The Monthly Slice: Keeping It All in the Family: Bill Pustari at New Haven Museum

New Haven, Conn. (March 13, 2026) –“Keeping It All in the Family: A Conversation with Modern Apizza's Bill Pustari,” will take place on Thursday, April 2, 2026, at 6 pm, at the New Haven Museum (NHM). The talk is the latest offering in “The Monthly Slice” series of programs at NHM, presented in conjunction with the ongoing exhibition, “Pronounced Ah-Beetz.” Free with regular museum admission. Register here.

Moderated by Gorman Bechard, director of “Pizza A Love Story,” the discussion offers an opportunity to ask questions of one of the premier pizza makers in the world. Pustari grew up as a pizza man and went to what he likes to call “pizza university.” He bought Modern Apizza in 1988 and turned it into a nationally recognized pizza restaurant.  

Modern has consistently been ranked as one of the 10 best pizzerias in the country, and one of the “Big Three” in New Haven. “Pizza Today” magazine named Modern the 2023 Pizzeria of the Year. Having always kept it a family affair, Pustari runs Modern with the help of his wife Mary, and their children, William and Arianna, and a dedicated staff, many of whom have been with Pustari for decades.

The “Pronounced Ah-Beetz” exhibition at NHM includes first-hand oral histories and pizza-related artifacts from personal collections, video footage adapted from the documentary and photographs. The exhibition’s title comes from the way many people mispronounce the word apizza, which originally grew out of the Italian la pizza. The exhibition will remain on view through October 2027.