2 Norwalk Restaurants Collaborate On Pizza For Charity

NORWALK, CT — If you purchase the newest pie on the menu at Letizia's Pizza in Norwalk, you will help feed children who might go hungry on the weekends. Through a collaboration with Bobby Q's Cue & Co, also in Norwalk, Letizia's is selling a BBQ Pulled Pork Pizza for $12, however there is a catch: you only have a month to order one.

Letizia's began selling these special pies on Sunday, Feb. 3, and will continue to sell them until March 3, with 100 percent of the proceeds going to Filling in the Blanks of Norwalk, an organization that helps fight childhood hunger by providing children in need with meals on the weekend.

"Kids who receive free lunch at school, Filling in the Blanks takes care of Saturday and Sunday for them," Letizia's co-owner Danny Segers said. "They work with the schools and different boys and girls clubs and stuff like that. It’s not for profit, and they have a lot of volunteers, many of which who are kids also. They pack food for the weekend for kids who get them during the week."

Segers is one of three owners at Letizia's, along with Dave Cook and founder Dennis Letizia. (To sign up for Norwalk breaking news alerts and more, click here.)

According to Bobby Q's owner Bob LeRose, the two parties both agreed from the start they wanted to make this a charity-driven promotion. When Segers brought Filling in the Blanks to his attention, all involved felt it was a perfect fit.

"What we both liked about [Filling in the Blanks] was that it was a kid-oriented charity," LeRose said. "I didn’t know there was this issue of feeding kids on the weekends, so it just made total sense. It aligns with our values, being a family-friendly place and wanting to help out kids in need."

The new pizza is a true collaboration between both parties, with LeRose providing the pork and sauce and Letizia's turning it into a ready-to-eat pizza.

"It’s kind of a natural product for us to partner on," LeRose said, "where [Bobby Q's] could do the pulled pork and the sauce and then give it to somebody who knows what they’re doing on the pizza side to make sure you have a good, quality product."

There's no secret ingredient needed as far as a winning taste is concerned. According to Segers, the new pie simply consists of pulled pork, cheese and sauce.

"It’s a little bit of a lighter sauce than what we would normally put on a pizza, just to make sure it doesn’t overwhelm the barbecue and the pork," Segers said. "It’s really good. We’ve done a couple different specialty pies for charity where we will only sell it for a month, and I think there’s pretty much a consensus this is our favorite one so far."

In the past, Letizia's has sold a few month-long special pies for charity, their most successful being a mac & cheese pizza that has been sold during Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October for the past two years, raising nearly $10,000 in the process.

One thing is constant for all of Letizia's charitable ventures: their commitment to giving 100 percent to each charity.

"A couple years ago when we started doing charity work, we came to the consensus that if we were going to do it, we’re going to do it 100 percent," Segers said. "We’re a small local business; we’re not going to raise $30,000 doing something, so if we took like 15 percent, what are we really donating? We wanted to go 100 percent. If it helps out the community and helps out people, I just think that’s the best way to do it, and we all sort of agreed on that."

While both Segers and LeRose have already received great feedback from customers who have tried the pulled pork pizza, customers are urged to order one before March 3, as it will not be finding its way onto the menu permanently any time soon.

"We won’t keep it on the menu, but we would definitely consider bringing it back," Segers said. "If we keep it on the menu, it sort of loses its mystique. By making it go away and then making people ask for it and want it, it sort of adds that extra element to it when it does come back."

While the idea of pulled pork on a pizza might sound strange to some, the owners of Letizia's and Bobby Q's encourage everyone to give it a try. After all, it may help feed a child that lives in your community.

"So many people are sort of scared to try something like pulled pork on a pizza, but I always tell them that we would not serve something we don't think is good," Segers said. "In everything we’ve ever done, we won’t serve it if we’re not going to eat it. Luckily, their worries are quickly soothed once they take that first bite."

Letizia's Pizza is located at 666 Main Avenue in Norwalk; check out their website here. Bobby Q's Cue & Co is located at 11 Merwin Street in Norwalk; check out their website here.

Photo credit: RJ Scofield