RIP to America's most important pizzaiolo, Andrew Bellucci

Friends,

We just received the sorrowful news this morning that one of the world's great pizzaiolos, Andrew Bellucci, died overnight at the age of 59. Mr. Bellucci took in our family several years ago during a trip to NY and personally took an interest in seeing to it that I learned how to make a proper pizza dough.

No pizza man in America had a larger impact on the pizza scene in the last 30 years than Mr. Bellucci. Born in Jersey, something he hid early in his career, when being from Jersey was frowned upon in NY pizza circles, he trained in several three star Michelin restaurants in France before returning to NY with a wealth of dough making knowledge.

He was recruited to head the kitchen at Lombardi's at its reopening in 1994, which had been shuttered for over a decade. It was at Lombardi's that he made a name for himself and touched the lives of many pizza men, training them on the intricacies of dough and sauce. From Lombardi's, he made moves to Joe's, which has since floundered, and Rubirosa.

Most recently, he had opened his namesake pizzeria, Bellucci's, in Queens. He had beef with the pizzeria's front man, so he left and opened another Bellucci's a block away, causing a lawsuit. Last year, he changed the name of his pizzeria to Andrew Bellucci's. It was at these restaurants that he had perfected the fresh clam pie.

There were few things more enjoyable in New York than sitting in his pizzeria and having him sit with you and tell you his stories. His gentle voice and nature did not match his felonious past, which he used in his stories as jeremiads. But his time sharing a federal cell with a mob boss was a badge of honor to him. I think he thought it gave him even more pizza street cred, of which he had in oodles.

Mr. Bellucci always wore a white button up shirt, usually with the top three buttons unbuttoned, revealing a gold cross. I can recall sitting in his pizza shop in early March as he spun a tale about his first clam pie from Frank Pepe's in New Haven. He was besought. He made it both his professional and personal goal to make the perfect clam pie. For years, he altered his recipes and he said he finally did it. He told this story as a clam pie, which we had to order two days in advance, was finishing in his Bakers Pride oven.

As he pulled the pie out the oven, he used a fork-like device to pierce parts of the crust, before letting the pizza rest in a lower part of the oven for 30 seconds. He had lemons cut and ready, so when it finally came out, it had the appearance of a pizza with Drago's chargrilled oysters on top.



The first bite was amazing, the best pizza I had ever had. I ended up finishing the entire pie by myself. It is no wonder that last year, the New York Times had proclaimed his clam pizza a "life changing" pie. It really was.

Mr. Bellucci was a great teacher of pizza men in and around New York. He was active in the pizza cultivation scene, often guest appearing in Scott Wiener's pizza lectures. Perhaps no pizza man in all of America has had a bigger influence on the pizza scene in America, though he did so under the radar. Some of the biggest names in American pizza apprenticed under Bellucci. He was just as willing to teach the secrets of dough to the seasoned Brooklyn pro as he was a New Orleanian novice making pizzas at home. Under his supervision, he let me make a plain pizza, and it turned out great. His plain pies were things of beauty too.



Though he did not gain national or international acclaim, and I doubt many on this board have heard of him or his pizzeria, his contributions to pizza can never be overstated. I am in utter shock this morning and I pray for his family. You were one of a kind, Mr. Bellucci. I do look forward to a reunion with you at the great table in Heaven.

Yours,
TulaneLSU