Zeneli Brothers Bring Naples To Wooster

by Thomas Breen | Aug 1, 2019 1:00 pm

(14) Comments | Commenting has been closed | E-mail the Author

Posted to: Arts & Culture, Dining, Food, Wooster Square

Gazmir Zeneli spent nine years perfecting the Neapolitan “Queen Margherita”-style pizza as the head pizza chef for New York City’s Eataly Italian market and food hall. Now, the Naples native and two of his brothers have brought their cheese and pizza-making prowess to their own new restaurant at the center of the city’s Pizza Row in Wooster Square. Gazmir, Aleko, and Jeshar Zeneli joined Mayor Toni Harp and a host of local foodies and economic development boosters Thursday morning for an official ribbon cutting for their new restaurant, Zeneli pizzeria e cucina napoletana, located at 138 Wooster St. “New Haven is all about pizza,” Gazmir said with a toothy smile when asked why open another pizza place right next door to such local legends as Pepe’s and Sally’s. Why not go to the center of the pizza universe, he said, if he and his brothers want to prove themselves as the exceptional pizza makers they know themselves to be. The Zeneli brothers were born in Albania but grew up in Caserta, Naples, Gazmir said. That area of southern Italy is best known for its buffalo mozzarella, he said, as well as for the simple, fresh ingredients that go into a traditionally Neapolitan pie. Standing just in front of the gold-plated, wood-fired oven that anchors one corner of the SEEDnh-designed building, Zeneli walked through those ingredients and the few steps necessary to put together his signature “Queen Margherita” pie, supposedly named after an Italian flag-colored pizza made by a Neapolitan chef to celebrate the Margherita of Savoy’s 1889 visit to the city. He pulled a Caupto flour-made ball of pizza dough out of the container where it had been rising for 24 hours. He flipped in the air, spun it flat, pinched the air-y dough’s edges and slathered on fresh tomato sauce, pieces of basil, and homemade buffalo mozzarella cheese. He and fellow pizza maker Marco Mazzoni, who worked with Zeneli to help open Eataly restaurants in Chicago and Las Vegas, slipped the tri-colored pizza onto a wooden pizza bar, leaned it into the wood-fired oven for just a few minutes, and then poured on top some Sorrento-sourced extra virgin olive oil as cameras clicked and mouth salivated. “Instead of taking 11 hours on an airplane,” Gazmir said, “we want to bring Naples right here.” Not just the pizza, he said, but the pasta, the bread, the cheese, the culture. “I have tasted their pizza,” Harp said at the ribbon cutting. “I’ve tested their crust. I’ve tasted their cheese. And you haven’t tasted anything yet until you’ve tasted Zeneli’s right here.” Click on the Facebook Live video below to watch Thursday’s press conference.

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posted by: Morris Cove 06512 on August 1, 2019 1:47pm Can you please post the hours? [Reporter’s note: 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, 10:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Thanks for asking!]

posted by: THREEFIFTHS on August 1, 2019 5:16pm No Vegan pies? If You’ve Ever Eaten Pizza Before, This Will Blow Your Mind (Maybe Literally) I love pizza! It’s one of my top favorite foods next to kale and cake. And I know I’m not the only one that loves it, either. Recently, the USDA conducted a study which revealed the enormous amount of pizza we consume in the United States. American consumption of cheese increased by nearly 30% in 10 years because the dairy industry is spending big bucks to promote pizza and partner with big chains like Dominos. Congress even voted to declare pizza a vegetable in the school lunch program. The government wants us to eat pizza – a lot of it. But there’s a lot going on behind closed doors that nobody wants us to know or talk about, and it all starts with the ingredients. Well, I’ll tell you what they’re hiding: Lots and lots of hidden MSG! MSG tricks your brain into believing that what you are eating tastes so great that you want more of it. Your taste buds sense that there is more protein in the food than there really is – which is great for food manufacturers that want to save money by using less or lower quality meat. These ingredients also promote an addiction to pizza so that you keep coming back to order more. MSG and hidden MSG additives are known to commonly cause headaches, obesity and depression – and this is just the tip of the iceberg. As an excitotoxin, its effect on the brain is so toxic that it has been linked to learning disabilities, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and Lou Gehrig’s disease https://foodbabe.com/if-youve-ever-eaten-pizza-before-this-will-blow-your-mind/ Go Vegan!!!!

posted by: EPDP on August 1, 2019 5:17pm The pizza crust looks way too thick for a New Haven pie. Did the reporter verify that these guys are really from Naples? I would do a background check, they could be from Sicily or Albania. Is there a kosher variety of this pizza?

Larry Noodles

posted by: ElmUrbanist on August 1, 2019 7:08pm My wife and I ate here this evening. It was very good! Their appetizers are quite delicious, too. We’ll be back. A great addition to Wooster Square.

posted by: Lifer on August 1, 2019 9:38pm Wow these guys have chutzpah!

posted by: CityYankee on August 2, 2019 6:41am EPDP—- if it is genuinely like Italian pizza, the crust will be very thin but soft and not like a cracker. The unfortunate use of crazy ingredients has led to a mutation of pizza in NH area that is disturbing. Perhaps someone can explain why crust is so crackery now? Also— they are not Italian, as the article says, but Albanian immigrants to Naples.

Will be happy to give them a try but I am very fussy about Italian food .BTW- NH has Italian-American food and it is quite different than what you will find in Italy. Right now, I am leaning toward Apizza Grande on Coe Ave in East Haven. The Nuzzo’s know pizza! PS—- 3/5’s: I’m lookin’ into that MSG comment you made—- Oh no!!!

posted by: mspepper on August 2, 2019 8:37am THREEFIFTHS, Your baseless claims about MSG are not only documented falsehoods, but more importantly, the product of overt racism: https://curj.columbia.edu/article/a-racist-little-hat-the-msg-debate-and-american-culture/

https://qz.com/quartzy/1477172/the-persistent-racist-myth-of-chinese-restaurant-syndrome-just-wont-die/

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-msg-got-a-bad-rap-flawed-science-and-xenophobia/

posted by: CityYankee on August 2, 2019 9:18am MsPepper: MSG?!? Racist? Now , food additive studies are racist. I’ve had enough of this drivel. Take your victimhood and keep it close to your heart. Revel in it. It’s all you have.

posted by: mspepper on August 2, 2019 9:52am CityYankee, Adjust tin-foil hat for better reception.

posted by: KingoftheBoulevard on August 2, 2019 10:06am I had to register here to reply to some of the misinformation in the comments on this article. This is a Neapolitan-style pizza, different from the New Haven-style pizza. It is exactly the style of pizza you will find in Naples. Please read more about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neapolitan_pizza Neapolitan style pizza follows the rules of Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (https://www.pizzanapoletana.org) which dictates how this type of pizza is to be made. While Zeneli may not be a member of the AVPN, they are making pizzas in this style. Gazmir Zeneli came from Rossopomodoro at Eataly in NYC and they make pizza in the same Neapolitan style: https://www.eataly.com/us_en/magazine/eataly-stories/award-winning-pizza The comment about MSG is nonsense. The article that was linked is referencing chain pizza restaurants like Dominos and Pizza Hut. The idea that they are even in the same universe as the pizza we have in New Haven is absurd and even referencing it in reference to this type of pizza is completely disingenuous. Great pizza requires few ingredients (flour, yeast, water, salt, olive oil, tomatoes, mozzarella) and in New Haven, MSG is definitely not one of them. After Mamma Mia in Southington (another Neapolitan-style place) closed due to a fire, I look forward to trying the pizza at Zeneli. It looks to be another great option to the already awesome pizza scene in New Haven.

posted by: mspepper on August 2, 2019 1:19pm KingoftheBoulevard, Thanks for those links. Unfortunately, asking these folks to read anything other than InfoWars is a tall order.

posted by: THREEFIFTHS on August 2, 2019 8:06pm posted by: mspepper on August 2, 2019 8:37am

THREEFIFTHS, Your baseless claims about MSG are not only documented falsehoods, but more importantly, the product of overt racism: MSG is Dangerous — The Science Is In And, if you are like me, what scientific research do you use to convince the doubters among your circle of family and friends? The good news is the science proving MSG is dangerous is out there, and I’ve collected a lot of here for you. Research on the dangers of MSG continues to mount, albeit slowly. Some contend that funding for such projects is inevitably sparse. After all, why would the food industry (which funds most of these sorts of research ventures) want to spend money proving the detrimental effects of one of its chief money makers? There are a growing number of people who report immediate, adverse reactions within minutes eating MSG.

Typical MSG complaints include: burning sensations of the mouth, head and neck, (1)

weakness of the arms or legs, (1)

headaches, (1)

upset stomach, (1)

hives or other allergic-type reactions with the skin.(2) https://www.foodrenegade.com/msg-dangerous-science/ Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills 1st Edition Citing over five hundred scientific studies, Excitotoxins explores the dangers of aspartame, MSG, and other substances added to our food. This is an electrifying and important book that should be available to every American consumer. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0929173252/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0929173252&linkCode=as2&tag=foodrene-20 Actually, MSG Is Not Safe for Everyone (Op-Ed) The moral of the story is simple: Blanket statements like “MSG isn’t bad for you” are misguided — they give a false perception of safety to a compound that not everyone should be consuming.

https://www.livescience.com/47931-msg-not-safe-for-everyone.html I will stick with my vegan pie.

posted by: THREEFIFTHS on August 2, 2019 8:15pm @ mspepper My bad What does chinese food have to do with pizza?This story is about Pizza. r