Domenico “Dom” DeMarco, owner of Di Fara Pizza in Midwood, has passed away, Brooklyn Magazine first reported. He was 85.
DeMarco’s daughter, Maggie DeMarco-Miles, wrote on Facebook today: “This will come as a shock to many because we have decided to keep this under wraps for good reasons. My world revolved around my father. I’ve worked with him since I was a little girl.” She did not specify the cause of death.
According to the company’s website, DeMarco immigrated to New York in 1959 from Italy via the province of Caserta. In 1965, he opened Di Fara on Avenue J, turning the pizzeria into one of Brooklyn’s most iconic restaurants. Eater critic Robert Sitsema consistently ranks the pie shop as one of the city’s best among its many competitors.
“Pizza has become fast food. My pizza is slow food. And if I do it quickly, it won’t make any difference,” DeMarco told the New York Times in 2005 of his slices causing queues. For decades, the pizzaiolo has often been seen on the ground at the legendary pizzeria, where he has painstakingly used top-tier San Marzano tomatoes, handmade cheese, and fresh basil cut from the windowsill.
In 2011, the restaurant was closed by the Department of Health for numerous violations and reopened the same year, according to Brooklyn Magazine. However, the queues at the pizzeria, which would later inspire establishments in Williamsburg and Las Vegas, never stopped. In 2019, Eater NY reported that Di Fara was arrested by the state of New York for $167,500 in tax evasion, but screams from fans including then-mayor Bill DeBlasio and former Brooklyn borough President Eric Adamsquickly kept the pizzeria afloat, and it reopened two days later.
Di Fara’s national recognition has never waned. It has received many accolades from publications that often list DeMarco’s pizza as one of the best in the country, and by 2019, Goldbelly began delivering Brooklyn pizza across the country. In February this year, the restaurant was shortlisted for the James Beard Awards for Outstanding Restaurant. Also last month, SILive.com reported that the team was preparing to open an outpost on Staten Island.
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