The Pie Hole in Farmingdale closes

The wording can’t be avoided: Marc Bynum has shut his Pie Hole. The veteran Long Island chef took over the former Ralph’s Slices in Farmingdale last October, transforming it into an ambitious pizzeria that combined classic New York pies with thoroughly Bynumized toppings such as the Caribbean Queen (jerk chicken, grilled pineapple, plantain and hibiscus BBQ sauce) and the Anthony Hamilton (braised short rib and collard greens). There were also ribs, fried chicken and more soul food selections.

“With the rent I was paying, the business model didn’t work,” Bynum said.

In 2022, the Farmingdale native wasn’t looking for a pizzeria, but rather, a parking spot for his Hush Truck and a commercial kitchen for his catering business, Marc Bynum Concepts. But once he rented the pizzeria, he got bitten by the pizza bug and was soon experimenting with different flours, hydration levels, fermentation times and cheese blends.

Ultimately, however, pizza sales did not cover pizzeria overhead and Bynum said he was having to dig into his other source of income, catering. “The catering model works,” he said. “I do four or five ‘drop offs’ a week and another three events with the truck.” None of that work requires a retail location and he has now moved his operation to a commercial kitchen in Melville.

The catering model may work, but it doesn’t entirely satisfy Bynum’s desire for a exposure. Ultimately, he said, “you want to see the public enjoying your product.” He is not ruling out another future eatery.

In the short term, the public can visit Bynum’s Hush Truck at Farmingdale Music on Main on Aug. 24 from 5 to 9 p.m.