What’s so special about a pizza joint?
In this case, it’s that Camille’s Wood Fired Pizza was recently named Best Restaurant in Tolland County, repeating it’s win from 2023.
Camille’s is so much more than what the name implies, said Scott Dolch, president and CEO of Connecticut Restaurant Association, the organization that bestowed the titles through its Crazies awards.
“It’s fresh food and it’s more than a pizza place,” he said. “They’ve got a full menu of appetizers, entrees… Dave is unbelievable with his dough and his meatballs are fabulous.”
The restaurant with a loyal following, not far from Harry A. Gampel Pavilion, is owned by Dave Noad and Camille Malaspina, life partners, as well as business partners. They met at Luna Wood Fire Pizza in about 2005 while he was a chef, she a server. Now they have three children.
Nearly 13 years ago they opened Camille’s, fulfilling a dream, and eight years ago they also opened Oakland Pizza Co. in South Windsor. His brother, Dennis joined the team and is an integral part of both businesses.
The couple are known to be humble, community-minded and always there with wisdom, advice, to help others, even their future competitors, to build their restaurants, Dolch said.
The dining room at Oakland Pizza.
If the restaurant were a person, Camille’s would be known as an old soul.
“We anchor everything with pizza and traditional dishes. We like to make anything that tastes good, “Noad said. “We just like to have fun.”
Malaspina said they consider employees their “heartbeat” and customers their “extended family.”
She adores the simple human sights at the restaurant, 2-year-old happily coloring at the table, the couple who came in to celebrate a 70th birthday with just a glass of wine at the bar and a cannoli. Moments like those are “extremely fulfilling,” she said.
“It’s a sophisticated place with great food meets the comfort of your living room,” Malaspina said. “We have so many regulars. They come back to see the same server every week.”
Two wins for Best Restaurant in Tolland County in three years is a “testimony to what they’ve built,” Dolch said.
Everything in the restaurant is made fresh, from scratch and even the pizza topping are cut fresh each day, Noad said
They make pizza in a wood-fired brick oven, which is described as cooking next a campfire. He doesn’t like to label his pizza but said it can be described as a combination of Connecticut and New York pizza.
“People in Connecticut know good pizza,” he said.
Through the years Dave has cooked his way through notable pizza establishments, beginning at Naples Pizza in Farmington.
He went on to work at Luna’s, Harry’s, Frank Pepe’s, Mondo, and more. Roan said one of his favorite chapters was working alongside Chef Billy Grant at Bricco and even sells a pizza created in Grant’s honor.
Two popular pizzas on the menu at Camille’s are Spicy Roni (for pepperoni), with fresh mozzarella, sauce, pepperoni, hot peppers and onion and the one named after Grant, Billy’s Bianco with garlic cream sauce, goat cheese, ricotta, red onion and truffle honey. They also have a new Hot Honey Roni pizza that’s caught on. Camille’s also has a popular bacon and egg pizza. The sausage pizza is made with carefully selected New Haven sausage.
The many salads are topped with their homemade polenta croutons.
The cauliflower bites in buffalo or Thai chili are a big hit too.
The entrees, some of which rotate, can include handcrafted pasta and ravioli, The Bolognese, Adobo spiced tacos, fig and prosciutto crostini, meatballs made with red wine.
They also carry a variety of made from scratch desserts that online reviewers swoon over: a Belgium chocolate brownie with caramel and ice cream, Creme Brulee and currently, an apple pie egg roll, apple pie filling in an egg roll wrapper.
Noad said Camille is a fabulous hostess/front of house person as her mother and grandmother have always been.
“It’s something that’s always been in her blood, ” Noad said.
At the bar they have wines from all over the word and an extensive variety of local craft beers.
Noad said restaurants are used for many special occasions and he loves being part of those moments in people’s lives.
“I think there’s nothing more virtuous than putting food in someone’s stomach,” he said. “We’re doing this to make someone happy. There’s something beautiful about that that you don’t find in every industry. ”
Noad said they are flattered by the awards and it goes to their phenomenal team, but, “It’s not really what I do it for.”
The secret to their success, Noad said, is, “authenticity.”
“We don’t cook with pretension. We just cook to see people happy we just want to be a fun neighborhood pizza shop,” he said. “If you love what you do, the people you do it with and who you do it for, it’s the magic in the sauce.”