Good morning,
I’ve had pizza on the brain lately. Specifically, Milwaukee-style pizza.
It all began with my story published last week about Caradaro Club, the first establishment to serve pizza in Milwaukee, which is still slinging slices 81 years later. Its story has been told many times, so for my piece, I wanted to focus on its owner, Wally Kutch, the endlessly affable “pizza guy” who carries on one of the city’s most legendary eateries.
But of course, we had to talk history and what exactly makes Milwaukee-style pizza unique. To do so, he invited legendary Milwaukee pizzaiolo Gino Fazzari (owner of San Giorgio Pizzeria Napoletana and Calderone Club) to sit in, as well. Before opening Calderone Club in the 1970s, Fazzari’s father, Antonio, owned Caradaro Club, then sold the business to his brothers, Consiglio and Ilario, a few years later. Today, Calderone Club serves the same recipe Fazzari did at Caradaro Club decades ago.
It was a joy talking with them. Fazzari’s knowledge of pizza science is unmatched (ask him about why Milwaukee’s water makes the best pies), as is Kutch’s passion for pizza. There was so much mutual admiration between them, so much warmth in the room — it was heartwarming to witness. Journal Sentinel intern Joey Schamber was there shooting a video to accompany the story, and we got so much great footage that it was impossible to squeeze it all into a two-minute clip.
They both said pizza tastes like childhood, like comfort. That they prefer dine-in pizza over takeout. And that the secret ingredient behind a truly great pizza is the person who’s making it. One difference: Kutch prefers cheap beer with his pizza, while Fazzari said Peroni pairs best.
One of my favorite anecdotes Fazzari shared was how Caradaro Club inspired so many other pizza joints still going strong today: Balistreri’s Italian-American Ristorante, Zaffiro’s Pizza, Lisa’s Pizza, Calderone Club and Ann’s Italian Restaurant in Hales Corners. At some point, their original owners all worked at Caradaro Club before opening their own restaurants.
After our interview, I went to the Third Ward to find the plaque that commemorates Caradaro Club’s original location, which burned down in 1978 (it’s right outside of men’s retailer Milworks, across from Catalano Square). I imagined walking by the restaurant in 1945 and being handed a slice by owners John Caravella and Joe Todaro, who gave out free slices to give Milwaukeeans a taste of the curious Italian delicacy. Soon, new fans were streaming through the doors for it.
I pored through archives to see what the original Caradaro Club looked like inside, but came up empty. The closest I could find was a description published in a 1973 column by Milwaukee Journal columnist Gerald Kloss. He’d returned to the restaurant for the first time since the early ’50s (“when young men, trying to impress their dates with a new thing to eat, introduced them to pizza”) and was relieved to find it looked mostly unchanged: “Red front door. Gray slab battens on the front, aged red brick sides,” Kloss described. There was a U-shaped bar, a “hockey machine” game and a back room with red-checkered tablecloths. I bet I would’ve loved it there.
“And of course,” Kloss continued, “the heady, steaming aroma of ensauced tomato and herbs — a scent that has driven more men out of their minds than Chanel No. 5.”
As I stood on the square by the plaque near where Caradaro Club once stood, I breathed in deeply, trying to conjure the smell. I didn’t catch a whiff then, but the scent still lingers in Milwaukee. At Calderone Club, Zaffiro’s, Balistreri’s, Lisa’s and, of course, at 50th and Vliet streets, where Kutch keeps Caradaro Club’s memory alive.
Which Milwaukee pizza shop tastes and smells like memories to you? Let me know atrseis@usatodayco.com.
Happy dining,
Rachel
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Celebrating Milwaukee’s first pizza | Dish
Reporting by Rachel Bernhard, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Rachel Bernhard, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | USA TODAY Network
