Vytauras Sasnaukas is on a never-ending mission to make the best, most authentic Neapolitan Pizza in Cleveland at his shop on Waterloo Road, Citizen Pie.
Sasnaukas is not Italian and he doesn't have any roots in Italian cooking--except for an unending, ongoing 30-year passion for the art of dough-making and the appreciation for the delicate balance of sauce, fresh mozzarella and a rainbow of vegetables spread evenly throughout a circle of homemade dough.
Cold War cuisine
Sasnaukas comes a long way from his home in Lithuania. Growing up during the Soviet occupation, Sasnaukas, who goes by "Chef V" to the customers and his staff, remembers his distinct diet of meat and potatoes, bacon, eggs and sour cream.
Pizza wasn't too common in his hometown, but that didn't stop him from making his first pizza when he was about twelve.Sasnaukas recalls being the chef around his friends, making pizza based off of requests. For him, pizza brings back nostalgia from his childhood in an era where the occupation heavily influenced daily life.
Just as Lithuania gained its independence from the Soviet Union in 1990, Sasnaukas went to culinary school, where he learned English by reading cookbooks and reading Michael Ruhlman’s Making of a Chef.
Times change, but never did his love of all things pizza. When the Cold War ended and with his parents both deceased, he took off to Cleveland in 1996. He planned to stay for six months, but it eventually became permanent when he met a Lithuanian-American woman in Cleveland.
From fine dining to pizza pie
Prior to his pizza shop, Chef V owned a thriving restaurant for seven years in Bratenahl called "Americano" that had a twist on modern American food.
"I had enough of the fine dining scene. I like to make pizza. Who doesn't like pizza? I was making pizza with kid ingredients like hot dogs and ketchup when I was growing up. I became obsessed with the scientific side of pizza, you know the combination of yeast and salt and the style of Neapolitan Pizza," said Sasnaukas.
He says very few places in Cleveland and other cities are making pizza the Neapolitan way with the precision of cooking time and the right texture of the dough that comes along with authentic Italian pizza.
The pizzas are sent into the 870°—920°F heat, where they stay for about 90 seconds before being taken out. Once they're out, you can see the bubbly, brown-charred crust surrounding perfectly melted fresh mozzarella and fresh vegetables bursting with aroma and flavor.
Hunger for knowledge
In his quest to know more about the world's best pizza, Sasnaukas traveled to Naples, Italy and spent time learning about the craft of pizza-making. He recalls wanting to take classes, but they were too expensive at the time so instead he learned through eating pizza.
"I said 'screw the classes, I'm just going to go eat tons of pizza and learn that way.' I went into the kitchens there and saw how the process worked. Even in Italy, it doesn't mean they make good pizza. Only in Naples, you will find the best pizza. The Italians can tell you this," Sasnaukas said.
Always with the motto '"push the envelope" in mind, Sasnaukas and his staff take pride in the process of creating a pizza from the best ingredients, including the dough.
"I'm trying to make better pizza. It's 'we' now, it's not just me anymore. I would eat pizza every single day like I ate an entire pizza today, and I don't care about getting fat or sick because I know where the flour is coming from," Sasnaukas said.
Keys to success:
Sasnaukas believes in getting the freshest, best quality ingredients that he can get from a variety of sources:
- Cheese from California
- Sausage and pepperoni from local shops in Cleveland
- Calabrian chili peppers from a farmer in Calabria, Italy.
Aside from the aroma associated with baking dough, Citizen Pie customers are greeted with an imported Italian wood oven. The scent of burning cherry, oak, and apple logs greet the customer.
"It weighs about 6,000 pounds. Getting the oven to Cleveland from Italy was a long process. Once we got it here, we had to break down a wall just to fit it in," laughs Sasnaukas.
Using a combination of salt, 00 flour, Cleveland water and his own concoction of a sourdough starter, Sasnaukas hasn't perfected his dough recipe because of the changing temperatures and humidity levels on a daily basis.
"We have good dough days. We have bad dough days. Flour, salt and water becomes not as simple anymore," Sasnaukas said.
No matter what kind of day the dough is having, Citizen Pie continues to churn out artisan, authentic pizzas for the public, or 'citizens,' as he refers to them.
"We are just trying to focus on pizza every day. Tomatoes, mozzarella, and dough," Sasnaukas said.
Ready to dig in?
- Location: 15710 Waterloo Road, North Collinwood
- Phone: 216-417-2742
- Hours: Monday – Saturday, 12:00 PM – 9:00 PM | Sunday, 12:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Sasnaukas is opening a second location in Ohio City in the late spring.
Kaylyn Hlavaty covers news that's all about the pride we share in Cleveland. Have a story tip or idea? Drop her a line at kaylyn.hlavaty@wews.com or connect on Twitter: @kaylynhlavaty.
