Scott's Pizza Tours in New York City and SliceOutHunger.org Instagram: @scottspizzatours
14 / P IZZATODAY.COM / MAY 2022

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