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New York Pizza Show: VPN pizzaioli aren't pizza snobs, says Miele

During the New York Pizza Show, senior editor Steve Coomes grabbed a few minutes with Pepe Miele, president of Verace Pizza Napoletana Americas. He said the group is misunderstood and not out to criticize non-Neapolitan pizzas. Its members' goal is to create a genuine Italian pizza experience.

November 5, 2005

"Neapolitan pizza is the original pizza," says a gesticulating Pepe Miele, when asked for his take on American pizza. As president of Verace Pizza Napoletana Americas, I expect his next words will be critical and overflowing with "Italian-pizza-only" snobbery. But his easy smile announces that I've misjudged him. "We respect all kinds of pizzas, but (Neapolitan pizza) is the mother pizza, so we have to make restrictions. You don't want to make Mama sick! You know what I mean?"

For those who don't know what he means, here's the short version of the story. VPNA is the American arm of

Pepe Miele, president, Verace Pizza Napoletana Americas, and owner of Antica Pizzeria in Los Angeles.

Verace Pizza Napoletana, a Naples, Italy-headquartered association that believes pizza, in its most widely understood form, got its start there in the late 1880s.

More than 20 years ago, a group of Neapolitan pizza makers decided pizza made most everywhere — even at some shops in their homeland — had strayed so far from the original that it didn't deserve to be called pizza. The group proposed that any pizza shop that 1. didn't make its dough from "00" flour, salt, water and yeast only; 2. didn't use a wood-fired oven burning at 800 F; 3. didn't use San Marzano tomatoes and salt as its only sauce; and 4. didn't use fior di latte or mozzarella di bufala as its only cheeses couldn't call its pie a pizza.

Their radical idea gained little traction because so few were willing to dismiss non-VPN-style pizza as pizza. Instead, several pizzaioli decided that if you made your pies by VPN standards, you could join their purist ranks and claim you served pizza made the old way, the real way, the right way.

When Miele opened Antica Pizza in Los Angeles in 1990, he sought to teach the locals about true Neapolitan pizza by making his according to VPN standards, but those early lessons were lost on them.

"I had people look at it and taste it and say, 'This is not pizza,'" Miele recalled, his large hands spiraling as if shooing away flies. "They had this look like, 'I've been cheated!' 'Call it something else, but this is not a pizza.'"

He had a similar reaction to American pizza when he moved here in 1986. "It was a humongous pizza slice, about 12 inches. I thought, 'Come on! What is this?' It was a very not-common taste for me," said Miele, an attendee of the New York Pizza Show on Nov. 2. "Such an abundance of product, of cheese, of dough — of the crust and the edge. Just the weight of a slice of Neapolitan pizza is 60 percent less — including the box!"

Pizza Fascists?

Miele believes VPNA's slow growth in the U.S. — only 15 pizzerias here have become certified in 10 years — is a reflection of a misunderstanding about its purpose. It's simply a group dedicated to replicating the Neapolitan style, not a band of pizza Fascists frowning on pizza made beyond its own strict decrees.

"We're not saying anything bad about the pizzas of the United States; they're all good," he said. "But what we are trying to say is this is the real thing."

He stressed that VPNA members aren't evangelists looking to convert Papa John's and Peter Piper operators — and their customers — to Neapolitan pizza. Their aim is to create a genuine Italian food, one devoid as possible of influences from other cultures — even some from within Italy.

He said some of the first Italian immigrants to the U.S. stayed several years before returning home. Their years here changed the way they cooked, and Miele said they adapted that style to their meals prepared in Italy. "You see, we got some stuff from you guys, too, and now what was made in Italy was different."

The VPNA's desire for pure pizza, therefore, is about creating a unique and arguably historically accurate product, not about excluding newer pizza styles.

"You can still make

The logo for VPNA.

pineapple pizza if you like — and some (VPN members) do. But if someone asks for Neapolitan-style pizza, you must be set up for it."

And you'd better be prepared to prove the claim that your pizzeria is following the code.

"Yes, I'm very picky about it. I can suspend you," said Miele, who monitors other VPNA members' operations with occasional visits. "Or you can make yourself stick to that standard."

In its 15 years in operation, Antica Pizzeria has made only Neapolitan-style pies, and after a slow response initially, customers finally are catching on. After years of selling 30-odd pizzas a day, the stylish restaurant now serves 300. In some California cities, Neapolitan pizza is becoming a chic treat as a growing number of patrons understand the significance of the VPNA designation.

"The organization has given us some significance," Miele says, smiling again. "People respect authenticity. They are attracted to originality in product."