Mark Bello | Chefs at Google

Mark Bello, founder of Pizza a Casa Pizza School, is a tour-de-force of creativity and energy, sharing his knowledge and love of pizza with unpretentious ease. Born in NYC and raised on the famous thin crust pizzas indigenous to his NY and NJ upbringing, his passion for pizza was put to the test while he worked his way up to an MFA in Sculpture from The School of The Art Institute of Chicago. Far from home and in a land of deep-dish and dismal fast-food pizzas, he vowed to feed his need for the pizzas of his youth, so he took to the kitchen and mastered a recipe for perfect pizza baked in the home oven. After a decade-plus of refining, including a period of living, eating and cooking in Italy, Mark returned in 2005 to his East Coast roots and established Pizza a Casa as an artisanal catering and educational company. For the next five years, he taught at various venues around New York City, including the Astor Center, Whole Foods, and Murray's Cheese. Urged forward by increasing demand for pizza education and pizza gear recommendations, Mark opened the Pizza a Casa Pizza School and retail shop in April 2010. His pizzas have been praised in publications including Time Out New York, Food & Wine, Tasting Table, The Village Voice, Epicurious.com, Entrepreneur and were a sold-out hit at his demonstration and tasting at the James Beard House. Mark's pizza expertise has also been featured on Martha Stewart's "Morning Living" radio and Travel Channel's "Food Wars: NYC Pizza."
Directed by Lee Stimmel