Razza

Our ultimate goal is to serve the best pizza possible. We are challenging the common practices of pizza-making in the hope of influencing the industry and elevating the overall quality of pizza in America. It’s a lofty goal that means constantly searching for better ingredients while continuously honing our techniques with each and every pizza we make. We have defined what great pizza is to us, and painstakingly worked backwards to create it.

 

At Razza, we aspire to the Italian way of cooking and eating, where location and seasonality dictate your ingredients. You eat the vegetables that are grown near you and stray from the ones that are not. The seasons and your land will tell you which ingredients to prepare. That process is carried through every decision we make because it is the ingredients we use that help us create the best possible food. The flour we use is milled in Clifton. We make our own bread and our own butter. Each ingredient is hand-picked, down to the salt that goes on the pizza. We have grown our own yeast culture that we believe makes a better pie. Our beer and wine list has been selected specifically to pair with our food, even if it means a brand or label almost completely unknown. If it’s the best, that’s what we want.

 

We are not saying we have the perfect pizza, but that is our goal, and it informs everything we do. Everything is about the product and making it better every single day. If that means learning a new cooking technique, then we do it. If it means trying a new farm for vegetables, then we do it. Every day, our commitment is to provide the best product and the best process to give you the best food, and ultimately, the best pizza.

---

 

Born and raised in Matawan, New Jersey, Dan always had a passion for food. He received his Bachelor’s degree at Rutgers University, where he skipped the graduation ceremony and flew to Italy. There, he found food and a way of cooking that was so incredibly different than anything he had ever experienced in the United States. After returning home, he began to cook and was inspired to learn everything he could about Italian cooking techniques and ingredients. He started a catering company at first, and then began working in professional kitchens. In 2007, Dan purchased a small pizzeria in Maplewood, New Jersey, and turned a struggling pizzeria into a fun, lively neighborhood restaurant lauded for its fresh ingredients and artisanal pizza. In recognition of his cooking, Dan was a James Beard Foundation Rising Star Chef semi-finalist in 2011. In 2017, Razza received a 3 star review from the New York Times, and in 2019 was named Best Pizza in North America by 50 Best.

---