New York City’s most famous pizzeria, Di Fara, is expanding. Unfortunately, not in New York.
Dominick DeMarco Jr., the 42-year-old son of legendary pie master Dominick DeMarco, is opening a chain of restaurants that takes its cue from his father’s pizza shop in Midwood, Brooklyn. But the first location of Dom DeMarco’s Pizzeria & Bar, scheduled to open before year’s end, will be in the Summerlin area of Las Vegas. (He’s also in talks to open a satellite outpost in a Vegas casino.)
Still, DeMarco, who has worked at his father’s pizzeria since he was 7 years old, says he is looking for a New York location — but it likely won’t open before proposed branches in Arizona, Texas and California.
“I miss the way [Di Fara] used to be before all the hype occurred,” says DeMarco, who recalls cooking pasta dishes in Midwood before blog-fueled crowds of tourists descended on the shop, forcing it to focus solely on pies. “Now everyone wants to take photos. I remember when it was about the food.”
Di Fara, which opened in either 1963 or 1964 (depending on whom you talk to), is famous for its long waits and transcendental pizza made in a Baker’s Pride gas oven. And while DeMarco Sr. is reportedly the only family member allowed to touch the pies, his son says that’s not entirely true. “The other day I did 10 pies for somebody,” he says.
This isn’t the first time a DeMarco family member has struck out on his or her own. Sister Maggie and brother Mike opened the now-defunct DeMarco’s on West Houston Street in 1994.
At his new restaurant, Dominick DeMarco Jr. says he plans to use the same ingredients as his father. “We’re even going to try to replicate the New York water,” he says, noting he sent tap samples from Di Fara to a lab for analysis.
There will be key differences, however: The new pizzeria will feature a Wood Stone pizza oven (a gas-fired oven that mimics the style of wood), an expanded menu with salads and pastas, and a full bar.
And, of course, the master himself won’t be there.
“Possibly my father will be at the opening. I’m trying to get him down there [but] he doesn’t travel much,” says DeMarco, noting his dad is getting older. “He’s been saying he’s 74 for the last few years now.”