We the Pizza

Poignant stories and 65 knock-out recipes for award-winning pizza, wings, and more from Down North, the mission-driven Philadelphia pizzeria owned and operated exclusively by formerly incarcamperated people.

Created and launched by Philly born-and-bred entrepreneur Muhammad Abdul-Hadi, the mission of Down North Pizza is to reduce recidivism rates in North Philly and serve up most insanely delicious food while doing it.

We the Pizzais a testament to survival, second chances, and spectacular pizzas, wings, and more. Recipes for tender, crispy edged, square-cut, sauce-on-top pies are Down Norths signature dish; a whole chapter is devoted to vegetarian and vegan pizzas like No Betta Love made with four cheeses and the arrabbiata-inspired Norf Sauce, while the Meat and Seafood pizza chapter features their most popular Roc the Mic pepperoni pie as well as the smoky berbere-brisket Tales of a Hustler and Say Yes, topped with jerk turkey sausage, roasted butternut squash, kale, ricotta and lemon-honey drizzle.

The pizzas along with classic and creative wings fries, lemonades, and shakes are paired with cinematic photography of the pizzas in their natural setting and out in the wilds of Philadelphia, with lots of journalistic-style photography of the Down North crew making dough and slinging pies. At the same time, readers will find empowering stories recounted by Down Norths formerly incarcerated staff, and pizzas from renown chef-supporters like Marc Vetri and Marcus Samuelsson, creating a cookbook that celebrates ingeniously delicious pizza, as well as the power people have to rise above their circumstances–if simply given the chance.