Giorgia Caporuscio, holding a pizza at Don Antonio restaurant, is making a mark in pizza culinary history as the only female pizza chef featured in the Michelin Guide. Originally from Italy, she believes that a woman’s touch is better when it comes to kneading dough, especially for the Neapolitan-style pizza she serves at her restaurant in Hell’s Kitchen.
Caporuscio, 34, shared with The Post that women have a unique ability to control power in their hands, making them well-suited for working with the delicate dough of Neapolitan pizza. Her restaurant, Don Antonio, located on West 50th Street, has received accolades beyond just the Michelin Guide, ranking seventh in the U.S. and 30th in the world according to 50 Top Pizza.
Growing up on a farm in Terracina, 35 miles from Rome, Caporuscio moved to New York at 19 to join her father, Roberto, who was a pioneer in bringing Neapolitan-style pizza to Manhattan. Despite facing skepticism and taunts from Italian male employees when she started out at her father’s restaurant, Caporuscio found her passion for pizza-making and eventually took over Don Antonio in 2020.
Caporuscio’s journey in the pizza world includes making history as the youngest woman to win the Caputo Cup in Naples, known as the Olympics of Pizza. One of her signature dishes, La Montanara, pays homage to women who would fry pizza on the streets to support their households while the men worked. Despite facing doubts about her ability to balance her career with motherhood, Caporuscio has proven her critics wrong by achieving even greater success in recent years.
After years of working alongside her father, she took the brave step to lead Don Antonio with her husband, Matteo, by her side. Overcoming challenges and stereotypes, Caporuscio continues to break barriers in the male-dominated world of pizza-making, showing her customers and the industry her true talent and determination.
“Upon seeing who was preparing the pizza,” she recounted, “he was initially surprised that I, a woman, was the one behind it. Then, he exclaimed, ‘Oh my God, you’re expecting a baby!’ Now, Caporuscio is guiding aspiring young women looking to pursue a similar path, as a key figure in the Women in Pizza nonprofit organization. ‘This is the main distinction between us and male pizza makers. They tend to be secretive, always claiming, ‘No, this is my special sauce.’ But we are open and generous, willing to share everything.'”
