Featuring coverage by KochEatsFood — produced by Jason “Blends” Ayala of Studio Square Recordings
New York City is filled with dreamers and doers, but few embody both as completely as Natalie DeSabato, founder of Traze — a small-batch pizza lab in Long Island City built on patience, precision, and a love for craft.
🌱 From Pop-Up to Pizzeria
Traze didn’t begin with investors, blueprints, or big backers. It began with a toaster oven, a suitcase, and a subway pass. In 2015, Natalie was still experimenting with dough recipes in her Queens apartment. She would travel across the city to pop-ups and markets, lugging her oven and ingredients to share what she called her “tray-style” pizzas — thick, square, crispy-edged pies inspired by the Italian-American grandma slice but refined with artisan-level care.
That scrappy ingenuity became part of her brand’s DNA. For years, Traze operated as a roaming pop-up before finding a permanent home in 2025 in Long Island City — inside a space that once housed Corner Café, where Natalie herself had worked years earlier. It was a full-circle moment that spoke to her loyalty, resilience, and connection to the neighborhood.
🥖 The Science of Flavor
At the heart of Traze’s identity is a commitment to craft. Every pie starts with a 72-hour fermented sourdough blend — a process that gives each crust a signature tang, airy texture, and caramelized edge.
Natalie’s technique combines both old-world baking and modern experimentation. Her “pizza lab” approach means everything is made in-house: the dough, the sauces, even specialty toppings. Nothing is rushed. “Fermentation is flavor,” she’s often said in interviews, and her pies prove it.
🧆 The Falafel Grandma & Global Influence
Traze’s menu fuses culinary worlds in a way that feels both unexpected and effortless. The best example is her cult-favorite Falafel Grandma Pizza — a bold fusion of Mediterranean and New York comfort food.
The crust is dusted with sesame seeds, layered with smoked gouda, sharp cheddar, a drizzle of Halal-cart-style white sauce, and topped with crumbled fava-bean falafel. It’s playful, balanced, and beautifully New York — multicultural, expressive, and authentic.
Other favorites include the Sausage Vodka Tray, the Green Dream (a pesto-forward pie), and seasonal specials that showcase local produce and herbs. Natalie also keeps the menu vegetarian and vegan-friendly, a nod to mindful eating and inclusivity.
đź’¬ The Name and the Vision
The name “Traze” carries the spirit of movement — a nod to its beginnings as a traveling pop-up and a metaphor for leaving a mark. It represents Natalie’s philosophy of tracing your path through persistence, not perfection.
In her own words (from an interview on the What’s Good Dough podcast), “Traze is about experimentation and iteration — taking what you love and refining it over and over until it feels right.” That sense of evolution is baked into every part of her business.
🌎 Community, Collaboration, and Giving Back
Traze’s journey has never been just about pizza. Natalie continues to collaborate with other small makers and community organizations. Her 2022 pop-up with Rockaway Brewing Co. raised funds for The Connected Chef, a Queens-based hunger relief group.
She also participates in New York’s Pizzaioli Pop-Up Series, which highlights independent pizza artisans and donates proceeds to food insecurity initiatives.
As she transitions Traze from pop-up to established restaurant, Natalie remains committed to keeping it small-batch, personal, and community-rooted — proving that scale doesn’t have to mean compromise.
❤️ Why It Matters
Every great story has heart — and that’s what makes this feature on Traze more than a food story. It’s a reminder that creativity, resilience, and purpose often come from places of genuine care.
For Koch, the creator behind KochEatsFood, this work has always been about more than highlighting great restaurants. Before launching his food platform, he was producing with Happy Jack Entertainment, an organization founded in memory of Jack Nathan, a young artist and advocate who tragically passed away from a fentanyl overdose. The mission of Happy Jack Entertainment is simple yet profound: to turn pain into purpose through art, conversation, and awareness for mental health and addiction recovery.
Through this lens, Koch’s content has never been just about food — it’s about the people who make it, the spaces that bring communities together, and the quiet strength behind each story. His work reflects a belief that creative expression, whether through music, cooking, or filmmaking, can help heal and connect people.
The energy in that room was more than professional; it was human. Creators, musicians, and mental health advocates all spoke openly about their struggles, their art, and the importance of community support. Koch’s presence there reflected his own mission — to use storytelling as a bridge between awareness and action.
That message came to life powerfully during YouTube Cares, a World Mental Health Day summit held in DUMBO, Brooklyn, where Koch and Jason “Blends” Ayala from Studio Square Recordings were filming as part of the event’s creative team. The summit brought together voices from across entertainment and advocacy, including country music artist Jimmie Allen and actor Olly Sholotan, who portrays Carlton in Peacock’s Bel-Air reboot — both sharing personal stories about emotional health and navigating public life under pressure.
When Koch later turned his lens toward small businesses like Traze, that same philosophy followed. His platform KochEatsFood captures more than flavors — it captures feelings. It reminds us that behind every local business, there’s someone with a dream, a risk, and a story worth telling.
And when you pair that with Natalie DeSabato’s journey — a woman who started with nothing more than a toaster oven, a suitcase, and a passion for pizza — it becomes clear that both creators share the same foundation: craft with compassion.
Traze represents the artistry of food. Koch represents the artistry of empathy.
Together, their stories converge on one universal truth: whether you’re baking, filming, or simply showing up for others — what you make matters most when it’s made with heart.
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