Authentic New York Flavor in the Heart of Joplin

Using his thumbs to gently expand the edges of the dough, Orlando Bevilacqua knows exactly how far he can stretch it to create a thin crust for a 16-inch Pizza.

After that comes ladles of homemade tomato sauce, a layer of shredded mozzarella and then slices of pepperoni and pieces of sausage. It then goes into the oven where he checks on its progress from time to time. After a few minutes, he uses a pizza board to lift it to inspect the crust. The crust's golden color tells him it's ready to serve.

This is the way Bevilacqua, an Italian immigrant, makes what he calls New York-style pizza. He does not use frozen crusts. "This is the way I learned to make pizza after coming to this country. You cannot make this pizza with a frozen crust," he says. "You have got to let the dough ferment. It makes the crust so much better, and it takes care of the gluten."

When Carmine's, an award-winning pizza shop at 524 S. Joplin Ave., closed earlier this year, Bevilacqua saw it as an opportunity to get back in the business of making pizza, opening the New York Pizza & Deli. This is an addition to operating his successful WiseGuys Italian American Comfort Foods in the Village Plaza shopping center at 3702 E. Seventh St., in Joplin. WiseGuys is in its seventh year.

Bevilacqua came to this country at age 12 from the city of Pescara on the Adriatic Sea, arriving at Philadelphia. He came to Winfield, Kansas, on a football scholarship in the late 1970's. While he was there, he opened a pizza shop. He would later work at jobs in Wichita and Fort Scott, before opening the Gran Sasso Restaurant in Pittsburg about 20 years ago.

In addition to pizza, the menu features bruschetta and antipasto among its appetizers, salads, baked pastas including lasagna, manicotti, and ravioli, calzone, stromboli, and all kinds of sandwiches. Hours are from 11AM to 8:30PM Monday through Saturday.

— Wally Kennedy