our-story
The West by God Way
As most citizens of West Virginia can relate to, when asked where you are from it is not just “West Virginia,” it’s “West by God Virginia.” The long history in the Appalachians, where the Mountain State lies, has led to many stories of where the “by God” phrase originated. Citizens have their own stories and passion behind the phrase, but the theme among all is a sense of pride of being from West Virginia. For our ownership team, being able to claim “I am from West by God Virginia” is one of the proudest things we are all fortunate enough to say.
Everyone has an inspiration. Our Black Diamond Pies are inspired after New Haven style “apizza” (pronounced ah-beetz) from New Haven, CT. Although we cannot replicate New Haven style, our goal is to bring techniques and ingredients to our guests from what many claim is “the pizza capital of the world”! Our style of pizza, the West by God Way, has a thin stretch from one end to the other creating a crispy yet chewy crust. Using only the best ingredients on the market and cooking in an oven that reaches over 700 degrees, our pies have a unique taste, can’t resist smell, and a beautifully charred (not burnt) crust.
New Haven inspired, done the West by God Way
Many don't call it the 'Pizza Capitol of the World' for nothing. This pizza is LEGIT! After visiting New Haven, our founders, a father and son duo, deemed it to be the inspiration for their restaurant, West by God CoalFired Pizza. What they call pizza in New Haven, 'apizza', was started by Italian immigrants working as bread bakers cooking out of big coal fired ovens. One day, local bread baker, Frank Pepe decided to put crushed tomatoes, oregano, and extra virgin olive oil on top of his bread and call it 'apizza'. Thus, New Haven style pizza was born. Today, this style (although very unique on its own) is considered in the Napoletana family of pizza styles. It utilizes very simple ingredients, where it believes less is more. The highlight and shining stars comes from the actual pizza dough, the flavorful tomato sauce, and the well done bake in the pizza oven. Today, the original pizza restaurant in New Haven, Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana, is widely regarded as one of the more influential pizza restaurants in the United States, and is home to one of the most popular pizzas in the world, their fresh Clam pie. We aren't 'apizza', can't be it, and don't want to be it. But, just as other pizzerias have done, we have utilized the inspiration from this small town in CT to create our own unique pizza. We invite everyone to take a bite from the love and passion of New Haven inspired apizza!
Scuola Italiana Pizzaioli
Our owner is a trained and certified pizzaiolo from the Scuola Italiana Pizzaioli out of Naples, Italy, the oldest pizza school in the world. He earned his certification in their "pizza classica" course. The class wasn't taught on how to properly assemble a pizza, how to operate ovens, or how to throw pizza dough in the air. But, it was taught around truly understanding pizza: learning how the important components of pizza interact together, how different kinds/types of ingredients affect your final product, how to work with different flours, how to utilize different dough mixing methods and what their differences are in taste and structure, and how to properly control the most important aspect of pizza: consistency. Pizza is one of the most enjoyed foods in the world, and we take the steps to ensure our pizza product is the BEST in the Smoky Mountain region!
