The Naples VIP Pizza Tour returns!
My guided journeys to the centre of the pizza universe resume in late March, reconnecting people passionate about making pizza with people equally passionate about eating it.
The key reward offered to attendees at my very first Naples VIP Pizza Tour in March 2014 was privileged access:
Fast-lane entry past the crowds waiting outside famous pizzerias like L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele and Pizzeria Sorbillo.
Seating at the best tables in the house.
Behind-the-scenes visits and pizza-making demos with emerging legends like Franco Pepe, recently featured on an episode of Netflix Chef’s Table Pizza.
Beyond the satisfaction of not being treated like a tourist, subsequent tours offered something even more valuable: Each established a special connection between people passionate about making pizza and people equally passionate about eating it. Boundaries vanished. Stepping out from the banco proved liberating for pizza makers normally separated from us by that marble workbench. The star pizzaioli didn’t just open up their pizzerias to us. They opened up their hearts, too, turning every stop of the tour into an event.
Greeting me with a warm hug, a couple of the pizza makers would inform the group that I was like a brother to them. The affection may have been sincere, a heartfelt expression of Neapolitan hospitality, but, just to be clear, we weren’t the sort of brothers who went out together for beers, or lent each other books, much less money. They spoke even less English than I spoke Italian.
But with the support of Luciano Furia, the pizza photographer and interpreter who co-hosts the tours, a special relationship flourished. In the era of selfies and self-regard, I believe it was refreshing for the pizzaioli to sit down with fans from abroad who genuinely wanted to listen, learn and share laughs between pizzas.
I never sought to impress the pizzaioli with my expertise, at least not knowingly, but I may have accomplished that simply by being observant, inquisitive, appreciative. The pizza lovers who joined the early tours understood there was nothing to be gained from showing off, as only fools do in the presence of greatness. As a result they arrived at an easy, first-name affinity with Emanuele, Gino, Enzo, Salvatore, Attilio, Franco et al. They built a trust, which then became a benefit left behind in Naples for subsequent tour groups to embrace and sustain.
When the Naples VIP Pizza Tour resumes in March, after an intolerable hiatus of two years, the pizza makers will surely ask everyone, tour guide and goer alike, to appraise their pizzas. We will reply with all the candour expected of trusted confidants. If we love the pizza we will enumerate the qualities that made it extraordinary. Our gushing will be punctuated in several languages:
“Magnifica!” “Remarquable!” “Sensacional!” εξαιρετικός!” “Perfektion!” “Incomparabil!” “מדהים!” “Gwych!" “Awesome!”
But should the odd pizza prove to be flawed, I will respond on behalf of the group, honestly, if perhaps ambiguously:
“My dear brother, we are at a loss for words.”