One of the city’s best pizzamakers is about to cross an unusual milestone and is celebrating with a wild pizza laced with giardiniera, caviar, and Italian beef carved from a 60-day dry-aged steak. Crust Fund Pizza, founded in 2020, is making only one of these tavern-style pizzas available, placing the pie up for auction later this month to celebrate crossing the $100,000 donation threshold.
“It’s going to be great because it has to be,” Crust Fund founder and pizzaiolo John Carruthers tells Eater. “I realize this is specifically an attention-grabbing stunt, but the beef is based off a family recipe that means a whole lot to me.”
Carruthers admits that transforming a humble recipe that Italian immigrants used as a low-cost way to feed large groups at weddings and other events into a luxury item is silly. Publican Quality Meats’ butcher Rob Levitt helped Carruthers select the rib-eye, which will be surrounded by sweet and hot peppers. It’s supposed to emulate a dipped Italian beef. Carruthers says the caviar — they’re still figuring out which one they’ll use — adds texture and complements the giardiniera, while an “eye-wateringly-expensive Aceto balsamico is absolutely a star.”
“Everything’s great together, otherwise it would be unnecessary,” Carruthers writes, adding that he’s practiced with cheaper cuts of beef. “They add more than silliness to each other. Flavor-wise, spectacular. Concept-wise, silly as hell.”
The pizza is called the Hundo, and Carruthers is hoping the auction will shatter Crust Fund’s record bid of $3,376.33 for a single pie. Donations will benefit the Friendship Center, a local food pantry. The pizza is so special that Carruthers is even getting his children involved.
Crust Fund is not a restaurant, but a unique operation where Carruthers solicits charitable donations in exchange for one of his tavern-style pizzas that’s then picked up in an alley from an undisclosed location. Carruthers suggests a $25 donation per pie, but donors can send more to the charity of the month.
Carruthers releases a limited selection of pizzas via his Instagram account. Pizzas are then claimed on a first-come, first-served basis through direct messaging. Carruthers then reserves a final pizza, putting it up for auction, hoping to boost donations. Over the last five years, Crust Fund Pizza has raised money for organizations like Brave Space Alliance, Illinois Coalition For Immigrant and Refugee Rights, and Memorial Sloan Kettering — all while happy folks rave about the thin crusts and unusual topping combos. While traditional pepperoni and sausage are regularly available, June’s special featured mole.
Carruthers, who has appeared on Chopped!, comes from a marketing background and brings a dash of Bill Veeck with him to his work. As tavern-style pizza has taken off, with America realizing Chicago sports more than deep dish, he’s had a front-row seat. Making money off his recipe hasn’t been the goal, as Carruthers has shared the recipe widely. Though he’s been approached by would-be investors wanting to partner on restaurants, Carruthers maintains that Crust Fund gives him a more personal outlet.
“As many a middle-aged Midwestern man who grew up before therapy was a big thing, I have very niche ways to express big emotions,” Carruthers writes. “But if I pull it off right then this pizza is a giant fucking hug to the city of Chicago. Some suburbs, too! (Not you, Schaumburg).”
Carruthers has self-published cookbooks and, along with Jesse Valenciana, co-founded ManBQue, a kind of consortium that hosted events focused on the love of smoked meats. In 2019, he threw a corn dog pop-up, and he acknowledges that he didn’t secure the proper licenses from the city. He says the experience emboldened him.
“Bottom line, though, I approach this like a professional,” Carruthers writes. “If you roll up to Undisclosed Alley, my ServSafe credential is posted and up to date.”
He adds: “I’m absolutely not above board, because that wouldn’t be as much fun, but I do actually know what I’m doing serving food to folks.”
If a Chicago Department of Public Health inspector visits in the future, Carruthers envisions a specific scenario.
”Like, I got nothing against the CDPH, but I feel like my life would be enriched by a recurring Inspector Zenigata type chasing me down an alley,” he writes. “And while we’re at it, let’s get Daft Punk back together to score the whole thing.”
Crust Fund Pizza’s The Hundo, coming in July, check Instagram for drop date
