Rob Cervoni, owner of Long Island’s first Roman-style pizzeria Taglio at 85 Mineola Blvd. in Mineola, won $10,000 during a pizza-centric episode of Food Network’s “Chopped” last week.
Cervoni, a Great Neck native who now lives in Franklin Square, beat out three other pizza chefs for the episode’s top prize on the March 28 episode. He said he plans to use the winnings to create a scholarship fund for future pizza makers, or pizzaiolos.
“There’s been a massive boom in business. We had on Friday night a three-hour wait for pizza,” Cervoni said. “The entire community of Long Island has really come out, shown their support and welcomed me with open arms.”
Pizza al taglio, or pizza “by the cut,” has been gaining popularity across the nation, characterized by the dough’s airiness and its staple technique of being cut with scissors instead of sliced with a pizza cutter. The pizza’s airy dough can be attributed to its high hydration and at least a 72-hour fermentation process.
A 2006 Great Neck South High School alum, Cervoni previously ran a 16 Handles frozen yogurt franchise for eight years before deciding to open up Taglio in 2018 after multiple trips to Rome and his grandfather’s hometown of Boville Ernica in the province of Frosinone.
“I didn’t want to be like everybody else on Long Island,” Cervoni said about beginning his pizza venture. “I traveled through Italy and got inspiration from Roman-style pizza and I decided that’s what I’m going to do.”
The fluffy pizza is cut with scissors to apply equal pressure on the top and bottom of the slice so as to not flatten the dough. The longer fermentation makes Roman-style pizza easier to digest than its Neopolitan counterpart.
Gabriele Bonci brought the pizza style to the United States, opening his first location, Bonci, in Chicago.
With his winnings, Cervoni said he is going to fund the training of young pizza makers interested in bringing Roman-style pizza to their areas.
“When I go to different expositions, I meet young and hungry pizza makers that are super passionate,” Cervoni said. “This is to help them if they can’t get the proper training and equipment and I will put them in contact with a mentor to teach them like I had.”
Recognition started to come shortly after Taglio opened when Cervoni was named one of Pizza Today magazine’s seven Rising Stars of the Pizzeria Industry in 2022.
Cervoni said he was recruited by the producers on the show last year and after a series of online interviews filmed his episode from the network’s Manhattan studios in October.
Cervoni said Taglio, which is located next to both the Mineola LIRR station and NYU Langone, had good support from the local community but since the episode aired has gained interest from other residential areas.
“It was hard to break through at first because it was so different at the time being the first and only Roman-style pizzeria,” Cervoni said. “‘Chopped’ brought Roman style to the forefront and people are trying it, which is all that I ask. Come try it and be the judge for yourself.”