NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A New Haven pizza maker is counting down the days before he flies to Las Vegas for the International Pizza Expo, where he will introduce the New Haven-style pizza to attendees from across the world.
Next week, Frank Zabski, owner of the New Haven Pizza School, will compete against other pizzaiolos, or pizza makers, while he judges other pizza-making competitions and demonstrates how to make the New Haven-style pizza to thousands of audience members.
“I grew up in Connecticut in West Haven. I absolutely love pizza,” Zabski said. “It’s in my blood in more ways than one, so I love New Haven-style pizza. But here’s the kicker, outside of Connecticut or New England, and even as far as the east coast, New Haven-style pizza is not well-known.”
Zabski hopes to change that when he arrives at the three-day expo, which is dedicated to all things pizza and runs from March 19-21. He noted that New Haven-style pizza is growing rapidly in popularity and he hopes to ride the surge, bringing it even more acclaim.
Zabski first learned of the international expo while participating in its “sister competition,” the Pizza & Pasta Northeast and Artisan Bakery Expo in Atlantic City, N.J. After presenting there last October, he was invited to Las Vegas for this month’s convention.
When he made his first pizza at a church carnival at 12 years old, Zabski fell in love with the process, but he never expected to teach. Between 2012 and 2016, he operated the Fired Up Pizza Truck, and when the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020, he established a Facebook page called “All About New Haven Style A’pizza”.
“I started that with zero people and have about 18,000 (followers) right now. I’ve also done a lot of pizza reviews in Connecticut under the brand ‘Pizza Gavones’. That all kind of led me up to where I am now, which is the New Haven Pizza School,” Zabski said.
Located on Humphrey Street, the New Haven Pizza School teaches students of all ages how to make the famous New Haven-style pizza. Zabski has earned recognition throughout the country for launching his “pizza learning” school.
“Over the past couple of years, I’ve taught over 3,000 people how to make New Haven-style pizza,” Zabski said. “I’ve also competed several times in the United States for best pizza in specific categories. I’ve actually done some speaking and have been really fortunate to have some articles in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and the Washington Post (written) about the school or myself.”
The premise of the school is to teach home users how to make New Haven-style pizza in their home ovens. The class begins with dough tossing, as Zabski shows attendees how to toss dough in the air.
Then, Zabski shares the history of New Haven-style pizza before teaching the class how to make the dough and sauce, ball and stretch the dough, assemble and launch the pizza and bake, cut and eat the pizza.
When it comes to the New Haven style, Zabski said the final product is not a traditional eight-slice pizza. The class ends as students learn how to complete a “New Haven cut,” which involves cutting the pie in different, crazy and unsymmetrical shapes.
“The premise is really to bring people together. Most of these people don’t know each other. It’s a really fun environment, and I have Italian music playing the whole time. It’s something completely different. That’s really what it boils down to,” Zabski said.
To learn more about the New Haven Pizza School, people can contact Zabski at frank@NewHavenPizzaSchool.com or visit NewHavenPizzaSchool.com.
As a testament to Zabski’s success, it is worth noting that there is a wait.
“The blessing and the curse on that is this business has just taken off like crazy, so I’m booked from now until almost the end of June. It’s definitely a long line,” he said.
Dalton Zbierski is a digital content producer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dzbierski@FOX61.com.
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