SoNo Wood Fired Opens in South Norwalk: Neapolitan Pizza + Italian Soul Food

Andrew Dominick March 12, 2023

Thin crust. Roman style. Pan pizza. Bar pies. Artisan. Grilled. Foldable New York slices.

Norwalk has all of that. And you can insert your own quip about there being “too much Italian” if you want.

What Norwalk has been missing in its dining history is a true wood-fired Neapolitan pizzeria.

Check that. “Had been missing.”

Newly opened on N Main Street is SoNo Wood Fired, where owner and pizzaiolo Besar Kaba ferments, forms, stretches, and tops each pie, then slides each one using a long peel into his 800° Forza Forni Pavesi.

Kaba is meticulous about it, though. He will only cook three or so doughs at a time, turning them feverishly for 90 seconds to two minutes, to achieve that perfect leopard spotted char that’s indicative of a proper Neapolitan pie.

What Kaba is doing at SoNo Wood Fired is a return to his roots.

“I used to read *Word Up!* magazine
Salt-n-Pepa and Heavy D up in the limousine
Hangin' pictures on my wall
Every Saturday Rap Attack, Mr. Magic, Marley Marl
I let my tape rock 'til my tape popped”
And yes, this neon sign is because of the Bigge lyric. Kaba said Big, Wu Tang, and others were massive when he was growing up on Staten Island.

Born in Dallas, his family moved to Staten Island in 1994 where his father owned two pizzerias. The elder Kaba didn’t even give his son much of a choice in the matter either. “As a teenager, he dragged me to his pizzerias,” Kaba recalls. “He had Rizzo’s and Benny’s, plus a lot of my relatives are in the industry with some kind of Italian concept. My dad made sure that instead of doing dumb shit as a kid, that I learned something. He showed me the ropes. How to make dough, process dough even though I said to him how much I hated being there.”

Kaba continued in the restaurant industry even though he’d eventually move back to Dallas where he worked at family member’s establishments as a server.

Seventeen years ago, Kaba came back to the Tri-State area, specifically to Danbury where his sister had been living, and found himself managing the popular Stanziato’s, one of Connecticut’s more original wood fired Neapolitan spots.

Wood fired chicken scarp should be a permanent menu fixture soon

“My friend (Mauro) bought Stanziato’s from Matt,” Kaba explains. “Working there brought that passion of making pizza back to me. My dad did more of a New York style, but one of his locations did wood fired. Stanzy’s was one of the first in Connecticut to introduce true wood fired Neapolitan.”

After a lengthy stint at Stanziato’s, Kaba’s reignited pizza passion landed him in SoNo, where he’s taken over two locations formerly occupied by Gyro World and a Coldwell Banker office.

Bartender Micah mixes up a Smoked Black Cherry Manhattan. Note that bourbon selection (Blanton’s Michter’s, High West, and more).

After knocking down the wall that separated the two businesses, it took Kaba a solid year to get the place’s clean, industrial look ready to go, including a full bar, a custom Forza Forni, a massive dough production basement, a neon “IT WAS ALL A DREAM” (ode to Biggie Smalls) sign, and a mural modeled after Banksy’s “Balloon Girl,” but instead of a heart balloon, her hand is extended to catch the string of a round pizza balloon.

There’s more than just pizza happening at SoNo Wood Fired, but we have to start there.

Without giving away too many dough secrets, Kaba did reveal that it’s a straightforward mixture of 00 Italian flour, water, salt, and yeast that undergoes a minimum three-day cold fermentation, then an overnight proof in his production basement that stays a steady 67°.

In Do Thyme: white pie w/smoky, salty bacon, sweet caramelized onions, fresh thyme, mozz, + honey

Kaba is also sticking true to the Neapolitan style by not using gas or a combination wood-gas oven. His Forza Forni is strictly wood burning. The fired up dough result is that perfect char and a spot-on light, fluffy chewiness that lies under a crisp crust.

As far as toppings are concerned, top ‘em how you want ‘em or choose from 10 different pies (five red, five white), that include a classic margherita, Calabrese (Calabrian salami, oregano, Bianco Di Napoli tomato sauce, and homemade Calabrian chili hot honey), Figgy Smalls (fresh mozzarella, fig, prosciutto, hazelnuts), and In Do Thyme (fresh mozz, bacon, caramelized onions, fresh thyme, honey).

To boot, Kaba is dedicated to using organic, fresh, seasonal, local produce and the best products he can get his hands on. He noted that once spring rolls around, he plans to source from Millstone Farm, Holbrook Farm, and others, plus he even has his own mushroom forager. In fact, fresh is such an emphasis that the restaurant only has a small chest freezer that mostly contains giant ice cubes for cocktails and gallons of gelato.

Even the mozzarella sticks are fresh, never frozen. Great for adults, great for kids. And speaking of the little ones, if they’re not down with pizza or mozz sticks, Kaba makes his own chicken fingers. No Purdue pre made nonsense going on here.

Down the line when SoNo Wood Fired is fully staffed, Kaba mentioned wanting to “stretch” his own mozzarella.

Aside from pizza, SoNo Wood Fired’s entrées are of the soul-satisfying Italian variety. Think tender braised, fall apart short rib folded into pappardelle, rigatoni alla vodka (or go the Bolognese route), wood fired chicken or salmon dishes, chicken parm with spaghetti, spicy shrimp fra diavolo, and the bounty of the sea (mussels, shrimp, calamari, salmon) in a briny, saucy bowl of zuppa di pesce. Chicken scarp with homemade fennel sausage meatballs and rainbow potatoes has been offered a lot as a special and should be a permanent fixture on the menu soon enough.

To drink, cocktails are certainly a focus, and that “wood fired” premise applies here, too. If they’re not smoking the glass of your Smoked Black Cherry Manhattan, some other libations will use smoked syrups and purees. The rest of the drink list rounds out with organic wines and mostly local craft beer by the likes of New England Brewing Co. and Kent Falls to name a few. Their beer list including drafts and cans will rotate frequently.

PEI mussels in a white wine cream sauce w/shallots, garlic, fava beans, and Aleppo pepper. Homemade focaccia is served with this dish, and you should know what to do with it.

Mostly, what Kaba wants out of SoNo Wood Fired besides making quality Neapolitan pizza and then some, is a welcoming, hospitable place for all that’s also affordable.

“I want you to have a wholesome meal and not get gauged,” Kaba says. “I know people are hurting right now. Everything is expensive. I want you to be able to come here on a date, with your family, grandparents, whatever, for a business meeting.”

Look around between bites of your slice, forkfuls of pasta, and cheese pulls from homemade mozzarella sticks. You’ll frequently catch Kaba out in the dining room visiting with old friends and making new ones. He’ll always go back to man the pizza oven, but he’ll be back to make sure you’ll all good.

Sit back, sip in between bites of your slices. You’ll feel at home at SoNo Wood Fired.

59 N Main Street; Norwalk
203.354.0780; sonowf.com