Pies Fly At Atticus Market’s Inaugural Pizza Night

One hour into the rousingly successful introduction of pizza at Atticus Market on Thursday night, someone asked owner Charlie Negaro, Jr. if all his dreams had come true.

Negaro, who was industriously rolling out pizza dough in the brightly lit Orange Street kitchen with his pizza making crew, broke into uproarious laughter.

“I think that’s what I’m reckoning with,” he said. ​“If this works, it’ll be very exciting.”

The plan is to offer 50 pies on Thursdays and Fridays from 5 to 9 p.m., or until they sell out. 

Each of the 14-inch pizzas comes with a base of either traditional mozzarella with tomato sauce, a tomato sauce pie with sliced garlic, or white pie with mozzarella, as well as a choice of toppings, from the standard pepperoni and sausage to soppressata and castelvetrano olives.

The afternoon before, Negaro acknowledged the risk he was taking of ​“being laughed out of town,” as he put it. His communications director Reed Immer allowed they were ​“getting into something that’s scaring the hell out of us.”

“We respect the pizza tradition that is New Haven’s, and we’re trying to add something vital to that,” Immer said. ​“But we also know that pizza is a contentious topic in this town, and New Haven’s foodies are not going to be too forgiving.”

Negaro said he built a brick oven in his Fair Haven backyard during the pandemic. Soon he was having co-workers and friends over for pizza. ​“That’s how it started,” he said.

“From there, it’s been a while in the making,” he said. ​“The goal is to do a version of what we grew up eating in this city, but as an extension of what we do with bread.”

That means a natural fermented dough. ​“That enhances the flavor, the texture, and it makes it a lot more digestible,” Negaro said. There’s also fresh milled flour. ​“Like fresh ground coffee, you want to use it as close to processing as possible for the full experience,”

The sauce, made with organic tomatoes from Bianco de Napoli, is ​“slow-cooked, so you get the kind of jammy, tomato flavor,” he said. The cheese is from Liuzzi in North Haven.

“In 2016 we built a small bakery just for Atticus Cafe,” Negaro said. ​“That was when we started using the fermentation times and the fresh milled flour to make really great bread, really special bread, the kind of bread that people say is the best they ever tasted.” 

“We’re hoping to get to the point where we can show people that we can do that with pizza,” Immer said. ​“Which is insane in this town, but we’re going for it.”

Those who came out to order and pick up Negaro’s creations didn’t seem to share that unease.

“Pizza in this neighborhood? I love it,” said Brian Damischevsky, as music coursed through the space. He ordered a tomato pie with mozzarella. 

“I love the bread, so I’m excited to see what the pizza is like,” said Jennifer, an East Rock resident, after opting for the broccoli rabe and maitake mushrooms.

Kate Kelly asked operations manager Brandi Hansen for a ​“regular mozz with mushrooms,” as more people joined the line. ​“It’s pizza and we love Atticus Market so we came from downtown,” she said.

Conner Wilson, who was heading to the cash register in front, seemed unfazed by the 30-minute wait for his pizza. ​“Their specialty is baked goods, so I’m expecting great things from their crust.”

His wife Rachel shared his enthusiasm. ​“We’ve been big fans of Atticus Market since before they opened, and we were attending their bake sales, and it looked good on Instagram, so here we are,” she said.

“I think it’s great, the more competition, the better,” said Andrew Barringer, as an aroma of charred crust drifted through the air. ​“I love all their baked goods.”

By 6:30 pm, the 50 pies were sold out. Hansen, the operations manager, invited disappointed customers to visit them Friday.

“We are thankful for the turnout and the support of the community,” she said.

Whether that’s enough for Negaro and Immer is unlikely, given the high ceiling they’ve set for themselves.

“We’re using natural ingredients that are mostly locally sourced, but at the end of the day it has to be a pie that people freaking love,” Immer said. ​“It’s not about eating vitamins, it’s about a great freaking pizza.” 

“We just hope to live up to the standard of something that’s worth arguing about,” Negaro said.

Atticus Market is on 771 Orange St.; 203 – 776-4040. www.atticusmarket.com. Pizza available on Thursdays and Fridays 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. In-store ordering only for now.