Pie Dream
An online pizza fanatic turns his hobby into a restaurant
When Jeff Varasano moved from New York to Atlanta a decade ago, the hardest part of adjusting was getting used to the city's dismal pizza scene. Unable to ignore memories of Luzzo's and Totonno's, the software engineer began an obsessive quest to re-create his New York favorites at home. And now he's sharing his success with all of Atlanta at his own pizzeria, Varasano's.
Varasano gained a cultish following among pizza fanatics when he began meticulously documenting the missteps and breakthroughs of pie-making (like taking garden shears to his oven's safety latch) on his website. Finally, after years of intensive research, tastings and tours, he opened Varasano's in Atlanta's Buckhead district on March 25.
While Varasano has tinkered with every aspect of making a pie, from sourdough cultures to imported mozzarella, he places the most importance on heat. No longer resorting to hacked home ovens, Varasano chose an electric, Swedish-designed oven, which provides the intense heat needed to perfectly blister every crust.
Now that he's opened his first pizza shop, will Varasano return to New York to compete with the legends? Don't hold your breath. "New Yorkers are satisfied; they already have what they need," he says. "I want to go to places that haven't seen great pizza."
Varasano's Pizzeria, 2171 Peachtree Rd., Atlanta; 404-352-8216 or varasanos.com
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