Tony Gemignani of Tony’s Pizza Napoletana and Slice House fame sidelined by surgery

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — For the first time in 33 years, Tony Gemignani, the award-winning pizzamaker behind Tony’s Pizza Napoletana and Slice House, will be stepping away from the kitchen temporarily. In a social media post Wednesday, the acclaimed pizzamaker revealed he’d undergone shoulder surgery.

“It’s been 7 days since my shoulder surgery. I didn’t think I would be in so much pain,” Gemignani wrote on Facebook. “33 years of making and cooking pizzas takes a toll on your body.”

The chef, whose Tony’s Pizza Napoletana was recently named one of the 10 best pizzerias in the world, explained he’d undergone surgery for a bad rotator, torn bicep, bone spurs, calcified shoulder and “something called frozen shoulder.” His shoulder, Gemignani said, “was bugging me so bad that I decided to get surgery.”

“Other than my honeymoon I don’t think I have been away from making pizzas this long,” he continued. His doctors, he said, told him it will be several months before he can return to making pizzas in his signature acrobatic style.

Gemignani, 51, said he will spend the next five weeks or so in a sling and begins physical therapy this week. The 13-time World Pizza Champion said his number one goal is “to start making pizzas again” and to go surfing at the end of November.

“Can’t wait to get back in the kitchen at Tony’s Pizza Napoletano and Capo’s SF,” Gemignani said. “I will be by next week if the doctor clears me to drive.”

Earlier this month, Gemignani announced he would be opening up a new Slice House location in Millbrae later this year. Slice House now has more than 25 locations spanning multiple states.