El Presidente | Pizza Reviews
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00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:02 All right, pizzer view time.
00:20 We are in Vegas, Dom DeMarco's Pizzeria and Bar.
00:25 Now, if you know me, you know pizza, you know Brooklyn,
00:29 you know New York, you know the one by Pizza Fest,
00:32 Dom is DeFara.
00:36 Inarguably-- and he passed away--
00:38 inarguably, though, DeFara, top 10 pizza places in the world.
00:42 Famous, the Works, we've had concerts,
00:45 if they were the 9-4, it's the 9-4 in Brooklyn.
00:48 I didn't even know they had this.
00:50 I know there's other DeFaras.
00:51 I've never seen one named after the old man, Dom DeMarco's.
00:58 If you're going to put Dom DeMarco's name on a box,
01:00 it better knock your dick off.
01:03 It better, because he is an icon,
01:08 and his name is gold in the pizza industry.
01:11 So one bite, every nose the rules.
01:14 I'm trying to see if it is going to be like the same as DeFara.
01:18 I don't know why.
01:18 You said-- is this your spot?
01:20 Yeah.
01:21 So what is the deal?
01:22 Why is it called Dom DeMarco's, not DeFara?
01:25 I spent three years with him.
01:26 OK.
01:27 And I made a deal with him to open up here under his name.
01:30 We use everything he uses.
01:31 So it's the same pizza as DeFara, just different name.
01:34 Yeah.
01:34 Well, I have one in Caesar's Palace called DeFara.
01:37 Got it.
01:37 But this one here, I called it after him.
01:39 Got it.
01:40 So there's no one named after him that there is.
01:42 Yeah.
01:43 Yeah, all right.
01:44 So here we go.
01:44 So where do you-- they're great undercarriage.
01:47 Where do you spend the three years?
01:49 In Avenue J, East 15.
01:50 So you're working with them now.
01:52 Yeah, well, I went to them to learn.
01:53 I made a deal with them.
01:54 Took me five years to make a deal.
01:56 I'll tell you all the stories in between.
01:58 Five years to make the deal.
01:59 Then after I made the deal with them,
02:00 I was still living in Vegas.
02:02 We go back on Sundays.
02:03 He was closed Monday and Tuesday.
02:05 We spent Monday and Tuesday with him and his son, Dominic.
02:07 We learned how to do it.
02:08 It took us three years.
02:09 And then we opened here.
02:10 So an eight-year process total?
02:12 Yeah.
02:13 It's a long story.
02:14 It's too much for your thing.
02:15 But I'll tell you when you're done.
02:16 All right.
02:17 Eight years in the making.
02:18 You got to respect that.
02:19 So we went and spent eight years with him in Brooklyn
02:21 to get the name, the pizza, the learn.
02:23 Here we go.
02:24 No pressure.
02:25 Definitely has the vibes.
02:34 A little thicker than I remember,
02:35 but definitely has the vibes.
02:37 [MUSIC PLAYING]
02:40 Best of Las Vegas, Las Vegas Review.
03:04 Gold, best pizza, best Italian restaurant,
03:06 best outdoor dining.
03:07 Oh.
03:07 7-9 on it just missed an 8-1 for me.
03:14 It's a little thicker than I remember.
03:15 It's still very good.
03:16 And you can tell it has the vibes of Brooklyn.
03:18 And it's as good as we've had out here.
03:22 I like it a little tighter, but still very good stuff.
03:25 So 7-9, Don DeMarco's.
03:27 I'm curious.
03:28 How many people know--
03:29 You want to sit and I'll buy you a drink.
03:31 I'll tell you the whole story.
03:32 How many people know who Don DeMarco is
03:34 before they come here?
03:34 A lot of them.
03:35 They do?
03:35 Yeah.
03:36 A lot of them.
03:37 We've got a lot of people in here.
03:38 East Coast people?
03:39 A lot of people from Avenue J. You won't believe it.
03:42 I believe it.
03:42 Come on in, buddy.
03:43 I'll buy you a drink.
03:44 It's an interesting story.
03:45 You're going to like it.
03:46 I grew up right outside of Trenton.
03:49 My favorite pizza for my whole life
03:52 was DiLorenzo's tomato pie.
03:53 I love them.
03:54 In 2005, my son-in-law was building a hotel,
03:59 which he built over here.
04:01 And he ended up in White Plains, New York.
04:05 And when they got done talking about the business,
04:07 they started talking about pizza.
04:09 So he tells the guy his favorite pizza
04:11 is DiLorenzo's tomato pie in Trenton.
04:14 And the guy says, well, our favorite is DeFaro.
04:16 My son-in-law said, I've never heard of it.
04:18 And the guy said, come on, we'll take it.
04:20 So they take my son-in-law there.
04:21 Now, my son-in-law travels all over the world,
04:23 called me a million times with pizzas,
04:25 never one as good as DiLorenzo's.
04:27 He said--
04:28 You found one?
04:29 He said, this pizza here is just as good as DiLorenzo's.
04:32 He said, you've got to come out with me next week.
04:35 Next week, I fly out with him.
04:36 We go to DeFaro, right?
04:38 Walked in, I tasted the square and the round.
04:40 Yeah, I said, this pizza's really good.
04:42 Now, I don't know anyone, right?
04:44 So now Maggie, who I know really well now,
04:47 but I didn't know her at the time.
04:48 I went up to her.
04:48 I said, honey, listen.
04:50 I said, I'm a retired guy living in Vegas.
04:52 I said, I'd love to bring this pizza to Vegas.
04:55 A real copy, she says to me.
04:57 My father gets offers from the suits on Wall Street
05:00 all day long.
05:02 We're not interested in doing business with anybody.
05:04 So I walked back to the table.
05:06 I says to my son, I said, hey, this ain't going to be easy.
05:09 So this is '05.
05:11 So between '05 and '08, well, like 15 times a year,
05:16 we're there.
05:17 15 times he gives me the cold shoulder.
05:20 A little bit after that, one day I go in and she says to me,
05:23 I'm going to turn you over to my brother Dominic.
05:25 He calls the shots around here.
05:28 For a minute, I got real excited.
05:30 Now, you know the place.
05:31 So I'm standing here.
05:32 Margaret's there.
05:33 The old man and Dominic Jr. have their backs to me.
05:36 And she yells to me, she says, Dominic,
05:38 this is Albert from Las Vegas.
05:40 So I reach my hand.
05:41 I'm going to shake hands with him.
05:43 And he turns around and gives me one of these looks.
05:45 And he goes like this.
05:47 I go back to my son-in-law.
05:49 I said to her, I said, you put me from the frying pan.
05:52 You could have fired him.
05:53 For a second, I was happy, right?
05:56 I said to my son-in-law, I said, these guys,
05:58 this is going to be really tough.
05:59 Now, 2008, we opened a hotel.
06:02 Now, I got cards with my name on them.
06:05 We go to White Plains to see Starwoods.
06:08 That's what we want, the Starwood Hotel.
06:10 So I come in a pizzeria.
06:11 I said to Jeff, that's my son-in-law.
06:13 I said, welcome to the door.
06:14 He said, I got a different plan of attack.
06:16 So I go up to Mark, Dominic, and I call them over Junior.
06:19 I hadn't even met the old man by then.
06:21 Junior comes over, and I says, look.
06:23 I said, we just opened this hotel in Las Vegas.
06:26 It's a beautiful hotel, not a casino.
06:29 I want to invite you.
06:30 You bring the whole family.
06:31 You bring my guests.
06:31 I go, what hotel are we talking about?
06:33 Where's the bar?
06:34 It's called the Elements.
06:35 It's right here on Town Center and 250.
06:38 He gets the card.
06:39 He puts it in his pocket.
06:40 And he says to me, why would I want to go to Vegas?
06:45 I got everything I want right here on my block.
06:48 I don't even need a car.
06:51 I turned around.
06:52 I went to my son-in-law.
06:53 I said, before I punch this guy in the face,
06:55 let's get out of here.
06:56 We leave.
06:57 Two weeks later, I get a phone call.
07:00 Hey, Al, how are you?
07:01 Who's this?
07:02 Hey, it's Dom.
07:03 How you doing?
07:04 My best friend from Brooklyn, Dominic DiMarco, right?
07:08 I said, I'm doing good, buddy.
07:09 How you doing?
07:10 Listen, he says, I went home.
07:11 I showed that card to my wife.
07:13 I didn't know she wanted to come to Vegas.
07:16 Does the offer still stand?
07:18 I said, look, the offer stands.
07:20 I said, but I want you to bring your father, your mother,
07:22 bring your whole family.
07:23 He said, listen.
07:24 My old man came here in 1957.
07:27 He said he left Brooklyn 14 times,
07:30 every time only to fly back to Cacerca, Italy.
07:33 He said he ain't going nowhere.
07:35 I says, all right.
07:36 He says, well, look, I want to come.
07:37 I said, you can stay as long as you want.
07:38 He said, I only want to come for a week.
07:40 I'm going to bring my wife.
07:41 My son had his own big house with a kitchen
07:43 outside with a pizza oven.
07:44 So now every day, we're over there making pizza.
07:46 And I'm taking him to all the best restaurants in town.
07:49 He's having the time of his life.
07:51 So at the end of the week, he says to me, listen.
07:53 The reason my father never did it
07:56 is we import all our stuff from Italy.
07:58 And my father figured nobody's going to do this.
08:01 They'll ruin our reputation.
08:02 He said, but I could see you guys are serious.
08:05 He says, so I'm going to recommend that we do it, he said.
08:07 But I got to get his OK.
08:09 Now, this was a Sunday he goes back.
08:11 He calls me the next day.
08:12 My father wants to meet you.
08:14 He said, look, you know, we're closed Mondays and Tuesdays.
08:16 So come on a Sunday night.
08:18 He says, and have dinner.
08:19 And then Monday and Tuesday, we'll meet with my father.
08:22 So we did.
08:23 We go the next week.
08:24 So when I go there, 9 o'clock Monday morning,
08:26 the iron gates are down, the locks,
08:28 everything's locked up tight.
08:30 Bang on the thing, he looks, we let's us in.
08:33 Now, the old man, who I got real friendly with, and the kid,
08:36 or he's not really a kid, he's probably your age or older.
08:39 So now, he says, come on, sit down with us, have a drink.
08:42 Now, it's 9 o'clock in the morning, right?
08:44 I don't drink much.
08:46 So now I'm drinking wine 9 o'clock in the morning.
08:48 My face is all red.
08:49 I can see I'm sweating.
08:50 So the old man says to me in Italian, which I understood,
08:53 Fiesta Paes.
08:54 He wanted to know where in Italy we were from.
08:56 I said, Cendola, Ferdi di Cendola, Provincia di Salerno.
08:59 He says to me, he's laughing.
09:01 I said, why are you laughing?
09:02 Hey, he said, I spent a two year in the Italian army over there.
09:06 Woo, the people, woo, the people.
09:08 So we shake hands, and we made a deal.
09:09 Nothing ever on paper.
09:11 He says, all right, he says, on Mondays and Tuesdays,
09:14 when we're closed, you guys come here.
09:16 I'll show you everything.
09:17 So we spent three years going back.
09:19 So every Monday, Tuesday, you're flying.
09:21 Well, not every Monday, but when we go back,
09:24 and we learned everything.
09:25 Now, he had everything in there was from 19--
09:28 you know, he opened in '65.
09:30 But the stuff that he bought was all used.
09:32 It was from the '50s.
09:33 You know, I would have loved when he'd go in and get three
09:36 pizzas.
09:36 So he's doing something, and he says, in a pinch of this,
09:40 I said, Don, go get the scale.
09:42 We ain't going to go get no scale.
09:43 What do you mean a scale?
09:43 I had to send it out to get a scale so we
09:45 could measure everything.
09:47 And then another thing he says to me was, he says,
09:50 I blind a man who couldn't make the dough.
09:53 Come, what do you mean?
09:54 He said, oh, in the field.
09:56 The field, you needed the more salt.
09:58 You needed the more oil.
09:59 It's in the field.
10:00 Yeah, well, it's an old-- yeah.
10:00 I said, Don, how do I teach somebody that?
10:02 It's like, how does anyone teach?
10:04 He's like a magician, you know?
10:06 This story, if you didn't know what we were talking about
10:08 pizza, you'd think you were just doing a Francis Ford Coppola
10:10 movie, the way you were going there.
10:12 Oh, I got a good--
10:13 I got a lot of good stories about him.
10:15 So when I opened up Caesar's, right,
10:17 they wanted the old man to come out.
10:19 Yep.
10:20 So they said, we'll fly him in the family first class.
10:23 We'll put him in a big suite.
10:24 We'll give him $2,500 for a week.
10:27 All he's got to do is for one hour stand and invite a pizza.
10:30 So I called him up.
10:32 What do you think he said to me?
10:34 No.
10:34 He said, you can give me a million a dollar, and I no come.
10:40 This is a great story.
10:41 Nice meeting you.
10:41 Yeah, nice meeting you.
10:42 My pleasure.
10:43 Yeah, take care.
10:43 See you guys.
10:45 [BLANK_AUDIO]