Giorgia Caporuscio has spent nearly two decades bringing the tradition of Neapolitan pizza to New York. In early 2027, Don Antonio, her restaurant near the Theater District, will celebrate its 15th anniversary. The milestone comes as the Italian-born pizzaiola has emerged as one of the industry’s most recognizable female voices.

Her signature pizza is the award-winning Montanara. Fried before being finished in the oven, the dough remains soft and airy inside while developing a crisp exterior. For Caporuscio, it also pays tribute to one of Naples’ earliest forms of street food. Without access to large ovens, women fried pizzas and sold them on the street, a tradition famously portrayed by Sophia Loren in Vittorio De Sica’s The Gold of Naples.

“We want to challenge the American perception of fried food as greasy and heavy. For us, it should be golden, dry and light,” Caporuscio says. She uses a high-oleic sunflower oil enriched with rosemary extract and vitamin E, developed by the University of Bologna in collaboration with Pasquale Torrente, chef of the renowned Al Convento in Cetara and a master of frying.

“We import almost 90 percent of our products from Italy,” Caporuscio says. Flour, tomatoes, and mozzarella come from producers with whom she has built direct relationships, while fresh vegetables are sourced from farms in New York State. That seasonal approach is reflected in the Fall in Love pizza, made with butternut-squash cream, smoked buffalo mozzarella, peppers and zucchini, and in a salad of kabocha squash, apples and goat cheese.

With inclusion in the Michelin Guide, a No. 6 ranking in the 2026 50 Top Pizza USA list and Caporuscio’s 2024 Pizza Maker of the Year title, Don Antonio draws New Yorkers and repeat visitors alike. “The secret is consistency. We’re a little Swiss in that sense,” she says with a laugh.

That discipline extends to its gluten-free program, which has earned a loyal following among diners with celiac disease. Initiated by her father and mentor, master pizza maker Roberto Caporuscio, the program evolved alongside Caputo’s gluten-free flour blends, which made the dough more elastic and easier to work with. It now includes beer, appetizers, and fried dishes, with strict protocols to minimize cross-contact.

Don Antonio’s Italian roots and New York adaptability mirror Caporuscio’s own identity. “I am Italian by birth, but my career started here.” New York gave her room to grow, particularly as a woman in a male-dominated industry. “When I told people I was the pizza maker, they looked at me as if I were an alien,” she recalls. “I had no female role models.” Now, through Women in Pizza, the nonprofit network she helped establish, she supports women entering the profession.

A mother of two, Caporuscio defines success as balancing her career and family life, with support from her husband and business partner Matteo Bassani. For someone raised on a farm near the sea, however, she is unsure New York will remain home indefinitely. For now, family vacations in San Felice Circeo, near her hometown of Terracina, reconnect her with Italy and a slower rhythm of life.