The best pizzerias made in France

With 21 thousand pizzerias and 745 million pizzas each year, France is the first market for pizza in the world, followed by Italy. Yet in terms of quality, what are the standards of pizza in France? And how come it’s so popular, so much so it exceeds Italy in terms of volumes? Documentary La Très Très Bonne Pizza, by François-Régis Gaudry and Anthony Da Silva, directed by Frédéric Planchenault, was broadcasted on TV channel Paris Première in June and portrays an interesting journey of food and culture, in search for the best pizza in France. 

Gaudry, food critic at Express and presenter of TrèsTrèsBon, together with épicière Alessandra Pierini (RAP Épicerie), the spokesperson of Italian gastronomic culture in Paris, and French chef Alain Cirelli, patron at Le Purgatoire, where he organises culinary and art events, travelled across France and tested over 300 pizzerias listing the best French pizzas. Surprisingly, the winner is in a featureless industrial area, an hour’s drive from Paris. Here, surrounded by discount stores and fast-food restaurants, Emmanuel Cottet, an ex-auditor who a few years ago changed career and completed his cooking training with Ducasse and his pizza training with Renato Bosco, surprises at L'Atelier Pizza with his extraordinary light dough seasoned with excellent raw materials.

La Très Très Bonne Pizza is not just a competition among pizzerias: it’s an in-depth reportage on pizza culture in France, from its arrival in the late Forties to our days. Speaking of which, one has to mention the great work done by Gennaro Nasti (pizzeria Bijou in Paris) over the past few years: an almost pioneer work in making Neapolitan pizza current, in the French capital.