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Japanese pizza maker now media darling following Italian championship

September 21, 2003

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NAPLES, Italy -- Makoto Onishi, a 28-year-old Japanese pizza maker who won the top prize at the recent annual Naples pizza festival, has become a food celebrity here.

According to Japan Today, on Sept. 16, Onishi became the first foreigner to win the best pizza maker title at Naples' PizzaFest. The Yoshino, Japan-born chef moved to Naples two years ago to study pizza making under Gaetano Fazio, a 53-year-old owner of da Gaetano pizzeria on Ischia Island, just southwest of Naples.

Since the victory, Italian media outlets have requested multiple interviews with the Japanese champion.

"Cooking is an art created by one individual for the benefit of another individual," Onishi told Japan Today. "To make a good pizza, the chef must be free of stress."

Fazio, who was present at the pizza contest, spoke of Onishi's dedication to his art.

"He is a very polite young man full of self-sacrificing spirit," Fazio said.

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