🍕 From floor dough to Pizza Dom

Pizza & comedy at Frank and Mary's [View this email in your browser]( [READER Logo]( [Food & Drink]( | April 19, 2024 Dom Vallone got his first job making pizza at a Little Caesars in Wood Dale, Illinois. He didn’t last long. “I absolutely tossed dough against management’s wishes and dropped them on the floor many times,” he says. “Dough on the floor is ‘dough’ lost, so, naturally, I was fired.” Or maybe not. His memory’s fuzzy. He thinks he might have actually quit to go see Naked Raygun at the Riviera. “That ended up being their final show.” Give him a break. That was way back in 1992. He was only 15 at the time, and he had better things on his mind. He went on to play drums in the melodic hardcore band 88 Fingers Louie, touring and playing countless DIY basement and VFW shows with the likes of Rancid, NOFX, and Screeching Weasel. But then he got married young, had kids, and left the band after just a couple years, embarking on a decades-long career as a 3D animator and game modeler. It wasn’t until he got laid off during the pandemic that he picked it up again. Pizza dough, that is—not drumsticks. These days, Vallone is tossing dough full-time as Pizza Dom, aka [@deathbydough]( a self-taught, itinerant pizzaiolo who’ll be slinging Neapolitan-style pies at the next[Monday Night Foodball]( the Reader’s weekly chef pop-up, now at [Frank and Mary’s Tavern]( in Avondale. Vallone rarely drops the dough anymore, which you can see for yourself when he sets up his mobile ovens on the patio outside the bar and starts blistering what he describes as a cross between Neapolitan and Chicago tavern-style pizza in three varieties: a classic margherita with fresh mozz and basil; prosciutto and arugula with balsamic glaze; and the Honey “Mata” Hot Sopressata with Mike’s Hot Honey—named for Frank and Mary’s GM Tony Mata. He’ll also have tiramisu for dessert, and maybe—just maybe—focaccia might crash the party, something he only occasionally makes and delivers by special order. The ovens start blazing at 5 PM this Monday, April 20, until Pizza Dom sells out. Also, [does anybody remember laughter?]( Inside the bar beginning at 8 PM, [Michael Meyers]( hosts a comedy open mike. It’s all going down at 2905 N. Elston in postindustrial Avondale. [a pizza sitting on top of a wooden paddle]( [Pizza Dom throws dough on the patio at the next Monday Night Foodball]( Check out Dom Vallone’s Neapolitan-meets-tavern-style pies at the Reader’s weekly chef pop-up at Frank and Mary’s Tavern. by [Mike Sula]( | [Read more]( → [the outside of a restaurant with wooden tables and barrels]( [Monday Night Foodball kicks off patio season at Frank and Mary’s Tavern]( The Reader’s weekly chef pop-up finds a new home at the venerable 52-year-old Avondale dive. by [Mike Sula]( | [Read more]( → [Get baked with Bambi Banks-Couleé]( June 2021 | The drag superstar is decolonizing weed “from the kitchen to the couch” with her new cooking webseries. by [Salem Collo-Julin]( | [Read more]( → [two skewers of grilled meats on a table]( [The Bulgarian table, from sudjuk to shopska]( August 2011 | A primer on Bulgarian eats, and where to get them. by [Izidora Angel]( | [Read more]( → Get the latest issue of the Chicago Reader Thursday, April 18, 2024 [READ ONLINE: VOL. 53, NO. 14]( [VIEW/DOWNLOAD ISSUE (PDF)]( [Become a member of the Chicago Reader.]( [Facebook icon]( [Instagram icon]( [Twitter icon]( [Website icon]( [YouTube icon]( [LinkedIn icon]( [Logo] You received this email because you signed up for newsletters from the Chicago Reader. Want fewer emails from us? [Click here to choose what you want us to send you](. Or, [unsubscribe from all Reader emails](. We’ll miss you! [Sign up for emails from the Chicago Reader]( | [Forward this e-mail to a friend]( © 2024 Chicago Reader. All rights reserved. Chicago Reader, 2930 S. Michigan Ave., Suite 102, Chicago, IL 60616