Briatore opens Crazy Pizza in Naples: Neapolitan pizza makers are divided
After the summer, the Billionaire owner's club opens on the seafront. Among his 'colleagues' there are those who welcome him and those who speak of a show initiative
2' min read
2' min read
Pizza Margherita at 17 euro, 'exactly like in Milan'. Flavio Briatore thus presented, in an interview with Corriere del Mezzogiorno, his Crazy Pizza which will open its doors "at the end of the summer season" in Via Nazario Sauro, on the Naples seafront. Opening in the historical capital of pizza, and with prices extremely higher than average, for the entrepreneur is a challenge to be won: "We believe that our different and unique 'fine dining' formula can be a stimulating addition to the local gastronomic scene.
A good pizza Margherita costs between 4.50 and eight euros in Naples, less than half of the 17 euros envisaged in the Crazy Pizza in Milan and in the one to be created in the Campania capital: 'Nothing exaggerated', replies the owner of the Billionaire, 'I am convinced that the price of 17 euros to enjoy a good pizza in a luxury establishment, served by qualified staff, with DJ sets and entertainment, is absolutely correct'. The most expensive pizza on the menu? 'The one with a fantastic Iberian Pata Negra Joselito: 65 euro for our most exclusive pizza'.
On the subject, Neapolitan pizza makers appear divided: there are those who welcome a 'courageous' initiative and those who consider it a contamination for show. "Margherita pizza in Naples means three hundred years of history in one bite and 90 seconds in a wood-fired oven: Flavio Briatore will never be able to pass this on to his customers," says Paolo Surace, of the historic Pizzeria Mattozzi in Piazza Carità, in the centre of Naples. "I wish Flavio good luck," is instead the comment of Gino Sorbillo. "I invite entrepreneurs to invest in our city. Certainly if he has chosen Naples it is because he will have evaluated many things. It is in any case a courageous operation because in the past other pizzas have not worked so well, while the Neapolitan pizza both in other cities and abroad has been successful in most cases'.
Alessandro Condurro, CEO of l'Antica Pizzzeria da Michele in the World, says he is 'open to all novelties. We are very happy that such an important group is coming to Naples to create business. Personally,' he adds, 'I will go there to try the product and to experience it. Pizza is a democratic dish'. Another historic pizzaiolo from Naples, Errico Porzio, returns to the concept that Briatore's place cannot be defined as a real pizzeria. "Three years ago when I went to visit him in Rome I already expressed my thoughts, in the sense that his are not pizzerias, they are trendy places, so whoever wants to compare Crazy Pizza to a Neapolitan pizzeria is mistaken, it is a comparison that doesn't really exist'.
