Celebrated pizzaiola/baker Jackie Mazza feels like she’s back where she belongs at DeeDee’s Pizza, which opened October 1 in New Brunswick, New Jersey. And she’s determined to “knock people’s socks off” with her pies.
Mazza formerly owned Fatto Americano in New Brunswick, plating New York/Neapolitan hybrid pizzas that proved to be a hit among the locals. “We were making our own mozzarella and using really great tomatoes and just really doing it our way to the best of our ability,” Mazza told Stephanie Swane on Women in Pizza’s Instagram Live streamcast on July 31. “We had a lot of more traditional pies, and we had some really non-traditional pies, and that was what the area really called for. It was a very diverse area, and we hit upon a lot of different ethnic palates.”
But after just two years in business, a dispute with her landlord led Mazza to close the pizza shop down in 2020—much to her regret. “This sounds cheesy, but the first time I made pizza after the restaurant closed, I cried,” Mazza told the Courier News recently.
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Her luck changed, though, when DHS Hospitality—where she has served as the culinary director since 2021 and oversees multiple restaurants and bars—opened DeeDee’s Pizza in the former home of Highland Pizza last month. The 90s-themed restaurant serves both New York-style and Roman-style pies. Its exterior wall even boasts a huge mural dominated by Peg Bundy of Married With Children fame.
“This building is such an iconic space, and so many people have ties to it from their childhood,” Mazza said in the Courier-News interview. “While the pizzeria doesn’t look the same, Highland Park has been such a welcoming community, and it’s really nice to be a part of it.”
But Mazza knows the pizza’s the thing, even though her job responsibilities with DHS Hospitality pull her in various culinary directions. She told Tapinto Pascaway that she tested three different types of dough in the months leading up to DeeDee’s grand opening. “We kept weeding recipes out and tweaking things and playing with hydration percentages,” she said. “We landed on a 72-hour dough. It will sit for 72 hours in the walk-in refrigerator before we use it.”
Watch the full Women in Pizza interview with Jackie Mazza here.
DHS Hospitality owner Doug Schneider, for one, is sold. “I’m confident that Chef Jackie’s pizza really stands out, even surrounded by such quality shops,” he told Tapinto Pascaway.
Pizzas on the menu at DeeDee’s include the Gabagool (capicola, Calabrian chilies, hot honey, San Marzano tomatoes, mozzarella and basil); the French Onion Pie (mozz, gruyere, caramelized onions and toasted bread crumbs, served with a side of au jus); and the Onion + Mushroom (caramelized onions, sauteed mushrooms, smoked mozz and truffle oil).
“I hope to knock people’s socks off with this pizza,” Mazza told Women in Pizza. “I want it to be memorable. I always remember walking down to King’s Highway in Brooklyn and going to Vick’s Pizzeria and getting a slice with my sister and my cousin. I have memories, and I want to be somebody’s memorable slice.”
