Renowned pizza chef Andrew Bellucci, who returned from a 1990s prison term to regain his iconic status as New York’s “Don of Dough,” collapsed and died while working in his Astoria restaurant.
The 59-year-old culinary kingpin’s passing was reported Thursday on Instagram by his eponymous Queens restaurant, where workers were bereft by his sudden passing one day earlier.
“Heartbroken and shocked,” read the post from Anthony Bellucci’s Pizzeria. “Tragedy befell my family today. Rest In Peace my friend. Thank you for all the lessons you taught us about your life’s passion PIZZA.”
Bellucci, revered as “the pizza-maker’s pizza maker,” was pronounced dead at Mount Sinai Hospital/Queens.
The restaurant was closed Thursday, with the Instagram announcement adding funeral arrangements would be announced.
“You’ll never meet another pizza maker like Andrew Bellucci and I feel sorry to everyone that didn’t get to experience this lovely psycho,” tweeted Chris Hansell, a former colleague and chef at the pop-up Chrissy’s Pizza.
Bellucci was an office manager for a law firm in 1990 when he left to start a new career as a chef, emerging as a culinary force after reopening the legendary Lombardi’s pizzeria on Spring St. in Soho four years later.
While working at the landmark Lombardi’s, the New Jersey-born Bellucci famously created his pies inside a coal oven, with fans enticed by its tasty crust.
But he was charged in 1996 with forging the signatures of law firm partners and then sending bogus bills to clients for extra hours. Bellucci pleaded guilty to 54 counts of fraud before he was hit with a 13-month prison sentence.
Once released, Bellucci worked as a city cab driver before traveling to Kuala Lumpur and China in hope of resurrecting his career as a chef. After returning to the city, he was featured in David Schapiro’s 2020 documentary “Untitled Pizza Movie.”
The chef’s Astoria menu included the “Sonny Supreme” pizza, named for one-time Colombo family underboss and fellow inmate John “Sonny” Franzese.
“RIP my friend,” wrote Anthony Mangieri of Una Pizza Napoletana on Instagram. “An inspiration to so many pizza makers around the globe.”