Meet your Pizzaiolo
I tasted my first bite of pizza at the ripe age of four at a Woolworth’s lunch counter in Wonderland Mall in San Antonio. Standing on my tip toes, doing my best to glance over the counter, I asked my grandpa about the massive, cheesy disk under the glass. He said, “That’s a pizza, or a pie made with cheese.” Well, I loved pie AND cheese, so it seemed like a match made in heaven for me. He gently slid a quarter out of grandma’s laundromat roll (and carefully covered the wrapper back up so grandma wouldn’t be the wiser and swore me to secrecy) and bought me my first-ever slice of pizza – I was hooked.
So began my full-fledged love affair with pizza. Naturally, I had to try to make it on my own; however, when I tried to make a consistent product, I truly sucked! My poor kids – they would always say my pizza tasted good, but more times than not, it didn’t live up to my expectations and ended up in the trash.My beautiful bride remembered these stories and surprised me one year with a birthday trip to Naples, Italy. She enrolled me at the pizza making ‘university’ - Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (AVPN) - where I trained for nearly two weeks (classroom, kitchen, and internship) under the experts and guardians of true Neapolitan pizza. This ended in written, oral, and practical exams where each student was scrutinized by the masters. I PASSED!!
Both Jennifer and I are ruined when it comes to eating any other type of pizza (and we think you will be too) as we find it hard to accept anything less than true Neapolitan. Now, after years of continuing to perfect my craft and consistently produce a superior pizza, I’m ready to share what I’ve learned with you and other aspiring pizza aficionados. hat includes what they do, how long they’ve been at it, and what got them to where they are.
