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Restaurant to gain different type of star

This one's not from a culinary expert but from the restaurant's role on the silver screen.

By JACKIE RIPLEY
Published January 3, 2006

WESTCHASE - Bellisimo Ristorante has long been one of the most popular spots in West Park Village. And by this time next year it could well be one of the best known.

The restaurant is coming to the silver screen as part of The Pizza King, a feature film about two Brooklyn pizzerias battling over the pizza business. There's a bad guy, not yet cast although some big names are being bandied about. And there's a good guy, played by Santo Bruno, who owns Bellisimo and is one of the film's producers.

"We're filming the final scene here," said Corey May, the movie's executive producer. "We're also hoping to have a wrap block party so the community can come to the party here in the village."

The Pizza King , being released by independent filmmaker Media Max Entertainment Group of Secaucus, N.J., starts filming next month. The first part of the movie takes place inside a couple of pizza restaurants in Brooklyn and ends at Bellisimo in Westchase.

"We're doing the last 20 minutes here," said Bruno, also known as "Chef Bruno" for his Las Vegas-style cooking show. "I wanted the end. People remember the end of the movie."

And already there's a buzz.

"The producers came in a taxi, just arrived from New York," said Ray Chiaramonte who lives in Westchase and was dining at Bellisimo last week. "They were here scouting his location to do the interior shots in a big movie in Westchase."

The moviemakers were in town to get the lay of the restaurant, learn from Bruno the nuances of pizzamaking, and kick off The Pizza King's first promotional event.

"We believe the public likes to be involved in the making of a movie," May said. "That's a problem at the box office today. People aren't involved."

Part of that involvement was evident at the restaurant Wednesday night as producers handed out pizza and Pizza King T-shirts. Diners also had a chance to put their name in the hat to be one of the extras on the set as well as guests at the movie's premier.

"We're happy to be in Tampa," Corey said. "We don't have this kind of sunshine in New Jersey."

[Last modified January 3, 2006, 01:57:16]