Franco Pepe travels the world, preaching pizza. He is an earnest man, a perfectionist, a control freak, who makes every chef he visits nervous. Every single ingredient must be up to his standards. When he leaves his small Pepe in Grani pizzeria in Caiazzo, outside Naples he travels with his own wheat; nothing else will do. He's fussy about tomatoes; they must be Piennolo del Vesuvio tomatoes (he has them preserved in jars). Anchovies, of course, will only do from Cetara and Signor Pepe prefers the olives from his hometown. As for mozzarella, here's Chi Spacca's chef, Ryan Denicola, on the subject. "We got buffalo mozzarella from four importers, and he rejected them all. They were too soft inside. He won't use mozzarella unless you can see the layers in the cheese, like rings in a tree." And when he's mixed the dough, he runs around whatever kitchen he happens to be in with a thermometer, searching out the perfect place to let it rise. The result? The most perfect pizza you will ever eat. Signor Pepe spent last weekend in Los Angeles, teaching pizza classes at
Signor Pepe's Pizza
Signor Pepe's Pizza
Signor Pepe's Pizza
Franco Pepe travels the world, preaching pizza. He is an earnest man, a perfectionist, a control freak, who makes every chef he visits nervous. Every single ingredient must be up to his standards. When he leaves his small Pepe in Grani pizzeria in Caiazzo, outside Naples he travels with his own wheat; nothing else will do. He's fussy about tomatoes; they must be Piennolo del Vesuvio tomatoes (he has them preserved in jars). Anchovies, of course, will only do from Cetara and Signor Pepe prefers the olives from his hometown. As for mozzarella, here's Chi Spacca's chef, Ryan Denicola, on the subject. "We got buffalo mozzarella from four importers, and he rejected them all. They were too soft inside. He won't use mozzarella unless you can see the layers in the cheese, like rings in a tree." And when he's mixed the dough, he runs around whatever kitchen he happens to be in with a thermometer, searching out the perfect place to let it rise. The result? The most perfect pizza you will ever eat. Signor Pepe spent last weekend in Los Angeles, teaching pizza classes at