As I continue working my way through the CT Pizza Trail’s top 100, I found myself sitting comfortably on the front porch of Sasso’s Coal Fired Pizza in downtown Torrington, umbrella overhead, studying the ghost signs painted on the brick buildings around me, faded advertisements for businesses long gone. Some dated back a hundred years, bearing the names of stores only grandma and grandpa might remember. Nearby, current storefronts told a small-town story, an old-fashioned candy store, a refurbished movie house, an inn dating back to the 19th century. I knew right away I was somewhere special, though I didn’t yet know the history of Torrington, or of Sasso’s, a story that pairs old-fashioned Yankee ingenuity with real perseverance and dedication.
More often than not, when I stumble upon great pizza, I find the pizzeria’s backstory just as interesting as the pie itself. Pizzeria Sasso is no exception.
Sasso’s was founded in 2016 by Matt Cipriano and his cousin Jeff Smart, who together built the restaurant from the ground up with their own hands, literally. Both were former construction workers and contractors, and they personally built the original tables, bar, walls, and light fixtures, leaving only the plumbing and hood system to the professionals. They named their dream Sasso’s Coal Fired Pizza in honor of Matt’s grandfather, Robert and his great-grandfather, Thomas Sasso.
Smart, a Watertown native and former chef and caterer, moved to Belize in the late 2000s to work in construction. Once there, he was homesick for pizza, and not just any pizza, but Pepe’s, which he described eating “before I had teeth.” Without any alternative, his Yankee ingenuity kicked in. Fully aware that he needed intense heat to recreate the pizza of his childhood, Jeff experimented until he invented, and eventually patented, a curved, stainless steel pizza dome designed to concentrate heat. The USPTO described his invention as a “specialized curved, heat-trapping refractory structure designed to recreate the intense ambient dome heat of commercial coal or wood-fired ovens within smaller consumer cooking spaces.”
After Smart returned to the U.S., he started making pizza for his family. His cousin Matt soon joined in, and the two eventually decided to share their creations with others. Opening a restaurant was the natural next step. As their dream took shape, the two knew they wanted more than just a high-heat oven, they wanted to recreate the same intense, coal-fired heat behind Jeff’s childhood memories.
Where should they locate? They chose Torrington, it was accessible, had a wonderful downtown, and they envisioned a reemergence, maybe in the spirit of Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Sasso’s opened in 2016 just steps from the Warner Theatre, making it a natural pre-show dinner spot. The restaurant was built to showcase Smart’s pizza alongside other coal-fired dishes.
If you’ve never been to Torrington, its downtown will catch you off guard in a positive way, block after block of Art Deco and Art Moderne architecture. The centerpiece is the Warner Theatre, built by Warner Brothers in 1931 to showcase their films, just four years after The Jazz Singer ushered in the talkies. The theater seats 1,700 people and remains a beacon for Art Deco enthusiasts. It continued to thrive until 1955, when disaster struck.
In August, Hurricanes Connie and Diane struck central Connecticut back-to-back, with Torrington at the center of both storms. The town received over two feet of rain, the worst natural disaster in Connecticut’s history. Statewide damages topped $200 million (roughly $2.3 billion today); Torrington’s share alone was estimated at over $20 million (about $200 million today). Perseverance won out. Five years later, Torrington’s mayor declared, “Torrington stands today a new city, a living memorial to the efforts, the sacrifices and determination of a people who refused to be beaten by flood devastation.”
The recovery didn’t last. For the next 25 years, downtown Torrington watched as businesses failed or fled to strip malls, while televisions kept families entertained at home. Downtown shops and the Warner Theater suffered, finally closing its doors in 1981 and faced demolition the following year. Local residents weren’t ready to let that occur. They formed the Northwest Connecticut Association for the Arts (NWCAA) and successfully campaigned to save the theater, and it reopened as a performing arts center in 1983. Renovations continued through November 2002. Today it hosts a full schedule of plays, concerts, and ballets, as well as its own school for the arts. That same spirit of preservation shaped the neighborhood around it. The Downtown Torrington National Historic District was formed in 1988, followed by the Water Street Historic District in 2003; both eventually earned National Register recognition. You can feel that civic pride in every restored façade.
Enough of those great trips down memory lane, let’s talk pizza. Sasso’s menu offers a fair number of salads, numerous entrées, and a long list of red and white pies. I kept it simple and went with The New Haven, described as crushed San Marzano tomatoes, Romano cheese, oregano, and extra virgin olive oil. Those of us south of Waterbury just call this “ah-beetz.”
When it arrived, it was a genuinely impressive sight. Apizza lives or dies on just four items, crust, sauce, grated cheese, and seasoning. The crust looked beautifully baked, charred in all the right spots, promising a crisp bite. The sauce was generous, reaching all the way to the edges, and the deep color indicated this should deliver real tomato depth. There was an ample amount of grated cheese covering the sauce, and I could see a nice sprinkling of oregano.
I lifted a slice to check the underside. It was perfect, with just the right amount of char, exactly what I wanted to see. The slice held its structure perfectly. Now for the real test, would the bite live up to the look? Oh yes, it did, it was fantastic. There was a nice crunch from the crust, then the tomato sauce kicked in. The subtlety of the grated cheese was perfectly applied, and then a little spice from the oregano. It was pizza heaven. I wanted to enjoy every bite and slowed the pace. Each slice, each bite, was spectacular. This is one of the best apizza I’ve had in Connecticut, incredibly impressive.
I drove to Torrington expecting good pizza, what I found was spectacular apizza. Sasso’s story is about two cousins partnering to create a coal-fired culinary destination in a town that has survived the worst of what Mother Nature could deliver. Sitting among the Art Deco buildings and enjoying great apizza was a memorable experience. If you’re working your way through the CT Pizza Trail, Sasso’s belongs near the top of your list.
52 Main St.
Torrington, CT 06790
FN – I went unannounced, without an invitation, and paid for my meal like any customer. Nobody was aware that I’d be writing about the visit or the food. This is my honest opinion on a normal visit, nothing special or comped.
