I really wasn't planning on making pizza
I really didn't know what I wanted to do
I was in the construction business I
used to do marble and granite
fabrication didn't do a lot of cooking
you know I let my grandmother do all the
cooking she was amazing at it did a lot
of eating not a lot of cooking still to
this day when I see the crowd building
up outside I can't believe it
it's still surreal these people are
lining up to eat my pizza how did this
happen and then the anxiety kicks it and
I'm waiting for the orders like you know
it's the quiet before the storm and then
I just suck it and hit with the takeout
orders and then the you know the place
fills up with 30 people at once and the
orders stop coming and then the chaos
starts excuse me mind me pose
I was like what's that noise my name is
Mark Iacono and this is my pizzeria Luke
alleys and Carroll Gardens Brooklyn this
was an old candy store that I hung out
in as a kid my parents hung out here as
kids they may have even met here and I
go for a cup of coffee one day and I run
into Rosemarie who this door belonged to
and a X of what was going on with the
store you know every time I go there
it's closed and she told me they were
renting the space out and like a light
bulb went off and I just really wanted
to save it and you know the rest is
history three days later I'm signing a
lease it's not that it's important to
have a pizza in Carroll Gardens it's
just that this is my neighborhood this
is where I just love being here I want
to be here don't want to be anywhere
else there were still people here that
that I was in kindergarten with that I
still see on a daily basis but for the
most part mostly everybody's gone and
it's like everything else in life
everything changes Carroll Gardens was
this amazing little neighborhood that
not too many people know about and it
had such amazing restaurants here and
there's still a small handful of places
left I mean you have Fernando's
Esposito's pork store Missoula's bakery
Caputo's bakery and Caputo's deli other
than that I don't think there's much
left
very fresh log bread
it's on the old neighborhood front I
give it to the girls thank you very much
this bread made with log salami and a
lot of black pepper my brother brought
something to our attention and he was
saying like blowing up for this table it
was like playing in a minefield and we
didn't realize like all the stuff that
was going on and how unsafe it was but
at the same time it was super safe so
this is Carole Park this is where like
the whole neighborhood would come this
was like the Yankee Stadium of Carroll
Gardens some pretty crazy games were
played here
they fenced it all in now but we all
used to hang out on the stoop over here
when we were younger and you know that
was like where we would all congregate
and meet you know on hot summer nights
and that's where I smoked my first
cigarette right there
kiss my first girl - on the steps of the
library are you doing this until I know
I'm showing man you want some
good-looking guys in there
this used to be Leonardo's pizzeria but
before that it was cafe del suit it was
it was a know like social club Italian
cafe but then Joel the owner of the cafe
decided to turn it into a pizzeria with
his son gonna be fed then it was
Leonardo's and Joe was one of the guys
that taught me how to make pizza now
it's a Dunkin Donuts
every time I would go to places even my
favorite pizza spots there were certain
things that says if they just did it
like this it would be so much better if
they just you know added a little more
salt you know a little bit less oil it
would be so much better one of the
places I that I went to was the ferris
and I saw how this old man took pizza to
another level and like what I thought I
loved now I loved even more there's also
a chef in New York Mario Mario Carbone
from Cabo ins restaurant and I watched
what he did with classic Italian dishes
and just took it to another level you
know and and then you know I started
thinking know what it can be better you
got to make sure that flavors don't
overpower each other the crust the sauce
the cheese the flavor of the dough it's
more about ratio than anything it has to
be consistent and that's one of the hot
things about making pizza making it come
out of that oven the same way time after
time after time there are so many
variables what do I consider great pizza
it's a combination of a lot of things we
don't use a lot of water in our dough
which has a tendency to make it a little
bit more crispier and hold up better the
only problem is with that we have to
roll the dough out then from there we
have fresh tomatoes that we cooked for
four hours growing up eating pizza these
guys are just throwing or tomato sauce
out of the can that was one of the
things that I always wanted to change
because my grandmother always made a
great sauce and I was like why not cook
it why not give it some flavor give it
some character and then we top it off
with three cheese's which is something
that I got from down demarco from the
ferris you know we use a little moist
and what's it Oh a buffalo mozzarella
and then we top it off with the Ruggiano
and then some basil a lot of basil
one of the things that I'm proud of
we're always mentioned for the
margherita pizza in its purest form and
and like I actually want to take
toppings off the menu sometimes and just
make plain pies my grandmother didn't
have like a huge arsenal of recipes but
the few things she did make she made
spectacular people like you know we only
make pizza and call zonals like it
that's all I know how to make you know
but I'm just gonna do it really well 20
half years to build the space out you
know I signed the lease with $5,000 to
my name so you know after my
nine-to-five I would come here work
nights and weekends I built the place
pretty much by myself you know I'll
never forget the day I opened I made a
couple of pies gave him out to my
neighbors and they were like wow this is
pretty good I was like alright now what
do I do this is I have to open you know
it's been two and a half years people
thought I was crazy they're like what is
he doing in there you know when's he
gonna open and I took the paper off the
windows I set up my table you know and I
opened within two hours every table was
taken I go to this one customer serves
everything right with pizza you enjoying
everything the guys like listen is it
okay if I take your number and give you
a call tomorrow I'd like to do an
interview I'm like you know this guy's
probably trying to get something for you
Adam you know and you know how you
excellent my says you know we'll call
him you know what magazines do - he's
like a New York magazine I was like all
right no big deal like I says the only
thing I knew about restaurants and the
restaurant industry was that I used to
eat in them and that's how it all
started and then Jay Z and Beyonce came
in and you know that was just like
totally not a level had to get a bouncer
for us
in the beginning I really didn't know
what I was doing and I'd get like panic
attacks back yeah you know people were
like knocking down the door to get in
here and every time I would get like all
worked up and nervous I would just like
turning stare at grandma's picture and
like you know just call me down and like
you know I'd reset one of the great
things about having this place is when
people do come back to the neighborhood
they come here and I get to see them
again
a lot of the old time is you know people
that I've looked up to walk were really
proud of what you did here and it gives
me a really good feeling and you know I
love Carroll Gardens I'll never leave
this neighborhood and I just love making
pizza here
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