How was the transition from home pizzaiolo to a brick-and-mortar pizzeria owner?

The transition was actually pretty smooth. Working out of a space designed by us, used by us, is way easier than running this out of an apartment by a longshot. In an apartment or any pop up, you are going and getting your ingredients; you are prepping days in advance and doing all the marketing yourself as well as order fulfillment. It ends up being 20 hours of work for eight hours of showtime. In a brick and mortar, you have staff doing every type of job and doing it better than you can if you were to have to cover all the bases yourself. Distributors come to you with your ingredients. Customers come to you in your location and place orders through dedicated channels rather than a DM or text. You have a home for your brand, a temple built on your passion. The apartment popup was cool, it was fun, but it all being temporary made it way more fun. Trust me!

What does DOP stand for?

“Denominazione di Origine Protetta,” which translates to Protected Designation of Origin. This is a certification used in Italia to denote a product having distinct regional and process-driven origins. It is government-backed and strictly protected by the producers. What we are saying is that we are a distinct, regional and process-driven product. We use a classic formula of high protein flour typical to NY Style, aged and fresh cheeses typical to NY Style and balanced tomatoes typical to NY Style. We use a process that elevates all the typical strengths of NY Style while shoring up its weaknesses. So, to us, it means authentic, quality-driven and strictly controlled standards of production that elevate this to Artisan NY Style rather than a classic everyday slice.

What makes Brooklyn DOP pizza unique?

Process drives progress. We are constantly tweaking and pushing our pizza toward a standard that lives in our minds. It exists as a moving target the more we evolve. Constantly thinking about what we want the experience to be like whenever we eat a slice and going back into the dough lab to make that a reality takes our pizza connoisseurs on a journey with us. The change is never drastic, but it’s 1% better every time, and when you turn around a year later, it is way better. I think most “slice” places achieve a product, and their mantra is never to change it. That is great, and honestly, some things should never change. 

What we are doing here is taking the experimentation you may find in a woodfire-type place that only sells pies and applying that playfulness to the slice case. It is never about changing for the sake of change but iterating toward something in our present that starts looking like something only revered as a memory. What if you COULD get pizza as good as the one you had when you were young? We all know that now there are so many options and so much talent in the field that it’s very likely you would barely recognize that childhood favorite as the best. But maybe, just MAYBE, you could get a slice of that nostalgia in the form of an unassuming slice in a local pizzeria. We make pizza that is as good as you remember it being.

What are your most popular pies and/or slices?

Without  doubt our DOP Margherita and Giusepp’ pies. The DOP Margherita is a mix of aged and fresh mozzarella, and the sauce is actually on top of the cheese, reduced in the oven under the 610-degree heat, so it sweetens up just slightly. Topped with 24-month-aged Parmigiano Reggiano and basil chiffonade the way my dad (Don Vito) taught me as a kid. The Giusepp’ flies under the radar as a classic NY Style Pie. We go with our balanced tomato sauce, just enough natural sweetness and acid, basil under the cheese, aged mozzarella and finish it with Sicilian oregano and a light dusting of Romano cheese. With that pillowing crust and crisp bottom, it checks off a lot of boxes that you may not expect.

Any plans for expansion?

History is still being written, and we are opening a second location, much more casually focussed, in Clinton Hill in the summer of 2024. We are also going to target a few surrounding neighborhoods and bring top-quality pizza to more places in Brooklyn throughout the next few years!

What is your favorite thing about pizza culture in Brooklyn?

The best thing for me has always been that whenever someone tells me, “Blank Pizzeria is the best fucking pizza, hands down!!” I can only agree. They are right. We have so many high-quality places, and some are focused on traditions, others pushing boundaries, others feeding the masses and doing great work in the community. All of these operators and staff are worthy of that merit, and we are just happy to be adding to that legacy. We will make Brooklyn proud.