BelEvo: A Better Olive Oil Blend for Pizza Restaurants

Joe Calcagno, a food lover and third-generation chef from New Jersey, has been in the restaurant business for more than 40 years. He is the founder of Capizzi Pizzeria, BelEvo and Edesia Oil Co.

Calcagno’s background began in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, where he enjoyed his grandmother’s great Italian cooking and helped her shop all over Brooklyn for ingredients. Food was a passion for his family, especially on the holidays. The shopping trips included the chicken market, pork store, a bread bakery, another bakery for pastries, and another for pasta. Many of their other ingredients were grown in the backyard.

Calcagno founded Capizzi Pizza in Hell’s Kitchen using woodfired ovens the old-fashioned way, which he learned from his grandparents. Capizzi features fresh, homemade pizza, salads and desserts and has become a major hit on the New York pizza scene. Capizzi, which is the name of the Calcagno family’s hometown of origin in Sicily, now attracts movie stars and celebrities among its many customers.

Calcagno has always used 100% extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) in his restaurants. EVOO is the holy grail of oils, one of only two fruit-based oils (the other being avocado oil). A pizzeria typically has two options: lose money using EVOO or use a cheap, soybeanbased substitute. There is also a “midnight-oil” industry of scam mixes that are not only counterfeit but also can produce dangerous consumption risks. Calcagno spent years looking for the happy medium in blending his own oils, traveling many times to Italy and eventually becoming an oleologist.

With more than 1,000 olive varieties growing in dozens of countries on six continents, the process of blending extra-virgin olive oils with vegetable oil took years. Joe buys olives from Greece, Spain and Italy, blending mostly extra-virgin olive oils, with an eye on how the blend cooks, smells and tastes, and uses it in his own restaurant. The name BelEvo came from “believe” and “evo.” Calcagno now has a 30,000-square-foot warehouse and is currently in 16 states and growing.

Calcagno believes BelEvo is the best multi-purpose oil on the market today. BelEvo can be poured at the table for dipping or used for pan-frying chicken and meatballs or as a finishing oil. Calcagno welcomes you to try his product with a 100% return guarantee.