NORTHFIELD - Nobody doesn’t love pizza, especially the pizza served up at Carluccio’s Coal Fired Pizza on Tilton Road in Northfield.
Despite some recent losses, Carlo Citera’s famous variety pizzas, just a jump over the Downbeach Express, will be available for the forseeable future, Citera said.
“I will not leave until I retire,” he told Gov. Mikie Sherrill when she visited the place last Thursday.
Citera said the governor, who was in town for a business conference in Atlantic City, said she wanted to visit a successful business in the area before she headed back to Trenton. What’s better than pizza for lunch? Even better if it’s at Carluccio’s.
The visit had nothing to do with the break-in a week prior to her visit, when a serial thief March 12 shattered the plate glass door and broke into two safes, took a 20-minute nap on the floor, and then went on a gambling spree, Citera said.
NJ State Police arrested Vito Anderson, 40, whose last known address was the Atlantic City Homeless Shelter, while he was gambling at Bally’s Atlantic City. Anderson is also accused of burglarizing businesses and homes in Atlantic, Cape May, Ocean and Camden counties and has 73 pending charges in multiple jurisdictions. Superior Court Judge William Miller ordered him held in jail until he gets the mental health assistance he needs.
The thievery resulted in a loss of dough – more than $1,300, but the repairs cost even more, about $2,700, Citera said.
If you know Citera, who has been victimized in the past, you know he doesn’t stay angry for long.
“I’m angry because of all the damage he caused, but I’m happy that he was arrested,” Citera said. “The cops did an unbelievable job finding him.”
Citera was burglarized before at home while he was on vacation in Italy, when someone made off with a cashe of jewelry valued at about $85,000, including family heirlooms and his 18-karat gold wedding band, given to him and his wife Tina by his mother Theresa, which is the custom in Salerno, Italy, where Citera grew up.
The ring went missing for 10 years, likely never to be found, until an Eagle-eyed evidence room officer at the Ventnor City Police Department in 2017 discovered an envelope filled with jewelry, including Citera’s Breitling “Wings” watch. Amid the jewelry was a crusted gold band that when scratched on the inside revealed the name “Carlo.” It is likely, the envelope filled with jewelry from several crimes committed by another serial burglar and cryptic descriptions of the victims, sat in the burglar’s home and evidence room for all those years.
During Sherrill’s visit, Citera provided her with some first-class instruction on how to properly twirl a pizza.
The governor posed a short video of the fête of daring on her social media page.
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The governor also learned if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the fire.
“This is probably a great place to work in the winter, but not so good in summer,” she said as she slid the pie from the peel into the wood fired oven.
“You did a great job,” said Citera, who lives in Margate with his wife and three girls.
Citera said the pizza parlor is the place to be in summer, especially on Friday night’s when he serves as many as 1,000 pizzas.
After 33 years at the triangle lot at Tilton Road and Route 9, he plans on sticking around for awhile, he said.
“The love and care you put into this place really shows,” Sherrill said.
The Margate MEF Spaghetti Dinner boasts some of the best chefs in the area, including Carlo Citera at right.
