Rachael Ray Visited This New York Pizza Shop So Many Times It Named A Pizza After Her

Celebrity chefs are just like the rest of us. They go out to dinner, there are some who don't eat what they cook, and (most importantly) they love pizza. Rachael Ray is no exception and has created many recipes to fulfill pizza cravings, including her pizza pasta salad and hot sausage cast iron skillet pan pizza. However, the chef can't be expected to make all of her own meals, and there's one spot near her upstate New York residence that she frequents so much they named a pizza after her.

The Harvest Restaurant in Queensbury, New York, specializes in Italian-American fare. Its menu includes pastas, sandwiches, salads, and, of course, pan pizza. In an interview for the Rachael Ray Show, the eatery's manager says that Ray has been frequenting The Harvest since she was a child and first started coming with her family. Ray reportedly gets the same thing every time: spicy wings, a tossed salad with house dressing, and the "Rachael Ray" pizza, named after her because she ordered it so often. Topped with homemade sauce, provolone cheese, oregano, red onion, green peppers, and hot cherry peppers, the "Rachael Ray" is a customer favorite, but patrons also love the eatery's "Harvest Best" pie, which features pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, green peppers, meatballs, and red onions. One Yelp review even claims The Harvest has the "best pizza in the Capital District." 

There are regional pizza styles all over the world, and The Harvest Restaurant has its own special formula for crafting pies that keeps Rachael Ray (and others) hooked. Each pizza starts with a family secret dough recipe. Although we can't know for sure how it's made, it's described as "sweet" by the restaurant's manager. Owner Charlie Hoertkorn tells the Glens Falls Chronicle that he likes "the crispiness but the softness of the dough." The eatery's pizzas do not have a traditional crust because provolone and additional toppings are piled all the way to the edge. "From the first bite to the last bite, you're going to get the same flavor," The Harvest's kitchen manager tells "The Rachael Ray Show."

The typical pizza cheese is mozzarella, but The Harvest only uses provolone on its pies. According to the restaurant's kitchen manager, this has been a practice at the restaurant since it first opened over 50 years ago. The cheese is often paired with mozzarella for pizza-making because of their meltability. Provolone is even featured on many of the pies at popular pizza chain Domino's.