Di Fara Pizza

Midwood 1424 Avenue J, Brooklyn; 718-2581367; difarapizzany.com

Dom DeMarco died last year, but you can still feel his presence inside the Avenue J slice shop as it approaches its 58th anniversary in September. His image is all over the orange wood-paneled walls, posing for photographs with Leonardo DiCaprio and Bill de Blasio.

Since 1965, he had built a reputation as a pizza titan with meticulous standards. He didn’t acquiesce to requests. He created the best pizza he could imagine and labored over it himself, even if it meant some customers had to wait two hours to eat.

Dom Jr. said he always thought his dad was a superhero because of the way he snatched pans out of the oven with his bare hands and stayed on his feet all day. By the end of the night, when he’d roll up his pants and drink a whole bottle of wine, his legs resembled gnarled tree trunks.

Last year, at the end of his father’s wake, Dom Jr. said he leaned into the casket, kissed his father on the forehead and reassured him his legacy would continue. All seven DeMarco siblings are involved with family businesses now. Michael, the oldest, makes dough in the mornings. Sister Maggie Mieles manages the ordering, social media and clerical duties. Dom Jr. and Harry form and cook pizzas before applying their father’s trademark garnishes: the clippings of fresh basil, fistfuls of salty grana Padano cheese and

swirls of extra virgin olive oil.

When customers say the pizza tastes the same, “that’s the greatest feeling in the world,” Harry DeMarco said.

The old, ink-black pans at Di Fara still turn out an exceptional Sicilian slice ($6), with a thick, sturdy base baked hard in generous glugs of olive oil giving way to a light, puffy skin blanketed in bright tomato sauce. Di Fara’s regular slices ($5), glistening with oil and cheeses, tilt the balance of flavors toward rich and salty atop a thin, crackly crust.

You may not have to wait as long as you used to, which could make a visit to Midwood even more appealing.

The Fara Special at Di Fara Pizza.