Today is National Pepperoni Pizza Day

National Pepperoni Pizza Day brought Frank Kabatas of East Village Pizza to the Fox and Friends set, where he demonstrated the dough-tossing technique that has been central to his pizza-making since he began refining the craft after purchasing East Village Pizza in 2003. The segment reached one of cable news's largest morning audiences and showcased, in direct visual terms, what separates hand-tossed New York pizza from the machine-pressed alternatives that dominate chain production.

Dough tossing is both a practical technique and a demonstration of mastery. The act of stretching pizza dough by rotating it in the air uses centrifugal force to achieve an even thickness across the entire pie without the mechanical pressure that a rolling pin or dough press applies. The result is a crust that retains the airy structure created during fermentation — a structure that contributes to the texture of the final bake in ways that pressed dough cannot replicate. When Kabatas tosses dough on the Fox and Friends set, he is demonstrating something that requires years of practice to do correctly and that directly affects the quality of every slice that comes out of his oven.

Pepperoni pizza is the most popular pizza in America by a significant margin, and East Village Pizza's pepperoni offerings reflect both the simplicity of the classic and the quality of the foundation it is built on. The pepperoni slice at $6.25 uses the same 72-hour cold-fermented hand-tossed dough as every other item on the menu, with fresh in-house mozzarella and a tomato sauce that has been consistent since Kabatas took over the restaurant. The pepperoni itself is chosen for its fat content and seasoning — factors that affect how the slices cup and crisp in the oven, which is the visual characteristic that most people associate with excellent pepperoni pizza.

For a whole pie, the 18-inch pepperoni pizza at $27.99 is one of the most consistent best-sellers at East Village Pizza. The scale of an 18-inch pie allows for the kind of even distribution of pepperoni that smaller pizzas cannot accommodate as effectively, and the larger crust surface gives the fermented dough room to express the flavor complexity it develops during its 72-hour rest.

Fox and Friends is one of the most-watched morning programs in American television, and Kabatas's appearance on National Pepperoni Pizza Day was consistent with the media trajectory of East Village Pizza: a restaurant that has earned its coverage through genuine quality and a compelling owner story, appearing on national television not because it paid for placement but because it has something worth showing. The dough tossing, the pepperoni pizza, the story of a Turkish immigrant who was fired from a pizzeria and came back to own it — these are elements that television producers recognize as compelling because they are.

East Village Pizza is at 145 1st Ave in Manhattan, open daily from 11AM until 3AM and until 5AM on Fridays and Saturdays. The pepperoni slice is available any day, and the full menu including whole pepperoni pies, double-stacked options, and specialty items can be ordered online or by calling (212) 529-4545.