Luigi Dell'Amura

Space and time arts: in this way a classic aesthetics theory, brushed up by Gillo Dorfles, divides the forms of expression. Pizza isn’t an exception if it is true that in the 30ies Gigino Dell’Amura made length in meters become the touchstone of ideal pizza. It was the origin of the pizza a metro, a patented invention which made the tour of the world (both in a metaphorical and literal sense, if we only put one pizza after the other), perfectly risen thanks to the economic boom of the post-war period. So much that the restaurant in Vico Equense is perhaps the biggest restaurant-pizzeria in the world with its 1,500 covers. A grandeur which tastes like a revenge among the pleasures of pummarola (tomato sauce) and mozzarella.

However, this is not simply a matter of Guinness World Records with the distance measuring equipment in our hands. The pizza invented by Gigino was studied as regards preparation, from the selection of flours to leavening, thanks to his long experience gained as baker; moreover, thanks to its shape it introduced new ways of consumption. Shape of taste in an ante litteram Scabin sense, given that the border was reduced to the minimum to the advantage of a triumphant conviviality. If it is true that the food which celebrates the cohesion of a community, be it a family, a friendship or a place, always possesses a unitary character according to anthropologists. Like roasted meat that on Sundays replaces chops and cutlets. Table service shammed a real guéridon, which had the plebeian food symbolically rise to the refined table empyrean according to a rite of passage.

Since then, the Dell’Amura family has created kilometers and kilometers of pizzas margherita with the hands of the sons Antonio, Francesco, Carlo, Giulio and Mario who have continued the activity to date. While the nephew Luigi, homonymous of the founder, is mainly in charge of the Moon Valley hotel. And he tells us: «Today the pizza al metro has its specific character, different from the pizza romana or pizza napoletana. With the advantage of a copyright and a formula defined in my grandfather’s patent, besides having an exceptional testimonial like Gennaro Esposito. There are many differences: the mixture is softer and thicker, the seasoning more generous, the leavening shorter and the cooking lighter and longer. Our products became widespread among the catechumens of Naples alleys: I think of flour and tomato purée conceived for us, with fresh tomatoes instead of mashed ones when available. To clarify, we have the intention to fix specifications for the ‘Pizza a Metro’».