World’s Best Pizza-Maker Is Coming to... New Jersey

Franco Pepe, widely lauded by food media over the years as “world’s best” pizzaiolo, is coming to New Jersey for one night only for an event held at Razza, the pizzeria that previously received three stars from the New York Times. Pepe, who has appeared in an episode of the Netflix series Chef’s Table: Pizza and owns Pepe in Grani, a restaurant in Caiazzo (in Italy’s Caserta province), will be cooking up pies at Razza on September 12. Tickets go on sale via Razza’s Resy page at 10 a.m. this Friday, August 25. We have a feeling these will go quickly.

Cuts and Slices expands with Queens location

In other pizza news, Cuts and Slices, a TikTok-famous Bed-Stuy slice shop known for its oxtail and chopped cheese pies, has expanded with a second location, now in St. Albans, Queens. The new shop opened last week at 205-01 Linden Blvd Store B, at 205th Street. Owner Randy Mclaren opened his first pizzeria in 2021, quickly garnering millions of views for his flavor combinations, celebrity fans, and lines that followed.

Barnyard cheese shop is coming back

Fans of Barnyard’s sandwiches can rejoice: A version of the menu is returning to the East Village. Owner Beatriz Gutierrez is taking over the space at 170 Avenue B, between 10th and 11th streets, where Brix Wine Shop is currently located. Brix will move next door and a passage will connect the two spaces. Gutierrez is calling the space Barnyard Express, a concept she piloted back in 2021, following the store's closure that same year. When Barnyard closed in October 2021 it was located on Avenue B; it originally opened in 2008 on Avenue C, before relocating.

$52 million was stolen from restaurant workers in the past five years

A new report by Documented stated that in the period between 2017 to 2021, federal and state investigators found that $203 million dollars had been stolen from New York workers, with $52 million related to wage theft in restaurants — the number one industry where this was an issue in the city, according to the report. 127,000 workers have been subjected to wage theft by their employers over that five-year period.