(Re)united for the sake of pizza

The happy ending to a story with unpleasant outcomes (we wrote about it here and here) arrived a few hours ago in Milan. The presentation of Where to Eat Pizza (Phaidon, only in English for now), organised by Identità Golose at Alice inside Eataly Smeraldo. Of course there were Paolo Marchi, curator Daniel Young with some of the 1,077 experts who collaborated with him in selecting the best pizzerias in the world. But most of all, there were the pizza chefs, without any local division or territorial claims.

North (Renato Bosco, Patrick Ricci, Bruno de Rosa, Corrado Scaglione, to name a few), Centre (Gabriele Bonci, Giancarlo Casa) and South (Franco Pepe, Ciro Salvo, Salvatore Salvo, Gino Sorbillo, Enzo Coccia). Group photo, smiles, comments. No conflicts: a strong group that becomes even stronger if it becomes (or stays?) united. Pure Italian excellence celebrated by Young’s guide. His words were introduced by Marchi: «This book shows a huge love for pizza. Let’s think about it: rice and pasta are Italian, but we didn’t invent them. Pizza is entirely ours, even though it now belongs to the world, as proven by the 1,705 reviewed pizzerias, in every continent».

These concepts were reaffirmed by the American author: «There are two notions of authenticity, both acceptable. The first regards traditional Neapolitan pizza; the other, instead, refers to the many interpretations of pizza that have appeared everywhere, depending on the territory and on the experience of each person. There are pizzerias in New York or Buenos Aires that have been making “their” pizza for 100 years: perhaps it’s not the best, but we believe it is authentic nonetheless and it must be respected». Finally, Young explained, there are the creative people, «those who take risks and present innovative versions. But they all share a great passion for dough and therefore deserve to be admired».

Coccia stepped in with regards to this: «These days I don’t see those new ideas on pizza that one could find 10 years ago. For instance with Bonci or Padoan [whose absence was justified as he had a previous engagement with a charity project]. Except Renato Bosco, young people often copy. Why so?». The reply came from Pepe, celebrated by all as he was the number 1 in Young’s list of the world’s pizzerias, not without controversy: «Young people copy because once, one would start from the bottom, moved gradually, while today many pizza chefs jury-rig». The maestro from Caiazzo was in fact beaming: «This is the best day. I don’t feel like I’m a winner, the acknowledgement goes to my personal career, but the celebration is for all. Pizza has taken huge steps forward. Who would have thought, a few years ago, that they’d ask us to speak in fine dining restaurants, that pizza would be paired with champagne?».

Speaking of fine dining, will this blessed Michelin star arrive? We don’t know if what Young said was right, but it certainly was wise: «Pizza has never been so big. You don’t need the Michelin guide because you have conquered the admiration and respect of the most famous chefs». Bravo.