Legendary pizza maker Dom De Marco, who in 1965 opened Di Fara in Midwood, has died at 85
Pizza from Di Fara in Midwood. Photo: Ben Rosenzweig/Shutterstock Domenico “Dom” De Marco, who in 1965 opened a pizzeria called Di Fara in Midwood, Brooklyn, that attracted legions of fans, has died. The news was shared by his daughter, Maggie Dem Marco Mieles, on the pizzeria’s Instagram account, who did not provide a cause of death. He was 85 years old.
Called “the holy grail of classic New York–style pizza” by New York’s Underground Gourmet, Di Fara was, for much of its run, a one-man show. Until recently, De Marco produced every pizza himself, a fact that was woven deeply into the shop’s mythology. For decades, Di Fara was mostly known as a neighborhood slice shop, but eventually it was turned up by people like Jim Leff, the founder of Chowhound. Over time, a cult of fans developed around the pizzeria and even more so De Marco himself, turning the small store into a destination that food-obsessed New Yorkers were practically required to visit. De Marco’s insistence on finishing his pies with fresh basil became a signature, and it helped to inspire a new generation of pizza makers.
In a tribute to DeMarco, Lucali owner Marc Iacono writes, “you single-handedly turned the pizza world upside down.”