Bellino and Pacino

 

CLEMENZA SAUCE

PETE CLEMENZA Teaches MICHAEL CORLEONE 

HOW to MAKE SUNDAY SAUCE

RICHARD CASTELLANO & AL PACINO

FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA'S "The GODFATHER"

Based on recent culinary publications, the connection between Al Pacino and Daniel Bellino-Zwicke is a recipe for Spaghetti with Garlic and Oil, which Bellino-Zwicke named "Spaghetti alla Pacino"

. The recipe was featured in Bellino-Zwicke's 2025 book Sunday Sauce and was based on a dish the actor supposedly enjoyed at a New York restaurant. 

The story behind the recipe:

Culinary author Daniel Bellino-Zwicke was inspired to write about the dish after hearing that Al Pacino enjoyed a simple pasta with garlic and oil while dining at the restaurant Barbetta in New York.

• Bellino-Zwicke included his version of the recipe, along with the story of Pacino's meal, in his cookbook Sunday Sauce.
• Following the book's publication and coverage by Parade Magazine in April 2025, the story of "Pacino's favorite pasta" gained widespread attention. 
• No credible sources indicate a more substantive or personal connection between the two individuals. The association appears to be centered entirely on Bellino-Zwicke naming a recipe after the actor. 

Daniel Bellino-Zwicke is a culinary author and chef known for creating New York-Italian cuisine inspired by classic mafia movies like 

The Godfather. His connection to actor Al Pacino comes from writing about Pacino's favorite pasta dish. 

The story behind "Pacino Pasta": 

Bellino-Zwicke previously worked as a chef at 

Barbetta Ristorante

, a New York City restaurant that Al Pacino frequented.

• He prepared Pacino's favorite dish, spaghetti with garlic and oil (aglio e olio), for him multiple times.
• Bellino-Zwicke included the story and the recipe, which he named "Spaghetti alla Pacino," in his book Sunday Sauce.
• The story gained wider attention when it was featured in Parade Magazine in April 2025. 
• Other links to Al Pacino
• The Godfather Cookbook: Bellino-Zwicke has promoted a cookbook inspired by The Godfather, with recipes for dishes like "Sunday Sauce alla Clemenza".

• Online content: Bellino-Zwicke writes about his New York-Italian food and the Pacino story on his websites and social media. 
• 
  
• Daniel Bellino-Zwicke's background -
• He is a New York-based Italian-American chef and food writer.

• His work often blends his family's Sicilian-American culinary traditions with references to Italian-American culture, including movies and mob history.

SPAGHETTI AGLI e OLIO

"GARLIC & OLIVE OIL"

AL PACINO'S FAVORITE PASTA

RECIPE

SUNDAY SAUCE

SUNDAY SAUCE & MEATBALLS

SPAGHETTI alla PACINO

And MORE ....

AMAZON.com

Faicco's Italian Pork Store Greenwich Village

 

FAICCO'S

by GREENWICH VILLAGE Artist ELLEN BRADSHAW

EllenBradshaw.com

Faicco's Pork Store has been open since 1900.

The 120-year-old butcher shop started out on Elizabeth Street and then was at 152-154 Thompson (photo), for 40 years, before moving to 260 Bleecker in 1951, when the family bought the current building.

The building of the 1911-1951 store (photo) is now at the corner of Houston and Thompson. The buildings on the left were demolished for IND subway construction.

In 1896, founder Eduardo Faicco (1858 - Jan 3, 1934) immigrated from Sorrento (near Naples), where he raised livestock and learned butchering.

In America, he started out in a livery and carting business, delivering bananas and watermelons by horse and buggy, over plank roads in New Jersey. He was listed by Dun and Bradstreet in 1890. He married Anna (born 1861) in 1882. They had 10 children.

Living in the Lower East Side, one day in 1900, family lore has Eduardo finding a wooden splinter in a sausage from a local shop. He was furious and got into argument with the owner. That motivated to him to launch his own sausage shop on Elizabeth Street to run that guy out of business (which he supposedly did), without knowing anything about sausage making.

His son Joseph Faicco (born 1892) opened a larger store in Dyker Heights (Brooklyn) in 1943. He and wife Marta (born 1903) had 4 daughters (Anna, Clara, Julia, Sylvia) and 2 younger sons Joseph M. (Dec 18, 1935-May 5, 2001) and Edward Joseph (Jul 28, 1934 - Feb 24, 2002) at 358 Bay Ridge Ave. Edward later took over the Brooklyn store, helped by his kids Eddie, Louis, and Matthew who took over in the 1980s.

Joseph Sr helped buy the store at Bleecker and 1951, and later Joseph Jr took over the Bleecker store.

Eduardo's granddaughter Ann.Faicco, at 26, got noted as “New York's only lady butcher” by James Beard in 1973 at the Bleecker store. She worked side by side with brothers Edward and late brother Tom, working 12-hour days, preparing sausages. New York Times food critic Craig Claiborne would buy dried sausages, cervelat (seasoned with provolone cheese), and caul‐wrapped liver with bay leaf to go.

Ann started working after school in her teens. Her first task ever was to make fegatini (calf's liver wrapped in caul fat with a bay leaf). She then advanced to spareribs or pork chops.

Until 1970, most customers were middle-aged or older. By 1975, customers in their 20s and 30s were regulars.. Ann advised customers on how to cook meat braciole or skin braciole (stuffed rolls of meat or pork skin lightly filled with garlic, pepper, salt, parsley and grated Romano cheese).

Sweet (Neapolitan) or spicy (Abbruzzi‐style) salamis are made and dried at the store. Joseph Jr would retire in 1996.

His nephew Eddie Faicco, son of Edward, grandson of Joseph Sr, and great grandson of Eduardo, now runs the Bleecker store as a 4th generation owner, offering Italian sandwiches and Soppressata. He started working at the family store from ages 8-9.

“Faicco’s Pork Store” sold meat and groceries. Eddie changed it to “Faicco’s Italian Specialties” in 1999 to sell prepared foods like Italian sandwiches, lasagna, baked ziti, eggplant parmesan, and rice balls (arancini) in the back of the store in a small kitchen, using family recipes. The family tomato sauce recipe has been used for 35+ years. The sausage and broccoli rabe sandwich became popular as well as the chicken parm with homemade mozzarella.

Salamis no longer hang over the counter. The 2nd floor has a temperature-controlled curing room. Daughter Jillian Faicco, now 18, became the 5th Generation to work at Faicco’s, on weekends.

His brothers Louis and Matthew continued working at the 6511 11th Ave store in Brooklyn, still open today. .

READ About FAICCO'S

In SUNDAY SAUCE !

SUNDAY SAUCE

alla BELLINO alla PACINO

AMAZON.com