( CNN ) When Jeff Varasano moved from his native New York City to Atlanta he encountered a problem -- the local pizza was not up to scratch . Having grown up watching his grandmother make tasty , thin-dough wonders in the oven of her Bronx apartment , Varasano was accustomed to a high standard of this universally-loved delicacy . So , in spite of being a software engineer rather than a cook , he set out to create his own , mouth-watering pizza . `` I did a lot of crazy things to make a great pizza at home , '' Varasano says . `` I 've tried over 100 flours , 100 olive oils , 100 tomatoes . I 've sampled 51 different oreganos , '' he explains . One of the tactics he used was wrapping his oven in aluminum foil in order to get the temperature extra high , and it took him six years and two kitchen fires to perfect his recipe . `` I 've been a tinkerer since I was a little kid , '' says Varasano , `` I 've always liked to experiment with things , I viewed it as a puzzle . '' Engineering quality . When he was finally happy with his home-grown formula Varasano posted the recipe online . It went viral and he opened his own pizzeria in Atlanta in 2009 . The New Yorker is very particular about his product -- he grows his own oregano and uses natural sourdough which is aged for three days for a rich flavour . `` The style I like is not quite Neapolitan , not quite New York . Sort of a hybrid in the middle , but the crust is very , very light , '' he says . Varasano says he was passionate about software engineering , his original profession , but it lacked the immediacy of impact that a mouthful of great-tasting tasting pizza has . `` My software was very complicated , so it was very difficult to explain to people , '' he says . `` Pizza is the exact opposite . You take one bite and in five seconds you 're excited about it . ''
Varasano Varasano struggled to find pizza that he liked when he moved to Bronx . The software engineer set out to create his own , perfect pizza at home . In six years he opened his own pizzeria , New Yorker 's .