Chef
Giorgia Caporuscio - Matteo Bassani
- Discipline
- Chef
- Based in
- New York City, New York, United States
i. Biography
Giorgia Caporuscio - Matteo Bassani is chef of Don Antonio in New York City, where the rhythm of the kitchen is shaped by the same discipline and devotion that brought her there in the first place. She opened the pizzeria in 2012 after years of hard work and study, and has been its founder/owner since that year. The result is a place that feels less like a passing venture than a long-built home for a very particular way of making pizza—one that she has carried with consistency, care, and confidence into the heart of the city.
The Path
Today, Giorgia Caporuscio is founder, owner, and chef of Don Antonio, a role she has held since 2012. That timeline matters: it marks not only the opening of a restaurant, but the beginning of a steady, hands-on authorship that has continued year after year. The work behind that role is implied in the pizzeria itself, in the sense that every detail has been earned rather than improvised. Her path to Don Antonio was built through years of hard work and study, and the restaurant stands as the tangible outcome of that preparation.
The Work Today
At the restaurant, she cooks in a Neapolitan style with a specific fried-then-baked method: the dough is lightly fried, then finished in a wood-fired oven. The technique gives the pizzas a distinct life and texture, beginning with a delicate sizzle and ending in the dry, intense heat of the oven. It is a method that creates structure before the pizza reaches the table, shaping the crust and setting the character of the whole pie. The format gives her pizzas their defining structure before they reach the table, and that structure is part of what makes the work feel so precise and recognizable.
Signature
Giorgia's signature dishes include Montanara Starita. The name carries the weight of a house specialty, but it is the making that defines it: a pizza that arrives with contrast built into its very architecture, with the fried base leading into the baked finish. In the context of Don Antonio, the dish sits naturally within her style, an expression of the method she has chosen to make central to her kitchen.
Acclaim
The signature work is the Montanara Starita, a lightly fried pizza topped with homemade tomato sauce, smoked mozzarella, and basil, then cooked in a wood-fired oven. The homemade tomato sauce brings brightness, the smoked mozzarella adds depth, and the basil lends its clean, fragrant finish. Set against the lightly fried crust and the final pass through the wood-fired oven, the result is a dish that captures the essence of her approach: disciplined, elemental, and unmistakably tied to Don Antonio.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Giorgia
What is Giorgia Caporuscio - Matteo Bassani's current role?
As of 2026, Giorgia Caporuscio - Matteo Bassani is Chef.
What is Giorgia Caporuscio - Matteo Bassani known for?
Authentic Neapolitan pizza in Manhattan.
