Lee

Hunzinger

The Deer Park, New York native launched his career at the age of thirteen working in his family’s restaurant, Terry’s Pizza. Hunzinger credits both his life-long love of Italian food and his strict work ethic to his mother, Theresa, who single-handedly ran the business for years.

Realizing he had a natural passion for pizza, Hunzinger moved on to Uncle Joe’s Pizza in Hampton Bays, NY to perfect his oven technique, gain the skills needed for speedy production, and refine his overall pizza making. By age 23, Lee was managing Garden City Pizza in Garden City, NY. In 2010, Hunzinger moved to the Dallas area to work with the family restaurant, Ferrari’s Pizzeria. An encounter with Cane Rosso founder/owner led Lee to start working on catering events around the Dallas/Ft. Worth area; eventually joining the Neapolitan style restaurant first brick-and-mortar shop in 2011. Lee then led and developed a new concept in Dallas focusing on New York style pizza called Zoli’s NY Pizza. Hunzinger developed a menu that spotlighted his love of using quality pizza ingredients to create unique flavor combinations on his pizza. In its first year, Zoli’s earned “Best Pizza” from the Dallas Observer in 2014. Hunzinger then developed a menu for Thunderbird Pies, a Detroit-style pizza concept. Thunderbird received an award for “Best Detroit Style Pizza” from D Magazine. As Corporate Executive Pizzaiolo for PILF (Zoli’s Cane Rosso, Thunderbird Pies), he led and oversaw all pizza making, bread baking, and training for nine restaurant locations across four cities in Texas.

When Lee isn’t making pizza, he is spending time with his wife, Marisa, and their two dogs, Marley and Brooklyn.

Accolades/Awards:

- 2019: Caputo Cup Champion

- Smartpizzamarketing.com’s 50 Most Influential People in Pizza: Lee Hunzinger #28

- 1 st Place Pan Division

- PMQ Magazine 5-page Cover Story, June/July 2016

- Thrillist - Best Pizzerias in America, 2019

- The Daily Meal – 101 Best Pizzas in America 2019-2021, Zoli’s Pizza/Cane Rosso

- Dallas Observer – Best Pizza, 2014/2018

- CultureMap Dallas – Best Place for Pizza, 2018

- CultureMap Dallas – Rising Star Chef of the Year nominee, 2017

- Pizza Today – Independent Pizzeria of the Year, 2017 (Cane Rosso)