Long Island’s first Roman-style pizzeria, Taglio, opened its doors at 85 Mineola Blvd. last month.
Pizza al taglio, or pizza “by the cut,” has been gaining popularity across the nation, characterized by the dough’s airiness and its staple technique of being cut with scissors instead of sliced with a pizza cutter.
The fluffy pizza is cut with scissors to apply equal pressure on the top and bottom of the slice so as to not flatten the dough.
Gabriele Bonci brought the pizza style to the United States, opening his first location, Bonci, in Chicago.
Taglio owner Rob Cervoni became interested in the Roman street food, which is traditionally sold by weight in Italy, after seeing it on Instagram.
The “weigh and pay” concept was familiar to the 30-year-old entrepreneur who also owns a 16 Handles in Great Neck.
He opened a store in the popular Manhattan-based frozen yogurt chain in 2011 at the height of the “fro-yo craze.”
“I am always looking for ways to capitalize on new trends,” Cervoni said.
The pizza’s airy dough can be attributed to its high hydration and 72-hour fermentation process.
The longer fermentation makes Roman-style pizza easier to digest than its Neopolitan counterpart.
“So you can eat three or four slices and won’t have that heavy gut feeling you get with normal pizza,” Cervoni said.
Taglio is serving up all of Long Island’s favorite toppings, but Cervoni said it does not stop there.
“If you can dream it, we can make it,” he said. “We have even been experimenting with cotton candy.”
Cervoni was drawn to set up shop in Mineola because of the recent development in the area and a perceived shortage of pizzerias.
“The people of Mineola deserve good pizza, they deserve something authentic where I think this town was missing that,” he said.
