"At the peak of popularity, our reservation system was registering 2,500-3,000 requests every single day, which means that about 10,000 people a day wanted to come and eat with us. That was incredible." Michele Pascarella's success, from London restaurant to critics' awards.
Cover photo: @European Pizza Show
The pizzaiolo
Michele Pascarella, an Italian pizzaiolo among the best in the world, boasts a success story built on decades of hard work. An excursus that began at an early age, precisely at age 11 in the family pizzeria. This early immersion in the world of dough led him to gain various experiences, culminating in the opening of his acclaimed London restaurant, Napoli on the Road. The year 2023 marked a turning point in his career, when the prestigious food guide 50 Top Pizza awarded him the title of best pizza maker in the world, an accolade that inevitably expanded the demand for his creations, bringing with it new challenges in running the business.
Just think of what happened immediately after the award: “We literally had to turn off our phones for nine months. We simply were not (and could not be) prepared for that boom. Our reservation system was registering 2,500-3,000 requests every single day, which means that about 10,000 people a day wanted to come and eat with us. It was incredible,” he tells The Independent here. Pascarella's pizza is celebrated for its meticulous attention to detail, from the digestible base to the toppings balanced in flavors. Not only that, beyond technical expertise, Michele is known for his humility and kindness, qualities that clearly shine through in his tireless dedication to his craft. Not surprisingly, his entrepreneurial adventure began with selling pizzas from a modest three-wheeled van, a starting point that underscores his strong connection to tradition.
The Napoli on the Road pizzerias quickly distinguished themselves by an almost obsessive attention to the rising of the dough and an approach to the tonda that-while remaining faithful to Neapolitan tradition-is not afraid to innovate intelligently. On the other hand, the title of best pizza maker in the world, while representing the pinnacle of success, brought with it inevitable pressure and increased workload, challenging his mental well-being to the point that he sought therapeutic support to manage stress. “You have to work every single day to live up to expectations, to motivate your staff, to run something that only a few people in life experience. It's not easy. For a long time, I completely neglected my personal life. People who used to be friends suddenly weren't. I was overwhelmed by false friendships, thousands of messages without sincere interest. After therapy, I am stronger and now I feel ready for new challenges."
Pascarella's culinary philosophy and journey are recounted in his cookbook, also titled “Naples on the Road,” a volume that reflects his deep emotional connection with food and the importance of simple, yet top-quality ingredients. Pascarella is a firm believer in thoughtful innovation, where every experimentation has a specific purpose and contributes to elevating the quality of pizza, openly criticizing those extemporaneous and “chaotic” additions aimed solely at impressing without real added value on the taste level. The pizza maker recognizes London's crucial role as a dynamic and stimulating center for the evolution of pizza, thanks to its vibrant creativity and inherent cultural diversity-the so-called melting pot!
A key element of her philosophy is to use authentic ingredients that respect seasonality, keeping toppings essential to ensure that each component on the pizza has a precise and meaningful role. Michele also points out that the most common mistakes made in making homemade pizza are haste in the dough rising process and a tendency to overcomplicate toppings. His belief is that the real secret of an extraordinary pizza lies in the quality of the leavened base, far more than in the availability of sophisticated utensils. On this, Pascarella is adamant: “The key to great pizza is method, not necessarily a fancy oven.”
