After a decade of working at pizzerias around Arizona, Vincent Sausa decided it was time to take the leap himself.
“In 2022, I just decided to buy a pizza oven,” he says.
Inspired by a New Yorker who was making pizza out of their truck, Sausa started doing the same from his parents’ East Valley driveway. In March 2023, he quit his job, “put all my eggs in one basket (and) see what happens” with his pizza pop-up Vincent Van Dough.
“I haven’t looked back in two-and-a-half years,” he says.
Currently, Sausa and his team can be found shaping, topping and firing pies at Valley bars. On Fridays, they’re at the downtown Chandler taproom and bottle shop The Sleepy Whale. Rift Beer & Wine hosts Vincent Van Dough in south Scottsdale on Saturdays.
Sausa, who is originally from northern New Jersey, grew up eating “big, greasy, Jersey Shore” slices. He helped out in his uncle’s deli and cooked with his Italian family. When Sausa’s parents relocated to the Valley in 2012, he worked at local pizzerias before heading to Flagstaff to attend Northern Arizona University.
It was among the pines that Sausa learned about Neapolitan-style pizza, spending five years working at the popular artisan pizzeria Pizzicletta.
“Neapolitan style is the most artisanal in my mind. It’s the largest margin for error and the largest room for improvement,” he says.
Sausa credits the restaurant’s owner and pizzaiolo, Caleb Schiff, with sparking his interest in the craft and nurturing his creativity.
“He really gives the staff room to grow,” Sausa says.
Amid the pandemic, Sausa returned to the Valley. He worked his way up the ranks at Pomo Pizzeria, followed by a stint at Fratelli La Bufala before he pushed all his chips in to start his own business.
With Vincent Van Dough, Sausa has built a mobile pizzeria that melds Neapolitan-inspired technique with a locavore’s attention to area purveyors.
Sausa makes all of the pizzeria’s dough from a commercial kitchen in Ahwatukee. It’s a multiday process. First, the dough is mixed, rested, rolled and proofed. Then, Sausa chills it for four to five days.
“The time is really where all the magic happens,” he says, noting that the long fermentation yields a tender, pillowy dough that develops a chewy, blistered exterior in the oven.
For that dough, Sausa uses local grains milled by Hayden Flour Mills. The toppings are also sourced from local makers, including olive oil and vinegars from Queen Creek Olive Mill, honey from Twisted Bee Farms and sausage from Von Hanson’s Meats.
“My expertise is pizza dough, so I really give everybody else a chance to showcase their expertise,” he says. “Everybody, in my mind, has the best of the best products. We’re so fortunate to be located right here in the Valley.” The Vincent Van Dough menu includes classic Margherita, pepperoni and hot honey sausage pies. Sausa also crafts seasonal pizzas topped with fresh coins of zucchini or peaches, arugula, candied walnuts and balsamic glaze. He teases the limited-time creations on the pizzeria's social media.
“I like to show off an ingredient on my pizzas. I don’t like to make it too over complicated,” Sausa says.
During the summer, in addition to popping up at The Sleepy Whale and Rift, Sausa will reach a wider audience with DoorDash delivery available to people near those locations.
Even as the temperatures climb, Vincent Van Dough doesn’t take a break. Instead, Sausa has a fan and misting system for his outdoor kitchen and the team hydrates with water and electrolytes. Sausa says he and his team were already used to working in 100-plus-degree kitchens year-round.
“I always tell people, standing in front of a 1,000-degree oven, it doesn’t really matter if it’s 120 out or 50 degrees out. It’s still hot,” he says.
There’s nowhere he’d rather be. Sausa's making plans to expand Vincent Van Dough’s catering offerings to include family-style Italian eats inspired by growing up on the East Coast. In time, he hopes to launch a brick-and-mortar restaurant that celebrates his love of local ingredients used for Italian-style pies.
“It just became a little genre that I have kind of niche(d) myself into,” he says.
Vincent Van Dough
Fridays at The Sleepy Whale290 S. Arizona Ave., Chandler
Saturdays at Rift Wine & Beer
431 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale
