Making Pizza in an Apartment
Get to know Dan Casazza and Casazza House Pizza.
What would make someone want to wake up at 6 a.m. on a Saturday to bake pizzas in their apartment for total strangers? For Dan Casazza, it goes all the way back to being 12 years-old, eating pizza, and watching wrestling with his best friends. The older we get, the more I think we’re all trying to chase down those moments again (as we should be), and the fact that Dan uses that nostalgia as inspiration to create food to share with random Chicagoans is as perfect an introduction to him as any type of writer-y nonsense I could come up.
One of my favorite movements over the last few years has been the explosion of the small batch creator/cottage business. Whatever your favorite thing to eat is — and I’m guessing it’s at least partially pizza due to the fact you’re here — there’s someone out there that’s dedicated themselves to making an incredibly personal version of that thing to share with you. I’m equally infatuated and impressed by anyone motivated enough to put that piece of themselves out there, and finding and supporting those tiniest of businesses has quickly become a hobby of mine.
Dan was the first home baker to find me, and it was a really big, lightning bolt, proof of concept moment. He was exactly the type of pizza maker I’d wanted to write about going into this, so the fact he messaged me made me feel like someone else out there got what I was trying to do and I was headed down the right track.
I stopped by one of Dan’s drops a few Saturdays back to talk about his love of food, how he started doing this in the first place, what he loves about pizza in Chicago, and what it’s like to try and get people to venture outside the very specific regional style of pizza they grew up eating. The interview turned out great, and I can’t thank Dan enough for welcoming me into his casa (get it!), and sneaking me a few slices.
I also have to give a huge shout out to Emma and Alan for letting me ask them some questions on camera to include with the post.
CPN: Let’s hit it from the top. Dan, what do you love about pizza?
Dan: In regard to wanting to share it with people, you don’t have to explain it. Everyone loves pizza. Everyone loves a lot of pizza. They love good pizza. They love not as good pizza. There’s no learning curve, or adjustment. And that makes it easy to want to share and create things for other people. People are used to having it delivered. They’re used to the leftovers. All of that makes it easy to offer people. Because they already know they like it.
CPN: What do you love about pizza in Chicago?
Dan: There’s all different kinds, in all parts of the city. It’s something for me to explore. A foodie like myself, who wants to have my own little part of the scene for myself, it’s an infinitely explorable thing and Chicago is so great for that. And I feel lucky to be a part of it.
CPN: What do you enjoy about making pizza?
Dan: I can always tinker with it. The first time I ever made it, it actually turned out pretty decent. So that was immediately reassuring and reaffirming like, “Okay! I can do this! This is something people might like!” And it looks good, too. That’s a big part of it. That’s how I’ve made this thing happen, is on Instagram. I’ve always liked cooking, and sharing, and hosting. And pizza is the perfect thing for that.
CPN: Where did your current recipe come from?
Dan: I bought it from someone off of Instagram. His handle is Notorious P.I.E., and he’s made several different guides for several different kinds of pizza that you can make at home. There’s all the steps in like a 30-page PDF with every little detail. I started with Kenji’s recipe (Editor’s Note: Dan is referring to J. Kenji-Lopez Alt, who is a fantastic chef and food writer), which he admits is kind of basic. It’s a same day recipe that you can do in very few steps. And it got to me a point where I was curious enough and bought this recipe. And that turned a corner. Everything really improved after that. It got more consistent. It was a totally different quality. And I tinkered with it from there. I’ve picked up hints, and little bits of wisdom here and there. But I wouldn’t have gotten to this point without that recipe. I’ve credited that guy before. I’ve reached out to him, and thanked him effusively for what he’s helped me achieve. I’m not a recipe maker. I’m a step follower.
CPN: Do you remember the first pizza you ever made?
Dan: It was January 09th, 2021. I remember the exact day, because it was a Bills playoff game. Just a regular cheese pizza. I wanted to try it out. And like I said, it was like, “Oh shit! This turned out pretty decent!” And from there each next one has gotten a little more decent.
CPN: And that was Detroit-style?
Dan: Detroit-style. Yeah.
CPN: What made you want to try making that first?
Dan: I had first tried Jet’s, which is probably a lot of people’s intro to Detroit-style. And I really liked it. Still like it. I forget what made me want to try and make this at home after trying Jet’s… I forget if I found the recipe first, or if I wanted to find the recipe first? I can’t remember what exactly the inspiration was. But definitely the first time I tried Jet’s is what got me hooked. I had never had Detroit-style before. And we’ve all had all different kinds of pizza, but Detroit-style? It hits all the same notes, because it’s pizza, but also in a completely different way.
CPN: Where was the Jet’s? Here?
Dan: Yup.
CPN: Then where did the idea come from to start making it in your apartment and sharing it with other people?
Dan: So I’m a big host-er. A big, “Hey! The big game is on!” Whatever that big game is, Super Bowl, World Series, or whatever, “Come over. I’m making food.” Wasn’t always pizza. And I’m a big wrestling fan. “The wrestling pay-per-view is on!” And my friends don’t care about wrestling. But they care about free food. And we can have a couple drinks and hang out. I’ve been doing that my whole adult life, since I’ve had my own place. And then I made my first pizza. You take a picture of it and share it with someone. My friends seemed to like it. Then I’m doing it more, and sharing more pictures. This whole thing just snowballed. Then I started sharing it on Instagram because I’m doing it enough that I just wanted a dedicated place to share those pictures. Like a little library, I guess. And then a stranger wants it for the first time. And then I sell one to somebody. And I didn’t sell one until, I feel like, less than a year ago. But here I am.
CPN: What’s your current ordering process?
Dan: It’s really just people hitting me up off Instagram. I’m definitely tweaking and tinkering with the ordering process all the time, whether that’s trying to make it easier for people or easier for myself. And I’m not doing it all the time. I’m trying to limit how much I do it because it’s just me in my apartment and I don’t want to drive myself too crazy or feel like I have to make it all the time. It’s been organic. Just word of mouth. Hit me up, and I’ll let you know if I’m making it that weekend. And like I said, I’m tinkering with some other ways. Whether that will be more limited events, or things where you have to respond at a certain date and time to get the slots that are available. We’ll see. I don’t necessarily want to do more of it. I just want to get to the best, most efficient, most rewarding process for myself, I guess.
CPN: How did your collaboration with Billy come about?
Dan: Of course I’ve seen Billy on the pizza Instagram. You’ve got to start with Billy on Chicago pizza Instagram. I had seen him post silliness and wrestling memes and stuff, and I’m a wrestling fan, so I knew he had at least some interest and some awareness. I had this idea to do a raffle, so I just hit him up. And selfishly, that’s me kind of borrowing some of his success, and aligning myself with some of Chicago’s best. And he was game for it. We met up and exchanged pizzas. And he introduced me to Paper Thin Pizza too. He just happened to be there when we met up at Solemn Oath. “Here! Meet this guy too!” It was that simple. There wasn’t a whole, long vetting process, or feeling each other out. It was just, “Cool! Sounds like a great idea!” It’s relatively simple to pull off, and it’s all for charity.
CPN: How would you describe your pizza to someone who’s never had it before?
Dan: I guess the easiest way for me to frame it is people often describe Detroit-style as just like, focaccia with pizza toppings on it. A thicker bread pizza. Anytime you’re talking Detroit you really have to emphasize the crispy edges. You have to start there. That’s what the whole allure is. Certainly a lot of people back East, I’m from Connecticut, they haven’t had Detroit-style. There’s a couple random places that have popped up, but they’re definitely not used to it like we are in the Midwest. So I have to try and explain it. But that’s what makes having Instagram so good, the pictures can do the talking for you.
CPN: What do you think is unique about the Detroit-style pizza you make?
Dan: I definitely try and err a little crunchier. I add a lot of fat, which adds a certain quality to it. I’m not the most exacting or technical chef. And now you’ve seen what the operation is! It’s just a guy at home. It really is that simple. I’m measuring a few things, but not a lot. I’m going by what I think I would like. And I hope that comes through in what people are eating. It’s definitely homemade, in the best way. It’s made by someone who appreciates it. And not to be corny, but I feel like you can taste that in food. You can receive that in the food you buy, the food you eat, the food you make. When you do it with a passion and an appreciation, and you’re having fun with it too, I hope that’s what makes mine unique.
CPN: That’s what I look for when I’m going out to restaurants. You can taste that. You can tell the difference. Where are you typically drawing your ideas from when you do a specialty pizza?
Dan: (Laughing) Life, man! Being a foodie and being curious. Seeing an idea somewhere else. There’s hardly anything that you couldn’t put on a pizza that would be bad. Or at least worth trying. Any entrée I like. Anything from the Food Network. Anything from the past. It’s really just taking the time to learn to make it. And I have a note on my phone with a couple dozen things I’ve thought of. And not all of them are unique. They’ve been done before. But when an idea strikes, I’m writing it down, and I want to return to it.
CPN: What would you consider to be the coolest thing that’s happened to you as a result of making pizza in your apartment?
Dan: Having the folks at Marz (Marz Community Brewing) hit me up to do a pop-up, sight unseen. I went to Marz the first day they opened. I remember standing in the throngs of people to get the first beers they were ever serving. I was one of the first people in the door. So I’ve always been a fan of their beer. And they just hit me up one day. It was later in the evening, and my girlfriend had just gone to sleep, and I was laying there thinking, I have to do this. I’m not set up to do this. And I wasn’t expecting to do this. But this is an opportunity you have to take. You can’t say no. I could say, “Yes, but give me a little time, please. I need a little time, please.” That was a huge opportunity, and definitely a lot of work, but it all went smoothly. So it wasn’t this huge ordeal, it was fun. Some friends came to visit from out of town. And some friends of my brother, who I’d never even met before, they found out about it and they were visiting. It was a very cool day.
CPN: What’s your all-time favorite pizza?
Dan: If we’re talking about the pizza I’ve eaten the most? I’m never going to diss Domino’s.
CPN: I meant more like, death row pizza…
Dan: I’ll get to that! That was the, Friday night and dad needs to put something on the table because moms not home and she’s off doing a catering job, so it’s Domino’s. Domino’s was always there. It’s a wrestling party and we finally have enough money that we scraped together because we’re 12 years-old. That’s Domino’s. I will never use the word “elevate” when it comes to my own pizza. I like to have a certain quality, and I like to put some care and some love into it. But who am I? I’m not there to “elevate” anything. I never want to get so far away that I can’t enjoy McDonald’s, or Domino’s, or a hot dog, or something similar. Everything doesn’t need to be a Michelin Star experience. So Domino’s definitely holds a special place in my heart. But if we’re talking about the death row, the one of one, it’s Sally’s in New Haven. I’m from Connecticut, but not terribly close to New Haven. So we didn’t go to that part of the state too much. But now in my adult years when it’s easy for us to go down there, we’re going all the time. And you’ve been down there. There’s a cool neighborhood down there. It’s a cool experience. And that pizza always hits. I’ll try and convince friends back home, “Detroit-style is great!” But those colors don’t run.
CPN: Those grease stains don’t run!
Dan: They’re not changing their minds! And I can’t convince them otherwise.
CPN: Is there anything else you want people to know about Casazza House pizza?
Dan: I think it’s all there on the page (his Instagram), and on the plate. I devote so much of my time and energy to this because I can do it exactly as I want to. What I share is curated for having a nice presentation, but it’s an honest expression of me and what I like. So I hope that conveys a lot about who I am. Hopefully anyone reading this can try my pizza some day. It’s the pizza I like to make, and with it, the thought and effort I put into sharing something they’ll hopefully go crazy for.
CPN: And lastly, any advice for anyone out there who would like to do what you do?
Dan: Have fun with it. There are so many tools, and I listen to all these different podcasts where they talk about this, the barrier to entry is zero right now. You can get an Ooni, or a Gozney, or what have you. If someone wants to make a career out of it, or a business out of it, it’s definitely available to you. So be curious about it. Put yourself into it. Get an inspired by other people. If they’ve paved the way, then look at what they’re doing. You can emulate it, but if you’re not doing it for your own reasons, and you don’t have your own investmet in it, you’re gonna lose steam. For me it hasn’t always been pizza, but it’s always been this. Pizza is what I’m doing, but it could have been tacos, or cookies, or birthday cakes or something. But what it has always been is me putting the inspiration I get into something. And that’s what I think. Take it from your life. Take the inspiration. Appreciate it. And that can be the motivation.
