That was my neighborhood at the time, and I remember when they opened up there. JB: Then for a number of years, they were on Houston Street in Lower Manhattan. Matt Molina with one of his signature creations at Graffiti Pizza in Oakland. From what I was told, Grimaldi’s was one of the first pizzerias to open in the United States, and their first location was under the Brooklyn Bridge. I worked there for a few years,and when I left there, I got a job at a place called Grimaldi’s. Then when I was 19, I got a job as the assistant manager of a pizzeria chain called Rosati’s, which is a Chicago-style place. JB: At that point you were pretty much a kitchen manager? I moved on to being a line cook, then a pizza maker, then to running the ovens. I was 17, so I started out as a dishwasher, then moved up to salad and doing prep work. But something wasn’t hitting it, so I ended up getting a job closer to my house, at this Italian restaurant called Venice Pizzeria. MM: Well, originally I’m from Tucson, Arizona, and when I was 16 I got my first job at at thrift store. JB: Can you remind our readers how you first got into the restaurant business? Lightly edited for clarity and length, our conversation is below. Last week we sat down at Belle Cora here in the North Beach neighborhood, where he was kind enough to bring me up to date on his new project. I’ve known Matt for years and have written about him here before, and he’s always good for a lively conversation. And pandemic be damned, business at the new pizzeria has been booming.
Graffiti Pizza, the chef’s first post- Capo’s project, opened in Old Oakland in October of last year. These days Matt is on the other side of the bridge, bringing the pizza gospel to the good people of the East Bay.
Two years later the pizzaiolo struck again in Vegas’ Best of the Best challenge, edging out three other previous Pizza Makers of the Year to bring the top prize home for Capo’s. In 2014, Matt scored his first world pizza championship at Pizza Expo in Las Vegas in his very first competition–then doubled down to beat all the division winners, and snare Pizza Maker of the Year for 2014. It was a plum gig for a young pizza maker, but Matt came highly recommended, and he didn’t take long in distinguishing himself. In 2012, Matt Molina moved to San Francisco from his hometown of Tucson, Arizona, to head up the kitchen at Capo’s, then just starting out on Vallejo Street.
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