Announcement! We have a winner of our Meet the Masters contest, in which we asked Cafe Society readers to guess how many gluten-free margherita pizzas Marco's at Inverness served during the month of February. The correct answer is 178. The person who came the closest to that number without going over is Droybal, who guessed 165. Droybal, we'll send you info about how to claim your prize.
Several years ago, in 2009, I interviewed Mark Dym, the owner/chef of Marco's Coal-Fired Pizzeria, for my weekly Chef and Tell series, and when I asked him about his most influential culinary inspiration, he had this to say:
No question, Roberto Caporuscio, a fantastic pizzaiolo from Campania who's been living in the states for ten years and cooking some of the best pizzas in the world. Before I opened Marco's, I flew to Italy to train with Roberto, and he taught me how to make real Neopolitan style pizza. He helped me open Marco's, and now he's got a great restaurant in New York called Keste that's the real deal. Roberto taught me just about everything I know. It's his fault that pizza's my world.
See also: - Chef and Tell: Mark Dym of Marco's Coal-Fired Pizza - Part two: Chef and Tell with Mark Dym of Marco's Coal-Fired Pizza - Marco's Coal-Fired Pizza named one of the nation's best pie palaces in the country by American Way magazine
On Thursday, March 14, at Marco's Ballpark, and again, on Friday, March 15, at Marco's at Inverness, Caporuscio, still the chef at Keste, along with Don Antonio, a third-generation owner of Pizzeria Starita, in Naples, and Antimo Caputo, the grandson of Molino Caputo, the famous Italian who founded Molino Flour -- the Italy-based, Neapolitan company that produces "00" flour -- will gather in Dym's exhibition kitchens, where they'll do demos featuring the techniques and recipes of Neapolitan pizza crafting. Both nights also include a cocktail hour and appetizer reception, followed by a dinner with specialty pizzas, wine, beer and desserts.
And we're giving away two seats to the March 15 "Meet the Masters" dinner at Marco's Inverness to one Cafe Society commenter who can provide us with the correct answer to the following question: How many gluten-free margherita pizzas, the crusts of which are created with Caputo's gluten-free flour, did Marco's at Inverness serve during the month of February?
The person who comes the closest to the actual number without going over will get the two tickets. In order to win, please submit your guesses in the comments section below, and be sure to include your name (any name will do), and a valid e-mail address so we can reach you if your guess is best. We'll announce the winner on Friday, March 8.
You can also purchase seats for $50 each, all inclusive, to either dinner by calling 303-296-7000 (Ballpark location), or 303-790-9000 (Inverness location).
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