Jam City Pizza Brings Detroit-Style Pies to CT’s “Pizza Mecca”

The founders of Jam City Pizza, a new Detroit-style pizza concept in Hamden, knew they were up against thin-crust supremacy so close to New Haven. 

But even as the Elm City was declared the “pizza capital of America” last year, Tyler Demora and James Woodward decided to add their version of the thick, square Michigan style to the area’s pizza offerings. 

“We’re trying to get people to understand that there’s other really great pizza,” Demora said.

The business partners, who’ve been friends since childhood, opened Jam City within The Cellar at Treadwell in Hamden last November. They took over the performance venue’s kitchen, with a menu of red and white pan pizzas, salads and snacks like chicken wings and tenders, fried pickles and garlic pretzel knots. 

Demora, a native of New Hartford, is a chef with more than 20 years of experience in the restaurant industry. His career has taken him to San Francisco and France, as well as closer to home in Providence and New Haven. He also owns and operates the Feelin’ Saucy food truck, which specializes in pasta dishes. 

Jam City’s name was actually established before the partners moved into the live music venue, Demora said, as he and Woodward used to be in a band themselves. Their Detroit pizza journey evolved after Demora built a pizza oven from the ground up, hoping to attach it to a trailer to cook Neapolitan-style pies. But even after nearly two years of work, he said, he couldn’t get the oven hot enough to achieve the results he wanted for the style.

“I knew about pan pizza. Detroit pizza was getting very popular,” he said. He bought some deep rectangular steel pans and started testing out the thicker pies, which are typically baked at temperatures much lower than the 800 to 1000 degrees typically used for Neapolitan pizza. Woodward came over to taste-test the results, and they knew they had a hit on their hands.

But because Connecticut pizza lovers tend to prefer a thin crust, they kept that in mind while developing their recipes, Demora said. He noted that their squares are substantial, but the crust isn’t quite as thick as a traditional Detroit pie may be. 

“We don’t want to scare (guests.) We’re doing something that could either make us or break us,” he said. “We’re in Hamden; we’re like, in the pizza mecca of the world.” 

The partners started doing pizza pop-up events at the venue over the summer, and began serving the full Jam City menu out of its kitchen in November, offering the pizzas, salads and appetizers to guests attending live music performances, karaoke nights and “mixtape match” musical bingo nights. The food is also available for takeout and delivery via third-party apps.

Jam City’s pizzas are built on what’s essentially bread dough, Woodward said, which ferments for about 48 hours. Demora’s chosen blend of fontina, mozzarella and cheddar cheese is seasoned with a spice blend for extra flavor, then spread to the edges of the dough in the rectangular pans to create the signature crispy caramelized cheese corners, or “frico,” that characterizes Detroit-style pies. They’re then baked at about 500 degrees, Demora said. 

Pizzas, available in one 10 x 8 size, all have musical-themed names, like the Tim Timebomb (named for Rancid lead singer Tim Armstrong) with red sauce and basil puree and the Morrissey, a nod to the frontman of The Smiths, with roasted peppers, artichokes, spinach and dollops of truffle ricotta. The Stratocaster features pepperoni and Calabrian chili hot honey, and the Drum Solo is topped with spinach, caramelized onions and sausage. 

A Parliament Funga-Delic mushroom pie is accentuated with caramelized onion, Gorgonzola dolce and aged balsamic, and the Jerry Garcia is a Huggy Bear is the pizza version of a sandwich on Jam City’s menu, a decadent blend of fried chicken, bacon jam, honey mustard, caramelized apples and crushed potato chips. 

Demora said the menu will be expanding in the next several months, as he’ll add about 8 new pies that have been tested out as limited-time specials. One is a McMars, a cheeseburger pizza with cheese whiz, tomato, iceberg lettuce and onion named for former Mötley Crüe guitarist Mick Mars. There’s also a Buffalo Springfield, with buffalo chicken tenders, red onion, Gorgonzola and whipped feta, and Demora has other recipes in the works that will spotlight toppings like vodka sauce and white clam with potatoes and garlic butter. 

“The dough is just a canvas,” he said. “If you’re creative, you can have a lot of fun.”

As spring and summer approach, Demora said he’s excited about using more local and seasonal produce, with more options for farm-fresh fruits and vegetables on the pizzas and in appetizers like a Caprese salad. The partners are also looking to add outdoor seating at the Cellar when the weather warms.

Demora also plans to bring the Jam City concept as a pizza trailer to West Hartford’s GastroPark, the food truck park where The Cellar at Treadwell co-owner Shari Vikmanis is a partner.

Jam City Pizza, at The Cellar at Treadwell, is at 295 Treadwell Street in Hamden. 203-390-5816, cellarct.com/menu; @jamcitypizza.