Tim Silva has a great love affair with pizza.
He knows what it takes to build a good pie, especially having worked with Pizza My Heart for the past 36 years.
Silva, who is still part owner of the popular local pizza chain, recently ventured off on his own to Watsonville to open Ozzy’s Pizzeria—named after his one-year-old grandson, Osmo.
The craze for the newest pizza shop in town is slowly catching on since its doors first opened May 31.
“It’s really a passion project,” Silva said.
The pizza is best described as “neo-Neapolitan” style. It uses the same dough as the authentic Neapolitan pizza, which has a thin crust and is cooked in a wood-burning oven at 800 degrees.
The biggest difference is Neapolitan pizza, or Pizza Napoletana, is restricted to just three ingredients that must be from Italy or specific areas, such as San Marzano tomatoes.
The rules aren’t as strict for NEOpolitan-style pie.
Silva is all about using organic and local ingredients from places such as Watsonville Produce, Sumanos Bakery, Martinelli’s, Humble Sea Brewing Co. and Alfaro Family Vineyard-Winery.
The only primarily outsourced ingredients are the mozzarella cheese made outside of California and Caputo flour imported from Italy.
Silva personally likes Caputo because it creates a dough that holds up to long fermentation times, giving it a great sourdough flavor and crunchy texture.
“You can get away with that long fermentation time to let the sourdough flavor develop,” he said.
Having the freedom to mix up the menu is something Silva enjoys the most. His plan this winter is to introduce a pizza with apple, persimmon and goat cheese.
“I like to be able to move around a little quicker if I see something that I need to change, or something I want to add. I can do seasonal specials. Everything here is made from scratch. And that’s another thing you really can’t do with a corporate restaurant setting,” Silva said.
Without a doubt, Ozzy’s has some of the best pizza the county has to offer.
My girlfriend, Luisa, and myself started out with the original Margherita (fresh mozzarella, organic pizza sauce, olive oil, shaved garlic and fresh basil) and added some house made Italian sausage, giving it the extra oomph. It was simple, yet delightfully scrumptious.
The second choice was Steve’s Combo with pepperoni, Italian sausage, Castelvetrano olive, roasted onion and the classic red sauce, which became an instant hit in my book.
There was just something about the mix of the briny olives and savory meats, along with the crunchiness of the sweet onion that made my taste buds want more, and more.
We capped it off with a Queen Judy (roasted mushroom, Italian sausage, heavy cream, shaved garlic, fresh parmesan, rosemary and thyme) to take home to share with the family.
And just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, Silva took simple ingredients and turned it into a masterpiece. The sporadic use of rosemary and thyme on top of a ’za does wonders for the spicy sausage, musky shrooms, tangy garlic and creamy sauce.
“You’re always kind of looking for a balance,” Silva said.
Ozzy’s has a lineup of other extraordinary pies, including the Leah Lynn with pickled peppers, globs of ricotta, red sauce, pepperoni and finished with hot honey and orange zest.
Apart from the wood-fired round sourdough pies, Ozzy’s offers gluten-free Detroit-style pizzas. And those with a sweet tooth can order house-made cotton candy made with cherry-flavored Jolly Rancher or other wacky flavors.
In 2015, Silva won Pizza Maker of the Year at the International Pizza Competition in Las Vegas against hundreds of fellow pizzaiolos.
But the menu was created based on ideas, and lots of trial and error, during monthly cookouts Silva still attends with friends and family. There, they come up with off-the-wall combinations and use ingredients like the habanero jelly he received as a Christmas gift from his daughter. Now he uses it on signature pizzas such as the Leah Lynn and Kaner’s.
“Creating cool stuff and then exceeding guests’ expectation of what pizza can be, that’s super fun. Where people are like, ‘Oh my God, I didn’t know pizza could be like this,’” Silva said.
Ozzy’s Pizzeria
Address: 1036 East Lake Avenue, Watsonville
Phone: (831) 319-4464
Online: ozzyspizzeria.com
Hours: noon-8pm Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Sunday; noon-9pm Friday and Saturday; closed on Tuesdays.
