At that time the attorneys wanted a fusion of the names, so they took De from De Marco and Fara from Farina, and somehow changed the De to Di and that’s how it came about. My father opened the pizzeria with a partner, Franco Farina. I wish I would have documented my dad’s whole life because I find myself speaking about him so often. My father worked seven days a week all day and then he married my mom, and then he had to work seven days a week all day! There were seven of us. He was always doing someone else’s job, and someone would say, “Dominic, that’s not your job,” and his boss would say, “Shush, he knows what he’s doing.” He also used to say that you have to be confident in what you do - don’t worry about what the person across the street is doing, be confident in yourself, and your hard work, and what you bring to the table. He was a guy who never wanted to stand around doing nothing. My father and my uncle started working in a pizzeria in Brooklyn. He grew up as a farmer so dealing with fresh ingredients was not new to him - he had access to them right in his backyard. If I go as far back as when he came to the United States, he came at 26 with $30 in his pocket and started working on a farm in Huntington on Long Island. But his seven children are keeping the family business going, and I was lucky to talk to Margaret Mieles, the middle child, who not only opened this storefront, but who hopes to expand the brand as a way to honor her father.ĭi Fara Seaport is at 108 South Street, just across from Pier 17, in a renovated classic brick Seaport storefront. Its founder, Dominic DeMarco, died this past March at the age of 85, having worked every day in the Midwood pizzeria for 57 years. It seemed a bit silly to count Di Fara Pizza at the Seaport as a “New Kid” since they’ve been in business since 1965.

They tell me keep it simple