Cosetta Pizzeria and Paninoteca Opens in Fairfield from Bailey's Backyard Team

Prosciutto pie w/basil, tomato sauce, mozzarella, EVOO, and burrata

In 2024, when I interviewed Sal Bagliavio, the co-owner of Bailey’s Backyard, about his second spot, Taco Dia in Newtown, he very cryptically mentioned that he and chef/co-owner Forrest Pasternack were actively looking to open something else, somewhere else to follow up their taqueria.

Cosetta Pizzeria and Paninoteca on the Post Road in Fairfield is that something else—and what it is, simply put, is a more gourmet version of the neighborhood slice shop, plus sandwiches (including breakfast), house-made pastry, and coffee.

Ralph Gencarelli, Forrest Pasternack, and Sal Bagliavio said they fell in love with Italian street food when doing R&D for this concept. Cosetta, translated from Italian to English means, little thing. They’re hoping their small slice shop becomes a big deal.

On the space, Pasternack says, “My dad and I came down here when it was Mike’s for slices back in the day. The building needed work. It’s a beautiful corner in a beautiful town and years ago, it was a bank and it still has the vault. We renovated the space, found new windows, and put in a tin ceiling that’s an homage to what was originally here.”

For Bagliavio, pizza is a return to a past culinary venture back in the late 90s when he co-owned Alfonso’s Pizza in Danbury.

“That’s around the time I met Sal,” Pasternack says. “It was traditional New York style. I would go in after my band played in the area and buy slices.”

Bagliavio picks that thought up about why he went back to pizza and it’s simple.

“I’ve always wanted to make pizza,” he says. “Pizza’s great. It’s delicious.”

“The Fairfield U” sandwich - antico prosciutto, capicola, fig jam, hot honey, whipped ricotta, walnuts, and shaved kale

Breakfast sandwiches, served on soft brioche rolls, are a thing at Cosetta every day from 6-11 a.m. Sure, you can get a bacon, egg, and cheese (with heritage bacon and a Sauder’s Farm egg), or you can get “The Bourdain,” mortadella, egg, and provolone with mustard aioli.

Muffuletta - soppressata, prosciutto cotto, capicola, provolone, pickled veggies, basil, lettuce, olive tapenade, and sundried peppers

  On board at Cosetta with Bagliavio and Pasternack is Ralph Gencarelli. For pizza research, the trio—already well versed in pizza throughout their culinary lives—tirelessly tested their dough until they got an end product they sought, a hybrid of New Haven and New York styles.

Why that style? It goes back to Pasternack’s love of New Haven pizza that was cultivated from his time at the Yale School of Music.

Truffle Pie - Mozzarella, ricotta, wild mushrooms, truffle cream

Amanti Pepperoni - tomato sauce, mozzarella, pecorino, ricotta

“I went to the Conservatory for classic guitar, became a musician, then went to the CIA (Culinary Institute of America),” Pasternack says. “I love the pizza in New Haven, but being in New York, I love that pizza, too. The hybrid dough, we are going for light, crispy, fluffy, no flop. We went all over the city together; L'Industrie, Joe’s, John's (of Bleecker Street), Luigi’s. I’ve worked at wood fired and coal pizzerias in the past. I’m proud of what we’re putting out here as far as crispness, flavor profile, the tomato and cheese quality, all things that go into a great pizza. Me and Sal made a lot of pizza together before figuring it out. One secret to it? Don’t skip on fermentation. Allow it time. You can’t go less than 24 hours, but 72 is our sweet spot, and you need 48-72 to make crispy, light pizza.”

Some of Cosetta’s intro pies, a list that runs 12 deep (plus you can obviously order a plain pie, then top it how you want it), include a classic margherita, truffle (mozzarella, wild mushrooms, ricotta, truffle cream), prosciutto (tomato, basil, mozzarella, olive oil, burrata), onion fig jam with bacon, and Amanti Pepperoni, a red sauce pie with plenty of charred roni cups, mozzarella, pecorino, and ricotta.

Nineteen cold and hot sandwiches, six salads, and six breakfast sandwiches (served from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m.) round out the menu.

“We’re a slice shop and a whole pie shop,” Pasternack explains. “We only have one size pizza and we have it perfect to how we wanted it. You can buy a slice or a large, 18-inch pie. Our sandwich bread is a Pinsa loaf, like street food style that’s meant for walking, talking, and eating. We’re using tomatoes in season that are as fresh and as local as possible and we’re serving Zumbach’s Coffee. Pastries are made in-house, like my grandmother’s olive oil ricotta cake and a lot of these are my family’s pastry recipes.”

To drink, if you’re not doing water, soda, or juice, Cosetta offers canned beer, wine, and ready-to-drink cocktails.

“We have a full liquor license,” Bagliavio says. “We’ll add Bailey’s and sambuca, stuff like that, if you want it in your coffee.”

“I used to do a three-martini lunch,” Pasternack jokes (but not so jokingly).

“Well, maybe now it’ll be two cups of spiked coffee!” Bagliavio says.

Both Bagliavio and Pasternack also hinted at trying other pizza styles at Cosetta, but they’re committed to getting the basics down first, then, maybe.

And whether they’ll bust out with other concepts to join their family of Bailey’s Backyard, Taco Dia, and Cosetta, well…that’s a very real possibility.

“One of the reasons we’re in this business is we love and want to make people happy,” Pasternack says. “The best compliment is, ‘Hey, guys, that was great, it’s delicious.’ That makes us want to do this more.”

1560 Post Road, Fairfield
203.255.2292
Instagram @cosettapaninoteca
Website coming soon