Giorgia Caporuscio Is Redefining New York Pizza — One Neapolitan Tradition at a Time

With the release of the 2025 MICHELIN Guide New York, one distinction stands apart in the pizza category: Giorgia Caporuscio of Don Antonio is the only female pizza maker recognized. In a city where pizza accolades often orbit familiar names, her presence signals something more meaningful than ranking alone. It marks a shift — one rooted in skill, stewardship, and a deeply personal commitment to tradition.

Don Antonio, long regarded as a reference point for authentic Neapolitan pizza in Manhattan, continues to earn global recognition under Giorgia’s leadership. In the 2025 50 Top Pizza Guide, the Midtown restaurant ranks seventh in the United States and twenty-ninth worldwide. It is also the only female-owned pizzeria listed in the MICHELIN Guide’s pizza category, placing Giorgia at the center of a conversation New York dining has been slow to have.

Giorgia’s path to the helm of Don Antonio was neither rushed nor symbolic. Raised in Naples, she first studied under her father, Roberto Caporuscio, before training extensively with his mentor, legendary pizzaiolo Antonio Starita. Her education continued through demanding internships across Italy, where mastery was earned through repetition and restraint.

That foundation paid off early. Giorgia won first place in the World Championships Classic Pizza Category, surpassing more than 500 competitors. She remains the youngest — and one of only two women — to ever win the category, a milestone that positioned her as a pioneer well before she assumed ownership of Don Antonio in 2023.

Although she moved to New York at nineteen to work alongside her father at Kestè and later Don Antonio, her formal transition into ownership was delayed by circumstance. Planned for 2020, the handoff was interrupted by the pandemic, followed by closures and renovations. The debut she had envisioned unfolded quietly, but deliberately.

“I never in my wildest dreams thought I’d have a pizzeria in New York City,” says Giorgia.

At Don Antonio, Giorgia’s menu remains unapologetically Neapolitan. Her signature lies in pizza fritta, a form often misunderstood or absent from American menus altogether. Rooted in Southern Italy’s wartime cooking, fried pizza carries historical weight — and, notably, a feminine lineage.

“La pizza fritta è donna,” or “fried pizza is woman,” is a phrase born from the women who once sold it on Neapolitan streets. Giorgia honors that history through dishes like the Pizza Montanara, briefly fried before finishing in a wood-burning oven.

“Making fried food is a kind of religious ritual in some Italian regions, and Campania is one of them,” explains Giorgia. “The Montanara is the one I love the most: to me, it reaches perfection in a dish.”

Her Montanara, passed down from her grandmother, sits alongside variations like Genovese and Al Tartufo, each executed with Italian-sourced ingredients and precision oils developed specifically for frying.

Beyond accolades, Giorgia views her role as larger than the restaurant. As Ambassador of Women in Pizza, she actively works to expand visibility and opportunity for women entering the field.