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As part of the event, the restaurant is donating 100 percent of Tuesday’s sales, said DiFabio, a six-time World Pizza Champion. The funds will benefit cancer research.
“Usually with fundraisers, only a portion or percentage of proceeds are donated to charity. But I wanted to make a big splash and go all in,” said DiFabio, a Ridgefield resident.
“During an economic crisis, one of the first things to suffer is charitable donations," he said. "People need to help charities, and hopefully, this will inspire other people to donate their time or money to charity.”
As his mother is a cancer survivor, DiFabio decided to team with the American Cancer Society for this event.
Business at the pizzeria was more than double, “maybe even triple,” what it sees on a normal Tuesday, DiFabio said. He hopes to be able to donate $15,000 to the nonprofit as a result.
“Even if we don’t reach $15,000 in sales, it will still be a great number,” he said.
For the event, DiFabio debuted his award-winning pulled pork pizza, which won first place at the Greenwich Town Party in May. The pizza is made with smoked pork, mozzarella cheese, red onion, bacon and barbecue sauce. The crust is brushed with maple syrup.
The pizzeria also cooked up another special pie — the Brunello pizza, which has green olives, salami picante, sundried tomatoes, hand-crushed destemmed San Marzano tomatoes, as well as burrata and mozzarella cheeses. This pizza won the World Pizza Championship in Salsomaggiore, Italy.
Although this event was a first for Pinocchio Pizza, the restaurant is not shy when it comes to community giving.
“We help feed 250 men once a month at the Norwalk Homeless Shelter,” DiFabio said. “We’ve been doing that for a couple years now. We also give the schools discounts and donate food when people have charitable or sports events.”
Pinocchio Pizza in located at 1 Center St. It also has locations in New Canaan and Pound Ridge.
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