Peace Of Pizza: Astoria Bellucci War Ends With Name Change, Settlement

ASTORIA, QUEENS — The ovens inside the two 30th Avenue pizza shops are as fiery as ever, but the feud that has divided the pair of restaurants bearing Andrew Bellucci's surname has finally cooled, thanks to a name change and a lawsuit settlement.

The war between the two shops began last fall, when Bellucci, an acclaimed pizza chef, quit his eponymous shop known as Bellucci Pizza after a falling out with his business partner, Leo Dakmak. Months later, he opened a new shop just eight blocks away, dubbed Bellucci's Pizzeria.

Dakmak retaliated with a federal lawsuit, alleging that his own shop had trademarked the "Bellucci Pizza" name, and that Bellucci had defamed him by locking him out of the business's Instagram account, dubbing his new shop "The Real Bellucci's," and deriding Dakmak as a "fugazi" in multiple posts.

This week, after nearly six months, the suit was settled: a Monday entry to the court docket states that Dakmak has agreed to dismiss his complaint.

One recent clue had suggested a truce was imminent: in mid-November, Bellucci took to Instagram to announce that his new shop had a new name: "Andrew Bellucci's Pizzeria."

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Reached by phone Tuesday, Bellucci confirmed that the name change was part of the settlement, but said he was unable to discuss any other terms of the agreement.

"I'm low-key flattered that the first shop decided to keep Bellucci as part of the name of its restaurant. It means my name and reputation is recognized and has value," he added in a prepared statement. "I’m rooting for them to put out a product worthy of my name. A rising tide lifts all ships."

"Notorious character"

It's less clear whether the settlement will manage to clear up the lingering bad blood between Bellucci and Dakmak, given the starkly personal terms of the lawsuit.

In his complaint, Dakmak referred to his ex-partner as a "notorious character" in New York's pizza scene — a likely allusion to Bellucci's 1996 imprisonment for financial fraud, which abruptly halted his rise to food-world fame as the force behind the SoHo pizza joint Lombardi's. (Bellucci admitted to embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from a law firm where he had worked in the 1980s, and served 13 months in prison.)

Dakmak, a native of Lebanon, was unaware of Bellucci's reputation when the two teamed up in 2020 after Bellucci advertised his pizza services on Craigslist.

Even the reasons for Bellucci's 2021 split from Dakmak have been in dispute: Dakmak claimed in his lawsuit that Bellucci quit after being confronted about "repeated high charges on the company credit card." Bellucci, on the other hand, told Patch that he was upset with Dakmak's desire to open a second location in Manhattan.

Dakmak's 31-page complaint went on to detail alleged threats by Bellucci's business partners, and claimed customers were being misled by the similar names — with some people "trying to order pizza from one place only to learn they ordered it from the other."

Dakmak did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.

"We have nothing to do with them"

One of the chief backers of Bellucci's new venture has been Matthew Katakis, owner of the Astoria restaurants Butcher Bar, Blend, Pita Pan and sLICe.

Katakis, who was also named in Dakmak's suit, told Patch that he is "proud of the community response during this long process."

"Our new name is Andrew Bellucci — they are Bellucci Pizza," he said. "We have nothing to do with them, so we want to make sure everybody knows."

Katakis touted the newly expanded, 7-day-a-week hours at Andrew Bellucci's Pizzeria, plus a new menu set to roll out next week with pasta dishes and sandwiches on housemade bread.

As for the pizza: the pie menus at both shops are distinct but overlapping. Notably, both still offer the "vodka-roni": a Bellucci creation that the chef once suggested Dakmak trademark, according to the latter's suit.

And which is better? Both shops boast strong online reviews, while a New York Post food critic deemed Bellucci's new shop the superior of the two.

Belluci himself, in a statement, said he previously considered and rejected the name Andrew Bellucci's Pizzeria for his new shop, wanting to keep "Andrew the person and Bellucci the Chef separate."

Now, he feels differently.

"At this point, they are one [and] the same," he said. "My experiences as Andrew have shaped Bellucci. It’s time they become one."

Bellucci Pizza is open daily at 29-04 30th Ave.; Andrew Bellucci's Pizzeria is also open daily, at 37-08 30th Ave.

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• Dueling Bellucci's: New Astoria Pizzeria Set To Open After Split
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• Chef Leaving Bellucci's Pizza Over Business Dispute, He Says
• Gun Joke Prompts Another Scandal For Famed Astoria Pizza Chef