Crust Fund Pizza’s Hundo Comes With Caviar and Dry-Aged Beef | Eater Chicago

"Founded in 2020, this not-a-restaurant operation solicits charitable donations in exchange for tavern-style pizzas that are picked up in an alley from an undisclosed location; the founder suggests a $25 donation per pie but donors can give more, pizzas are released via Instagram on a first-come, first-served basis through direct message, and a final pie is reserved each drop to be auctioned to boost donations. The project recently crossed the $100,000 donation threshold and is celebrating by auctioning a single, over-the-top tavern-style pie called the Hundo, which the founder hopes will shatter the operation's record single-pie bid of $3,376.33 and whose proceeds will benefit the Friendship Center food pantry. The Hundo is laced with giardiniera, caviar, and Italian beef carved from a 60-day dry-aged steak; Publican Quality Meats’ butcher Rob Levitt helped select the rib-eye, which will be surrounded by sweet and hot peppers intended to emulate a dipped Italian beef, and Carruthers says the caviar "adds texture and complements the giardiniera," while an "eye-wateringly-expensive Aceto balsamico is absolutely a star." About the stunt and the recipe, founder and pizzaiolo John Carruthers tells Eater, "It’s going to be great because it has to be." He acknowledges the concept's silliness but insists on the flavor: "Everything’s great together, otherwise it would be unnecessary," adding that he’s practiced with cheaper cuts of beef and that "They add more than silliness to each other. Flavor-wise, spectacular. Concept-wise, silly as hell." Operational and personal context: Carruthers—who has appeared on Chopped!, comes from a marketing background, and says he brings "a dash of Bill Veeck" to his work—has used Crust Fund to raise money for groups including Brave Space Alliance, Illinois Coalition For Immigrant and Refugee Rights, and Memorial Sloan Kettering; past specials have included unconventional toppings (June’s special featured mole) and the pizzas are regularly praised for thin crusts and unusual combos. Carruthers has self-published cookbooks, co-founded ManBQue with Jesse Valenciana, and admits a 2019 corn dog pop-up that lacked city licenses taught him lessons while emboldening him; he notes, "If you roll up to Undisclosed Alley, my ServSafe credential is posted and up to date," and adds wryly, "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." On regulatory encounters he imagines, "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," and concludes playfully, "And while we’re at it, let’s get Daft Punk back together to score the whole thing." - Ashok Selvam