Chef Leaving Bellucci's Pizza​ Over Business Dispute, He Says

ASTORIA, QUEENS — An infamous pizza chef is leaving his eponymous pizzeria in Astoria after a falling out with his business partner, he announced.

Andrew Bellucci said on Friday that he plans to leave Bellucci Pizza, after he and his business partner, Leo Dakmak, realized they have "different visions for the future," according to an Instagram post.

Dakmak, the pizzeria's owner, however, told Patch that Bellucci's Pizza will still serve up pies.

"The pizzeria is still 100% fully operational doing the same business hours with the same exact pizza. No changes whatsoever have been made except for the fact that one of our many employees was let go," Dakmak wrote in an email, refuting the notion that Bellucci is a "partner" in the business.

Bellucci reportedly found Dakmak on Craigslist during the spring of 2020, at which point the infamous chef was toying with the idea of opening his own spot in New York City — where he'd been the face behind Soho's famed pizza joint, Lombardi's, in the '90s, before going to jail for fraud.

“[Dakmak] got my vision and said he would follow me blindly,” Bellucci told the New York Post last February, when he opened Bellucci's Pizza on Astoria's 30th Avenue with the sole intention of making great pizza — a point he reiterated in Friday's Instagram announcement.

"My first concern — always — is making the best pizza I can with the finest ingredients available," he wrote, adding "cutting corners to maximize profits is not — nor ever will be — part of my vision."

And, while he hoped that the return to pizza making would be a move away from scandal, Bellucci got wrapped up in a drama two months after opening his new spot, when he posted a photo on Instagram of him posing with a pie while his wife stood behind him, holding a prop gun to his head.

"Enjoy every pie as if it's your last," were the words emblazoned on a photo.

While some locals criticized Bellucci for — in their eyes — making light of gun violence, he told Patch it was never his intention to offend anyone, and that the post was based on a Godfather-themed stunt he'd done in the past.

After that incident, Bellucci said that he planned to stray away from social media posts and focus on pizza-making — which he still plans to continue in the future, he wrote in Friday's Instagram announcement.

"The next iteration of Bellucci Pizza is coming very soon," he wrote, assuring locals that while his next pizzeria might not be in Astoria "my loyalty to the best neighborhood in NYC will always be true."

Bellucci did not immediately respond to Patch's request for comment.

Correction: A previous article incorrectly stated that Bellucci's Pizza is closing. The pizzeria will stay open, although Andrew Bellucci will no longer work there.