New Pizzeria brings authentic flavours to the region 

By Sam Odrowski 

A newly opened casual restaurant, with an approachable atmosphere, is bringing the flavours of Italy to downtown Orangeville. 

The Craft Pizza Bar and Italian Kitchen, located at 111 Broadway, opened its doors less than a month ago with a focus on restoring pizza back to its traditional roots while utilizing modern techniques. 

“The tradition, the integrity and the identity that pizza lost, I want to bring it back,” said Paul Fuda, owner and head Pizzaiolo/Chef of The Craft Pizza Bar. “It is a simple food. It is a recognizable food and one of the most popular. But I think through time and through big corporations, combined with a lack of knowledge, it's been kicked to the curb in the sense of quality.” 

He said like how vehicles have various manufacturers for different appeals, there's a different pizza for everyone. 

Pizza used to be considered cheap but its price point has risen over the past few years, so why not order a pizza you can feel good about eating. Put the money you spend into better ingredients instead of fees and marketing, says Fuda. 

Having owned a popular restaurant in Brampton and having over 30 years of pizza making, kitchen experience, in addition to using top-quality ingredients and new age dough techniques, the variety of pizza he serves is keeping customers coming back for more. 

“People are coming in and eating, they're saying, 'finally, a pizza place that's higher end, upper scale.' You can taste the freshness of the ingredients, the quality of the ingredients you can just taste it,” he explained. “We've seen a customer here four times in one week… just going through the menu one thing at a time. Trying the veal sandwiches, meatball sandwiches, pizza, pasta and salads, he's just all over the map. It's wild."  

Part of the reason for the restaurant's success in attracting and retaining customers is the quality of the ingredients it uses, Fuda said. 

“All the ingredients that we procure, you won't find anywhere. We've taken our time, did our research, and said, out of these 15 pepperonis, this is the one we're going with. This is the reason why,” he noted. "The cheese that we use – sure, Ontario's got great cheese – but there's something about the Australian grass-fed mozzarella that gives this pop to it.” 

Fuda said that by ordering in ingredients from overseas, he's able to create truly authentic and delicious flavour combinations.  

“Getting those products from afar, we get to give people a taste of another country in our country. We get to give them local on top of something that's foreign, and I think that's pretty cool because not everybody can afford to get out of the country,” Fuda explained. 

“We've had comparisons to people who've had pizzas in Naples, [Italy]… because we're using ingredients that comes from there. We're using the tomatoes that come from there, we're using the mozzarella that comes from there, we're using the flour that comes from there. So, there's really not much different.”  

Fuda said the focus of the restaurant is making the best pizza possible, but they specialize in Italian dishes as well, such as pastas, salad, and sandwiches.  

“We're first and foremost a pizza shop. You can get anything from a chicken piccata pizza to a Margherita pizza to a chicken Karaage pizza – we do everything,” said Fuda. “The Italian kitchen is the second part of it. We also do Italian food.” 

So far, the most popular pizzas at the new restaurant are New York style, Neapolitan style, Detroit style, Pinsa Romana and Teglia Romana. 

There's a pizza display where people can purchase a single slice for lunch or dinner, with a few different flavours featured each day, depending on popularity.  

“The pizzas in our display, the ingredients on the top have never seen the oven, so they are seeing the heat for first time. It creates that big crispy bottom, that warm centre, followed by that soft top,” said Fuda “When you bite into it, it's just next level pizza." 

There are no paper menus at the restaurant as the types of pasta and pizzas served are always changing, making for a unique dining experience. 

“That's what makes us different, the fact that our menus forever evolving and changing and it's never stale. Everything's always fresh to the eyes and fresh in the kitchen,” Fuda said. 

The Craft Pizza Bar is not your typical pizza place, while the décor brings an upscale feel, they are bringing a modern artisan take on an old traditional favourite. They are open Tuesday through Saturday, check their website for hours.  

Fuda said he'd encourage everyone who hasn't stopped by yet to give The Craft Pizza Bar and Italian Kitchen a try.