Hilltown Finally Opens: Killer Pizza, Southern Italian Spirit, Berkshire Style

After a long and very visible building restoration on Route 23 in Egremont, artisan pizza joint Hilltown finally opened last weekend. Its astonishingly energetic owner, Rafi Bildner, has been slinging his incredible sourdough crusts at local pop-ups for years as Hilltown Hot Pies and the much-anticipated brick-and-mortar Hilltown location is the culmination of a life’s journey around the world, for the love of making pizza and making connections with people. 

Bildner worked on political campaigns in Alaska, led hiking tours through the Middle East, and apprenticed in small Southern Italian kitchens. Through each chapter, one idea kept resurfacing: that food, at its best, builds community. “I love cooking and being behind the oven,” he says. “But the thing that’s hit me the most since opening is seeing how many people come in, talk to each other, and leave happy. That’s what I wanted—to make a place where people feel comfortable connecting.”

A Winding Road

Bildner grew up in a New Jersey family where food was central, the family business was grocery stores and summer vacations were organized around visiting the farms of new distributors. He learned his love of cooking from his Jewish grandmother and pizza from his Italian neighbors. “My family’s background in food service definitely shaped me,” he says. “It wasn’t just about business—it was about hospitality, about creating spaces where people could gather.”

He studied political science at Yale and began developing the two halves of his professional life: public service and food. “I fell in love with pizza in New Haven,” he says. “It’s hard not to—there’s something about that style, that char and chew, that sticks with you.”

After graduating, he spent a year in Alaska as a field organizer, working to flip legislative seats at the state level in 2016. “It was the only place in the country that cycle where it actually happened,” he says. “It was a great project to be part of.” But he found himself craving something more tangible and creative. “I realized that what I loved most about politics was community. Food felt like a different way to do that.”

While leading cycling tours for Backroads, a California-based adventure travel company, Bildner met a San Francisco pizzamaker named Jeff Krupman, better known as the Pizza Hacker, who became a mentor. “He invited me to stay with him in San Francisco,” he says. “That experience changed everything. I saw pizza as this intersection of craft, science, and hospitality.” He stayed in the Bay Area to work with Krupman and other bakers, diving deep into sourdough fermentation and the technical side of high-heat baking.

Those lessons eventually merged with his passion for travel and culture, laying the groundwork for what would become Hilltown.

In 2022 “in a bit of a midlife crisis at 29,” he says, he left for Italy with a bicycle on what friends dubbed “pedal for pizza.” For two months he traveled through the southern regions—Campania, Basilicata, Puglia—meeting bakers, winemakers, and tomato growers along the way.

In a small mountain village northeast of Naples, he discovered Trattoria Di Pietro, a family-run restaurant where he apprenticed. “It’s not romantic in the postcard sense,” he says. “The economy’s tough and the work is hard, but every day, no matter what, everyone sits down together to eat. Friends and neighbors drop by. You never eat alone. That’s what I wanted to bring back.”

The son of that family is a winemaker whose bottles are now en route to Egremont. “They’re literally on a boat from Italy to Boston right now,” Bildner says. “It’ll be the first time they’re poured in the States.”

When Bildner purchased the property on Route 23—formerly the John Andrews Farmhouse Restaurant—locals took notice. The result of the renovation keeps the simplicity of the original farmhouse but updates it with subtle modernity. The dining room is open and warm, with wood and tile finishes, close-set tables, and a central wood-fired oven visible from nearly every seat. “The layout was intentional,” Bildner says. “I wanted it to feel casual but connected, like a Southern Italian trattoria translated into the Berkshires.”

“A Dough Ball is a Canvas for the Landscape Around You.”

Hilltown’s menu is direct and thoughtful. The dough—naturally leavened with wild yeast, fermented for several days—is baked for two minutes at around 800 degrees, achieving a crisp edge and soft interior. Bildner calls his approach  “quasi-American-artisan-Neapolitan,” sitting somewhere between New York’s structure and Naples’ elasticity. A caramelized crust that still has some give.

The flour mix comes from Ground Up Grain in Holyoke, regional Northeastern grain growers, and a small organic mill in Quebec. “It’s a delicate dough,” he says. “It burns easily, so you have to stay with it. But that attention gives it depth and flavor.”

The menu at Hilltown is meticulously curated and seasonal, shaped by local farms. A few starters, like the Wood-Fired Meatballs with local beef, ricotta, and sourdough bread ($18) or Formaggi e Verdure, a rotating mix of local cheeses and vegetables served with focaccia ($16), set the tone. The pizzas range from a simple Margherita ($23) to the Sassy Salsiccia, featuring pork sausage from Off the Shelf Farm or Raven & Boar, pickled goat horn peppers, smoked mozzarella, and house giardiniera ($27). The Irpina, named for the Southern Italian region that inspired much of the menu, layers dark leafy greens, burrata, lemon zest, and olive oil from a Campanian producer Bildner knows personally ($26). A few salads, small plates, and desserts—like the Cornbread Tiramisu with maple zabaglione ($14) round out a menu that keeps its focus tight but expressive of its place.

For a recent special Bildner served up the Rosh Hashanah Pie featuring local apples, sharp cheddar, caramelized onions, and honey. “Italians would think I’m crazy for putting apples on pizza,” he says. “But this is apple country and a dough ball is a canvas for the landscape around you.”

Small plates like arancini, meatballs, and seasonal salads accompany the pies, along with espresso, amaro, and simple desserts. “The menu’s intentionally narrow,” he says. “Pizza deserves to stand on its own.”

And Hyper-Regional Wine

The wine list, developed with Bildner’s brother Ari, a New York–based sommelier, focuses almost entirely on small producers from Southern Italy—Campania, Calabria, Puglia, and Sicily. “You won’t find Pinot Grigio or Chianti,” Rafi says. “We’re pouring wines that represent the South: Aglianico, Falanghina, Nero d’Avola, Coda di Volpe.”

Most bottles are priced between $40 and $60, and the staff has undergone training to help guests navigate the unfamiliar selections. “These producers make maybe 10,000 bottles a year,” Bildner says. “When we buy from them, it really matters. It’s a way to keep those traditions alive.”

Hilltown already feels like more than a restaurant. It’s a project built from years of travel, study, and steady purpose. The space is filled with conversation, the smell of charred dough and olive oil drifting through the dining room. “In Southern Italy, even when things are difficult, people stay connected,” Bildner says. “They eat together, take care of each other. That’s what I hope happens here.”

Hilltown 

224 Hillsdale Road, Egremont
Open Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday from 5 to 9 and Friday and Saturday from 5 to 10.
hilltownhotpies.com | @hilltownhotpies