Francesco Pinello (born August 19, 1982) is an American pizzaiolo, who founded the pizzeria Best Pizza in 2010 in

Williamsburg Williamsburg may refer to: Places *Colonial Williamsburg, a living-history museum and private foundation in Virginia *Williamsburg, Brooklyn, neighborhood in New York City *Williamsburg, former name of Kernville (former town), California *Williams ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. He also works as a reporter for

Viceland Viceland (stylized in all caps; also known as Vice TV in the United States) is a brand used for television channels owned and programmed by Vice Media. The brand launched on February 29, 2016, with two cable channels in North America. The Vice ...

on ''

The Pizza Show ''The Pizza Show'' is a television series about pizza broadcast by Viceland Viceland (stylized in all caps; also known as Vice TV in the United States) is a brand used for television channels owned and programmed by Vice Media. The brand l ...

'' and regularly appears on '' Munchies''.

Early life

Pinello worked at now defunct pizzeria, Angelo's, when he was young. He said this was where he learned to make pizza. Pinello studied at

The Culinary Institute of America The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) is a Private university, private culinary school with its main campus in Hyde Park, New York, and branch campuses in St. Helena, California, St. Helena and Napa, California; San Antonio, Texas; and Singa ...

and wanted to go into

fine dining Fine dining is a restaurant experience that is typically more sophisticated, special, and expensive than at a typical restaurant. The décor of such restaurants features higher-quality materials, with establishments having certain rules of din ...

. He is of Sicilian descent. His mother's side of the family comes from

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

, while his father's side of the family is from

Baucina Baucina is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Palermo in the Italian region of Sicily, located about southeast of Palermo. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 2,003 and an area of .All demographics and other statist ...

Career

Pinello opened Best Pizza in

Williamsburg, Brooklyn Williamsburg is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, bordered by Greenpoint to the north; Bedford–Stuyvesant to the south; Bushwick and East Williamsburg to the east; and the East River to the west. It was an independe ...

in 2010. The

white pizza White pizza or white pie is a style of pizza that does not use tomato sauce. The pizza generally consists of pizza dough, olive oil, garlic, cheese, salt and, sometimes, toppings including vegetables such as spinach, tomato, and herbs. A béch ...

became a specialty at the restaurant. He consulted Zak Fishman who opened Prime Pizza in Los Angeles, in order to help Fishman create a more authentic East Coast styled dough. Pinello regularly reports on food for ''

Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, Habit (psychology), habit or item generally considered morally wrong in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trait, a defect, an infirmity, or a bad or unhe ...

'' and appeared on ''

'' and '' Munchies''. He has reported with Lucali owner,

Mark Iacono Mark Iacono (born November 24, 1966) is an American pizzaiolo, who founded the pizzeria Lucali in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn in 2006. He has received national recognition for his restaurant and has since expanded to several locations around the c ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pinello, Frank American chefs American people of Italian descent Living people Pizza in New York City 1982 births Culinary Institute of America alumni