Crust, A New Pizzeria, Opens, And Seems To Be Beating The Odds

What is it about pizza? There can be pizzerias on every other corner, and yet, when a new one opens up — at least here in rural land — it’s an unmitigated cause for celebration. Still, when one opens during COVID-19, you have to be either crazy or exceptionally confident of your culinary and business acumen. Don’t you?

Jim and Lisa Cervone opened Crust on East Street in Pittsfield, Mass., in August, and let me just say, I don’t think they’re crazy. They’ve already got the bona fides; in 2012 they established Ayelada, a locally crafted frozen yogurt shop in Pittsfield that’s anything but your run-of-the-mill TCBY joint. With milk from small local farms and its quirky original flavors (hibiscus raspberry currant, Fruity Pebbles and strawberry Nutella, etc. etc.), the small-batch yogurt shop quickly became a popular spot and keeps us coming back for more.

So when Daddyo’s Diner next door went out of business, it felt like time for Jim Cervone to flex his entrepreneurial and pizza-making skills (he did, after all, grow up in an Italian family). As someone remarked, you’ve got to be pretty confident about your crust to call your restaurant Crust, and Cervone is intent on creating “quality without compromise.”

The dough is made from just four ingredients, one of them being Italian flour, then it’s aged for four days in the special, glass-fronted “dough room.” The style of the pizza is a mix between Neapolitan and New York, Cervone says, explaining that it possesses the softness of the Neapolitan style (which you almost need to eat with knife and fork), and the eat-out-of-hand quality of a New York slice. More and more, we see modern pizzerias using wood-fired ovens, but Crust employs a conveyer-like oven that can push through multiple pizzas at a time.

Call them Neo or New York, Crust’s six signature pieces veer into quasi-gourmet territory. There’s homemade sauce from organic San Marzano tomatoes, soppressata instead of pepperoni, prosciutto in place of bacon, roasted mushrooms, housemade pesto and fresh fior di latte. If you like truffle anything, Crust is your place; the white mushroom pizza features a mushroom truffle cream sauce I’d respectfully suggest Cervone package and sell as his own private-label ambrosia.

Each of the pizzas on the menu offers a complimentary “suggested finish,” from fresh basil and EVOO drizzle to the black truffle oil (separate from the truffle cream, it contains chili peppers, guava nectar and savory spices). The pies are 12-inch personal pizzas ranging from $8-$10, and for those who prefer or need it, there is a cauliflower and gluten-free crust option available (add $3). Wine, beer, hard seltzer and soft drinks are available.

The restaurant is spacious and contemporary, with high counters as well as tables (not many, because…COVID, but there are some tables outside). I love the Crust logo in lights, and I look forward to a time when sitting inside doesn’t feel so treacherous, although with the exposed air ducts and the activity behind the counter, it was fairly noisy inside. 

Crust stops taking online orders after 4 p.m. because it gets so busy, so I stopped in on a Saturday evening to order my takeout, and it was a pretty entertaining 20 minutes while I waited. A busy hive of young “pizzanistas” conducted a well-oiled assembly line, from the dough to the toppings to the “suggested finishes.” They all seemed to be having a lot of fun. (Indeed, Cerzone remarks that he doesn’t have a problem finding employees, so you know he’s doing something right.) Maybe before the pandemic hit I wouldn’t have noticed their high spirits, but seeing the young adults enthusiastically working the line lifted me up as much as having a new pizzeria in my neighborhood.

What is it about pizza? Maybe that’s the thing. Happy food, in so many ways.