A BIT ABOUT Pizza a Casa Mark Bello, Founder Mark Bello is a tour-de-force of creativity and energy, sharing his knowledge and love of pizza and Italian cuisine with unpretentious ease.  Born in NYC and raised on the famous thin crust pizzas indigenous to his NY and NJ upbringing, his love of gastronomy was carefully cultivated by his parents and then left to simmer for several years while he worked his way up to an Masters in Sculpture from The School of The Art Institute of Chicago. Post graduation, Mark stayed on in Chicago for 10 years developing a successful furniture business, designing and constructing renowned window displays, and producing acclaimed arts events. While his time away proved to be creatively very satisfying, culinarily an innate craving needed to be satisfied. Living in a land of deep-dish and dismal brand-name pizzas he vowed to feed his need for the pizzas of his youth: so he took to the kitchen and mastered a recipe for perfect pizza in the home oven. After a decade of refining, including a period of living, eating and cooking in Italy, Mark returned in 2005 to his East Coast roots and established Pizza a Casa artisanal pizza catering and cooking class company.  His pizzas have been praised in publications including Gothamist, Time Out New York, Food & Wine, Tasting Table and The NY Daily News and recently performed a demonstration and tasting at the James Beard House. In addition to his private classes, catering and events, Mark can be found sharing his love of cooking to sold-out classes at Murray's Cheese, The Astor Center, JCC Manhattan, and Whole Foods.  He also volunteers his time with organizations including Big Brothers/Big Sisters, The Grand Street Settlement, The Sylvia Center, Chefs for Humanity, and Slow Food. photo by Annabel Braithwaite contact: info@pizzaacasa.comhttp://gothamist.com/2008/10/14/mark_bello_pizza_enthusiast.phpTime_Out_NY.htmlhttp://www.foodandwine.com/blogs/mouthing-off/2008/10/23/1997-Brunellos-A-Deal-for-this-Weekendhttp://tastingtable.com/entry_detail/65http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/food/2008/09/19/2008-09-19_mark_bellos_pizza_a_casa_can_throw_you_a.htmlhttp://jamesbeard.org/?q=node/1049mailto:info@pizzaacasa.com?subject=Bring%20on%20the%20pizzas!shapeimage_2_link_0shapeimage_2_link_1shapeimage_2_link_2shapeimage_2_link_3shapeimage_2_link_4shapeimage_2_link_5shapeimage_2_link_6