Mark Iacono was a neighborhood guy who bought a shuttered candy store on Henry Street in 2006 to keep it from becoming a chain, then taught himself to make pizza in it. Two decades later, Lucali is arguably the most famous pizzeria in America — a candlelit room where the man himself still stretches dough at a marble slab in the front window, working with the unhurried focus of someone who has nothing left to prove.
The menu is pizza and calzones, period. Pies come thin, faintly charred, and dressed with a restrained hand — the buffalo mozzarella and basil do the talking, and toppings are limited to whatever sits in the prep trays that day. It's BYOB, so bring a bottle of red, and it's cash only. The wait can stretch past two hours on weekends, which is why regulars arrive before the doors open at five to put their name on the list.
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