Pizza Today _ January 23 - 10

CONVERSATION
Jimmy
Casapizzaiolo
Casa Pizzeria
Ludlow, Massachusetts
Concept:
Inspired by Tony Gemignani
a few years back, I was
fascinated with the multiple
styles of pizza he offered
at one of his shops. We
wanted to build upon that
coolness. Although it's been
challenging, our shop has
broken the mold of a typical
pizza shop in OUR area.
Pizza Style:
We started out offering
the big pie cut 18-inch
New York-style crust and
the 12-inch slightly crispier
Neapolitan crust. Although
some styles require special
Tell us about your
pizza that won the
Traditional Division
at the Best of the
Northeast Competition
during Pizza & Pasta
Northeast in Atlantic
CIty?
We won with our
take on a thin New
Haven-style crust. It's
a best seller. I focused
on characteristics like
a super thin charred
bake, and even the
strange way it was sliced.
We even marketed
how it is pronounced
APIZZA (ah-beetz).
Knowing how intense
flours, bakes and temps
to do different pizzas.
Our concept started with
our Neapolitan and New
York, then we adding the
super thin " New Haven
crust " . Next it was our
" upside down " pie we
call " Bostonian. " We then
developed four iconic pan
styles - Grandma, Sicilian,
the Deep Dish Chicago and
that wild Detroit...(Roman
style to come soon). We
are now pushing for our
11th style soon for our pizza
Disneyland concept as some
of our customers now call it.
the pros are in this type
of competition after
watching them compete
for years, I knew I
needed to bring the best
of everything. I needed
a crisp char crust texture
and to emulate how
they strangely cut it in
New Haven. We did add
some sweetness from
caramelized onions and
infused fresh basil with
two types of oregano
into my favorite bold
tomato sauce mix. Lastly,
we hit it with the fresh
chopped garlic with
garlic oil drizzle when it
came out.
10 / PIZZATODAY.COM / JANUARY 2023
As a first-time competitor,
what are your takeaways from
competing?
It was cool hanging out
alongside so many amazing
pizza chefs. I enjoyed watching
the process. I didn't look at it
as a competition, but more of
a celebration. As a first-time
competitor I feel like I was lucky
to have made those tough
decisions, and to be crafting my
pizza without too much practice
at the show following the strict
show guidelines. I simply had
no plans to win. I was in it for
the learning process for me and
perhaps my son to try next time.
Tell us more about your unique operating hours and
philosophies?
We just open four hours a night to develop our pizza passion and
skills. We sell what we come up with and enjoy the concept with the
locals and now with endless traveling foodies. It's a part-time boutique
hobby shop concept for fun. This works well with my other business
obligations to produce music for artists and a handful of reality television
shows out of Los Angeles. We don't plan on opening full time. We're
not in it for the money. We have fun.
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Pizza Today _ January 23

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