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Business & Tech

Pizzeria DaVinci Comes Up a Winner

Local pizza shop competes on national level.

The 11 locations of can now add "Award Winning" to the menu, following a second-place finish at the American Pizza Championships held in Milwaukee last month.

Pizzeria DaVinci owner and founder Drew Sassi, of Killingworth, walked away with the second-place prize in just his second foray into the world of competitive pizza making. In fact, this was the second pizza competition for Sassi in less than a month. Sassi, his wife Carrie and colleague Doug Felton participated in the International Pizza Expo in Chicago, finishing 19th in a field of 65 from around the world. The winner of that competition was from Italy.

For both of these competitions, participants are required to bring all the ingredients to make their best pizzas for an independent panel of judges. Sassi learned some tricks from the Chicago competition which served his Milwaukee pizzas well.

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For each competition Sassi entered a different pizza. He created a fig, arugula and speck - a lightly smoked ham - pizza at the International Expo. Sassi decided to deliver a local and personal favorite - the DaVinci - at the American Championships. This vegetarian specialty white pizza is topped with spinach, sun dried tomatoes, roasted garlic and feta cheese.

"When we went to Chicago I thought my pizza was pretty unique," Sassi said. "but it turned out it wasn't so different."

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While the fig flavored pizza was a hit among friends and family, Sassi said the cost of the ingredients prevents him from adding it to the restaurant menu.

"I came back from Chicago in competition mode and I wanted to do more so I found the American Pizza Championships and was lucky enough to get one of the last remaining spots."

The Milwaukee competition featured 10 contestants from around the country vying for a chance to win an all-expenses paid trip to Italy for the International Championships. Each contestant was required to bring enough ingredients to make two identical pies - one for the judges to sample, the other for the other competitors to taste. In the end, Sassi said, only four points separated the DaVinci pizza from the winner's deep dish-style pizza.

One of the tricks learned along the way was in the preparation of the dough before the competition. Because all the ingredients must be fresh, the team travelled with coolers of food that they checked as baggage at the airport. For the Chicago trip, the dough was made beforehand and wrapped in plastic and stored in sealed bags. However, the dough kept rising before it was time to make the pizza. For the trip to Milwaukee, the dough was pre-rolled into crusts and very lightly baked before flying out.

"This made all the difference," Sassi said. "When it came time to make the pizza all I had to do was add the fresh toppings and bake."

Sassi grew up in Killingworth and in the pizza business. For years, his family owned Apizza Fresco in Higganum. When his parents retired, Sassi took over the Killingworth Road location in Higganum and converted it to a Pizzeria DaVinci. The rest, as they say, is history.

Pizzeria DaVinci also has locations in Avon, Cobalt, Cromwell, Deep River, Ellington, Hebron, Higganum, Moodus, Old Lyme and Rockfall. Each restaurant is owned by Sassi family members or close friends. They have established licensing agreements with each location and oversee all management and staff training, menu design, restaurant set-up and decoration right down to using the same color palate at each enterprise.

"I've definitely got the bug and am already signed up for the 2012 International Expo," Sassi said admitting that her is scouring the internet for other competitions.

Pizzeria DaVinci is located in the Cobalt section of East Hampton at 367 W. High St. Call, 860-267-4174.

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