Bailey’s Backyard is Making Wood-Fired Pizza....And It's Delicious

After celebrating 21 years of serving the freshest, local, seasonal menu they can come up with, Bailey’s Backyard is switching it up.

Oh, don’t worry, one of Connecticut’s originators in farm-to-table fare will still be doing that.

Sorry for the scare. I had to get your attention somehow, didn’t I?

Bailey’s, however, is doing something new. They’re making pizza.

Past all the outdoor seating that stretches from Bailey Avenue to an outdoor tent by the rear parking lot there’s a custom-made Forza Forni wood-fired oven burning at 800° or higher.

Candullo mentioned pizza wasn’t always the plan. “I wanted to make bread,” he says. He has even researched, then built a few ovens with his dad, who is a mason by trade.

In front of said oven you’ll find pizzaiolo Frank Candullo, who has been in the business for “about 15 years.” Along the way, Candullo has worked in a few parlors, including Victoria’s Wood Fired Pizzeria in Bethel and he has made countless pies in his own backyard for friends and family.

How Candullo ended up slinging pies at Bailey’s is simple. He’s really tight with Bailey’s owner Sal Bagliavio.

“Our kids went to school together and we became good friends,” Bagliavio says. “Frank has been making pizza in his backyard for years and he always has a bunch of us over. We’d joke around back in the day that we should open a pizza place together. In fact, I owned Alphonso’s in Danbury for 2-3 years before I opened Bailey’s.”

A white pie with in-season Swiss chard, organic chicken, bacon, and preserved lemon

Combine the “what ifs” with a pandemic and pizza became a reality. Bagliavio mentioned that after he had to close the restaurant for a few months and geared Bailey’s more towards takeout. Pizza, he said, was the perfect pandemic pivot to offer as a standalone or you can mix and match with Bailey’s dinner menu.

We couldn’t resist ordering a few items off Bailey’s dinner menu, like this charred harissa cauliflower. Bagliavio tells us that soon they plan to use the pizza oven for additions like wood-fired wings and “other dishes.”

To prepare, Bagliavio and Candullo did some serious dough research. “We spent two days at Forza Forni in Brewster perfecting the recipe,” Bagliavio says. “I think we ate like 75 pizzas!”

The result of what they learned at Forza Forni is a dough made up of all-natural flour, water, salt, and yeast, free of any chemicals or additives. It’s then left to cold ferment for 48 hours. 

Perhaps an ode to New Haven with mashed potato-bacon pizza with sweet, caramelized onions

If you’re thinking wood-fired Neapolitan after Candullo is done spinning it, you’re half right. Bagliavio calls it a hybrid. “It’s like a cross between Neapolitan and New Haven,” he says. “It’s got a char, a thin crust, and a puffy edge. It’s light.”

And light it most certainly is. Four of us went over to try several pies and easily put away a whole one or more each. That’s your FYI to order accordingly.

As far as what’s happening in terms of toppings, expect classic cheese or pepperoni, but also expect that Bailey’s Backyard theology of fresh, local, and organic to appear in some of the flavor combinations. A few example of that are the Mt. Etna (olive oil, mozzarella, ricotta, kale, pistachios, chili honey) and an off-menu test pie topped with butternut squash, toasted pepitas, mozzarella, parmesan, and crunchy chicharrónes. Even a New Haven tribute shows up in the form of mashed potato and bacon pizza with the addition of caramelized onions.

If you’re pizza curiosity is piqued, Bailey’s pizza pop-up goes down on Wednesday and Sunday for dine-in or takeout and on Fridays and Saturdays for takeout only if the pizza oven isn’t booked for a private event.

23 Bailey Avenue; Ridgefield
203.431.0796; https://www.baileysbackyard.com/