Windsor, Ont. pizza featured in documentary to showcase 'The Pizza City You've Never Heard Of'

Windsor, Ont. -

Windsor’s official moniker may be the automotive capital of Canada, but a filmmaker is hoping to put the Rose City on the map for another reason: pizza.

George Kalivas was raised in Windsor, but moved to New York when he was 18. During his time there, the expat was introduced to many famous New York pizza joints, but he says none held a candle to the pizza from his hometown.

“I used to always say to my friends, ‘You should try the pizza where I’m from, you should come to my hometown.’ And they would look at me like I was completely insane, like ‘Where are you from, this is New York City!’” Kalivas recounts.

Suddenly, the idea struck.

Kalivas wrote and produced the new road-trip documentary delving into the history, interviewing the people behind Windsor’s well-established pizza places.

“The one thing that every owner and every family behind these pizza brands brought up is the fact that it all started with Volcano,” he says, noting the storied 70-year history branches out like a tree, with Windsor touting the most pizzerias per capita in Canada.

The documentary also explores essential characteristics that define our favourite Italian cuisine.

“Some people will say it’s the style of sauce that goes on there,” says Adriano Ciotoli, co-owner of Windsor Eats. “Some will say it’s the canned mushrooms, others will say it’s the Galati cheese that makes it a Windsor-style pizza.”

But Kalivas’ number one goal is putting Windsor-style pizza on the map.

He tells CTV News Windsor the flick has already been picked up by a number of film festivals -- and his team, including director Tristan Laughton, is working on getting a deal with a streaming service.

“Nobody knows about the Windsor pizza story and we’re hoping to be the ones to finally introduce it to the world,” Kalivas says.

The trailer goes live August 12 and Kalivas expects a film release in 2022.