Pizza - Franco Pepe

[bunniefuu]

[man, in Italian]
If we only relied on technology,

we'd all have the same pizza.

But when I make my dough,

there's no machine behind it,

only my arms

and the human mind.

[upbeat rock music playing]

[man] I start this movement with my hands

to make sure the flour absorbs the water.

Then we add a bit of sourdough starter.

[music halts]

And we keep on kneading.

[upbeat music resumes]

Very gently.

[rock music fades]

Then you just have to let it rest.

[gentle ambient music playing]

[echoing thud]

[man] During its rising hours,

you begin to see it grow.

The bubbles start to form,

and it's like watching
a baby come to life.

And you can't wait
to get your hands into the dough.

Today, everyone wants to go the easy way.

No obstacles. No sacrifices.

But my father taught me

that the pizza chef's identity
is passed through the dough.

And this dough
keeps rising over the years.

[Vivaldi's "Winter" concerto playing]

[woman, in English]
Naples is the capital of Campania,

a beautiful region in Italy.

[gentle chamber music playing]

This is where pizza was born.

There's hundreds of pizzeria.

And everybody has their favorite.

But my favorite pizza in the world

is an hour from Naples,
in the village of Caiazzo.

At Pepe in Grani,

Franco Pepe has taken
pizza to another level.

[stirring guitar music playing]

[Faith] Franco comes from
a dynasty of pizza.

His father made pizza.

His brothers make pizza.

His son is making pizza.

Dough is in his DNA.

Franco believes in
the seriousness of pizza.

For him, it's much more than a vehicle.

for tomato sauce and melted cheese.

Pizza is an art.

Pizza is important.

[Faith] Franco's pizza is creative.

He riffs on the classics.

And he transforms
them to something even better.

But what makes
his pizza special is the dough.

He's the only pizzaiolo in Italy,

if not the world,
who does all of his dough by hand.

There are so many different factors
that he can understand

simply because he's in touch
with the dough constantly.

[Nancy] It's more
than somebody being obsessed.

He lives and he breathes
and he dreams dough.

He really wants to elevate pizza.

That is his mission.

And I think
he thinks about that all the time.

[music fades out]

[Franco, in Italian] Italian food
is famous for pizza, pasta, tomatoes.

That's how we're known worldwide.

Throughout time,

pizza chefs were at the bottom.

There was no respect.

[propulsive string music playing]

[Franco] People think it's easy
to flatten a roll of dough

and throw everything on it.

But that's the old concept
of a pizza chef.

Today, pizza is made
by using your head too.

You have to understand the combinations,

the balance,

the way to create flavors
that evoke emotions.

My job is to evoke those emotions

and to restore dignity to my profession.

This is the evolution of the pizza chef.

[music fades out]

[man] Look how beautiful
these tomatoes are.

[Franco] Don't stop.

-[man] They're fantastic, right?
-[Franco] Indeed.

[man] Even without water, look.
It hasn't rained since April.

It's been three months. They're beautiful.

[Franco] When I opened my pizzeria,

I swore to myself
that I'd put my region on my pizza.

One day, the local farmers
brought me these wonderful tomatoes.

A tomato that many people didn't know.

And I tasted them,
and I said, "Wow, great!"

So I thought, "What pizza could highlight
the flavor of this tomato?"

[gentle mandolin music playing]

The best-selling pizza in the world,
the most elegant,

is the margherita.

Traditionally, the margherita pizza

is made with mozzarella,
tomato, oil, and basil.

But why put a fantastic tomato
in an oven at degrees?

It doesn't make sense.

So I thought, "I have to create
something different."

So in the oven I only put
mozzarella and oil.

It comes out of the oven,

then I add this ribbed tomato
sauce reduction,

and like that you get
the taste of that tomato.

Fantastic in its simplicity.

Then I thought about the basil leaf
that many don't eat and discard.

So I created this reduction
of basil and local oil.

[Faith, in English]
He's done things backwards,

what he calls the "Margherita Sbagliata,"

the mistaken margherita.

He doesn't have the tomato base.
He has the mozzarella base.

The tomato isn't cooked. It's raw.

Italians figure their classic dishes
don't need to be messed with.

I mean, it's considered a sin.

And so, for Franco to call his pizza
"Margherita Sbagliata,"

it's saying, "I am making an error here."

And his error is better
than the real margherita.

[Franco, in Italian] When you eat
the Margherita Sbagliata,

you get the freshness of the tomato,

the scent of basil, the warm mozzarella,

but with a different concept
than the classic margherita.

People might say,
"You're making a mistake."

But this is my pizza.

[music fades out]

PEPE TAVERN PIZZERIA

[Franco] One, two, and three!

Oh!

Show me your hand. Look. It's snowing.
How does the snow fall? Show me.

Oh!

-So, shall we make these balls?
-[boy] Yeah.

[Franco] Come on.

The dough has stuck to my hands.

[Franco] Yeah, it got stuck
to your hand. Look.

Here. Use this one.

[Franco] I was born a year after
my dad opened his pizzeria.

[gentle piano music playing]

It was a family-run pizzeria.

Mom was at the till.

Dad was the pizza chef.

I remember when he created his own dough,

like an alchemist.

He lived in the pizzeria.

He left in the morning
and came back at night.

It was a strenuous job,
both physically and mentally.

I used to help him,

together with my brothers,
Massimiliano and Nino.

But Dad always wanted
a different life for us.

He used to always say, "Keep studying,
because this is a very hard job."

So when I was young,

it became my goal

to avoid becoming a pizza chef.

[distant car horns honking]

[bell tolling]

[Franco] In the past,

not everyone could afford
an oven to bake their dough.

The only way to cook the dough
was to fry it in oil.

[light string music playing]

[Franco] So, fried pizza was
the pizza of the people.

It's within everyone's reach.
You make the dough,

fry it…

and enjoy it.

-Good luck and have a nice day. Thank you.
-Thank you.

[Franco] But at first,
when I opened Pepe in Grani,

when we tried to get people
to order fried pizza,

they would say,
"No, I can't digest fried pizza."

"Fried pizza is bad for me."

So I said, "I want to try and work on
a new concept of fried pizza."

If made in a certain way,
pizza isn't bad for you.

So my goal was a dough
that wouldn't absorb much oil,

soft inside, crunchy on the outside,

fragrant and light.

I invented

the Conetto.

A fried half-cone
with some cheese fondue inside,

then some arugula pesto,

and then also this powder
made with olives from Caiazzo,

from our local area.

[Nancy, in English]
When that dough hits the oil,

the dough expands
even more than it does in the oven.

So when you eat that fried pizza,

you get the most unctuous bite.

It's like eating a cloud.

[Franco, in Italian]
I would never have thought that people

could fall in love with fried pizza again.

But everyone loves this Conetto.

The customers tell me,

"Wow, I've never had such a light,
fragrant, and tasty fried pizza."

THE FRIED PIZZAS

[espresso machine whirring]

-Hey. How are you?
-[man] How are you?

[Franco] After high school,

my brothers and I had
three different types of work.

Nino was an accountant.

Massimiliano was an architect.

I was a PE teacher.

During that time,

I met my wife, Rita.

We decided to start a family.

Stefano and Francesca were born.

I tried to shape my own future.

[somber string music playing]

[Franco] May th, …

Dad passed away.

I was devastated.

My brothers and I

were scared.

Back then, it was the pizza chef
who vouched for the pizzeria.

The moment the pizza chef is gone,
the pizza will no longer be good.

We had the huge responsibility

of having to carry on
the family restaurant.

But we were very torn.

After a lot of reflection,

we decided to try
to take our father's place

in order to carry on his ideas
and the identity of his pizza.

[man , in Italian]
The three of us made a deal.

We all gave up something.

A part of our lives.

[man , in Italian]
The pizzeria was a union.

Besides being brothers,

we were friends.

The pizzeria was our home, our family.

The family business was
a solemn commitment.

[Franco] I wanted to be a teacher.

I believed in that path.

But I had the responsibility
to help the family.

So, I gave up that part of my life,

that of being a teacher,

as if it ceased to exist.

[music fades out]

[faint birdsong]

[insects chirping]

[Faith, in English] Every single time
I go to Franco's pizzeria,

there's new pizzas that I've never tried,

including incredible dessert pizzas.

In many pizzeria in Italy,
people make a dessert pizza with Nutella,

which I think is disgusting.

But Franco has decided to make
his own dessert pizza with apricots

from the volcanic soil of Vesuvius.

And this pizza is truly amazing.

[pensive instrumental music playing]

[Franco, in Italian] One day,
some customers from the Vesuvian area

brought me some crates
full of apricots from Vesuvius.

They said, "Look, Franco,

for the business,
tasteless apricots at such a low price

are not even worth us picking them up."

I wanted to help those farmers
who were growing that amazing product.

So I said,

"Keep picking up those apricots.
I'll come up with a pizza."

Then I said,

"Make me a jam of the utmost simplicity."

I wanted to savor the scent
and flavor with nothing added to it.

I tried the dough in the oven,

but I wasn't fully satisfied.

Then I thought, "Fried."

I tried to balance
the sweetness of the apricots

with some buffalo ricotta,

oven-roasted hazelnuts,

and finally, I used a little mint leaf.

It's great, after a series
of oven-cooked pizzas,

when I bring this slice of dessert pizza,

and my customers say,
"No, not another pizza?"

"Yes. Trust me."

Both fried and roasted,

salty and sweet.

The scents and flavors of our land.

This is my language.

THE APRICOT FROM VESUVIO

[Franco] I became a pizza chef
after the death of my dad,

and I followed my father's teachings.

This made me evolve a lot.

The journey with my brothers
was a long one.

Well established.

United and moving forward.

REAL PIZZA CERTIFICATE

During that time,

I understood that things
were changing in the pizza industry.

[light instrumental music playing]

[Franco] Good morning!

-[man] Good morning.
-[woman] Good morning.

[man] I'll show you
some mozzarella in the works.

Even if you know already,
today, we'll get our hands dirty.

[Franco] Pizza was no longer fast food,

but a product that has to be made
with the best quality ingredients.

And that resonated with me.

-Can I take a bit?
-Yes.

[man] This is how
the real buffalo mozzarella is made.

Pull. Gently. Pull.

[man laughs]

[Franco] I decided that
if I had to give up teaching

and stay at my father's pizzeria,

I had to believe in what I was doing.

[man laughs]

-It's expl*sive.
-My goodness.

[laughs]

[Franco] There was a will
to learn more and more,

but there was no school for pizza chefs.

[car engine starts]

So, I tried to meet the great masters
of Neapolitan pizza.

[gentle guitar music playing]

Every Monday, which was
the only day we were closed,

I would put some dough in the car
and go to Rome, Milan…

I had to steal the secrets
of haute cuisine

and the know-how
from those chefs' kitchens.

[sizzling]

[Franco] I observed
and processed everything

in order to improve my pizza.

To give it a different flavor,

to give it its own identity,

to raise the bar with my creativity.

And I realized that

making things with your own hands,
with your own mind, with your own ideas,

that's an amazing feeling.

There was a moment when I said,

"I want to redefine the idea
of pizzeria and pizza chef."

"This is my path.
This is what I want to do."

[music fades out]

[Franco] One day,
I tried to explain to my brothers

that I wanted to make something different,

that I wanted to express myself.

We had different points of view.

[gentle mandolin music playing]

My brothers wanted to continue
in Dad's pizzeria,

to carry on Dad's creations
and the identity of his pizza.

That was the only way

to feel like he was still with us.

I, on the other hand,
was a bit more daring,

and I was trying to create
my own pizza, my own identity.

They didn't understand my desire.

They didn't share it.

I wanted to find a place
where I could express myself

and do my own thing.

At the end of the day,

I couldn't force it in that pizzeria.

[music fades out]

[Franco] I walked around the alleys
and the little streets almost every day.

More than once,
I had the keys to a place in my hands.

I'd try to imagine and plan a project,
but then I couldn't make it happen.

[gentle string music playing]

[Franco] One day,
I found this vacant building.

It was in ruins.

But I could see the pizzeria
up and running.

There was a garden,

the tasting rooms,

and I could see the waiters

running around me.

It was beautiful.

I said, "Here,
I have to create my pizzeria."

On October th, ,

we opened Pepe in Grani.

[echoing thud]

Well, I, in truth…

Did I take it well? No.

[pizza peel scraping]

OLD TAVERN PIZZERIA PEPE
SINCE

[Antonio] We decided to carry on
the business together.

I saw it like a betrayal, right?

Him leaving the family business.

Breaking up a deal.

[Faith, in English] Franco's family felt
that he was abandoning them.

They were insulted

because it's not that he just opened
a restaurant so close by,

he opened another pizzeria.

For them, that was a crime.

[gentle piano music playing]

[Franco, in Italian] I didn't want to get
my brothers' pizzeria into trouble.

I didn't want to hurt anyone.

I just wanted to take
a small journey, my own.

That damaged our relationship.

We didn't share the idea.

[music fades out]

[claps]

[Franco] I felt terrible.

My only remedy was my work.

My brothers and I
used to make pizzas a day.

And so my goal was modest.

One hundred and fifty pizzas a day.

[pensive string music playing]

[Franco] But it was an uphill journey.

[pizza peel scraping]

Running a restaurant
if it's two or three of you is one thing,

running it alone is another.

I found myself
with lots of responsibilities.

Ceaseless work.

Days were long. Eighteen working hours.

This created problems with my wife, Rita.

Over time,

these misunderstandings became bigger.

And that led to separation.

[music intensifies]

[Franco] There was a time when my son,
Stefano, wouldn't look me in the eyes.

Moments which, for me,

were terrible.

I had a major crisis.

That crazy idea

had ruined my personal relationships.

And I thought of quitting many times.

[music swells, halts]

[Franco] But I had invested all the money,
and I believed in my ideas.

So I had to keep working.
I had to keep going forward.

Only with success could I redeem myself.

[metal scrapes]

I moved into this one-bedroom apartment
next door to the pizzeria.

I lived there for six or seven years.

Alone, with just my project in my hands.

But, little by little,

I started to gain appreciation.

[bright instrumental music playing]

[man] This is our classic family garden.

-Can I take one?
-Sure, help yourself.

[Franco] I started working

with the people who cultivated the fields.

I make the dough.
You give me tomatoes. You give me onions…

It's amazing.

[inaudible]

Those people who made mozzarella for me,

those who made the flour,

they were the companions of my journey.

I worked on traditional pizzas,

but I gave them
a different interpretation.

The margherita became
"Margherita Sbagliata."

The marinara became "Ritrovata."

And then I created a team of pizza chefs,

, guys...

[banging]

The dough-making squad.

A group of guys
to whom I pass my knowledge,

so the identity of my pizza
is no longer in myself, but on the plate.

Day after day, Pepe in Grani
was my new dough. It was rising.

[music swells, fades out]

[Faith, in English]
When I first started coming here,

there were not a lot of people
who were coming to Caiazzo.

It's not exactly on your tourist map.

But eventually,
news of Franco's pizza started to spread,

and people started
coming from beyond Caiazzo.

-[Franco] Good evening.
-[woman] Good evening.

-How are you?
-Good, thanks.

-First time here?
-[man and woman] First time.

Wonderful, the big challenge.
You'll see. I…

[Franco] One day,

I get a phone call
from a dear friend, Faith Willinger.

Enjoy your meal.

She says, "Franco, do you know
who's there in your pizzeria?"

I say, "Faith, there's a journalist,
but I don't know who he is."

And she says, "Franco..."

"He's a Pulitzer Prize winner,
Jonathan Gold."

[pensive string music playing]

[Franco] He paid and left for Los Angeles.

Thirty days later,

an article came out in Food & Wine.

"I probably ate
the best pizza in the world."

Wow.

[string music swells]

[Faith, in English] People started
noticing that Franco's pizza

was far and beyond pizza
in every other restaurant in Italy.

And they came from all over the world.

There are reservations
for people every day.

Franco was making
a thousand pizzas a night.

And every single one of those pizzas

is eaten by somebody
who has made a pilgrimage

to come to his pizzeria.

[Franco, in Italian] Everyone could see
the growth of Franco Pepe, the pizza chef.

I received two awards
from the head of state as Cavaliere.

The role of the pizza chef was recognized.

My dream had come true.

[patrons chattering]

[Franco] Good evening. Enjoy your meal.

-Hi, guys, enjoy.
-[woman] Thanks.

[Franco] It's great to see
the world coming to my place.

But in my private life,

there was a lot of pain.

I felt extremely guilty

for having left my brothers and my mother,

for having damaged my family.

And I missed the support of my brothers

and putting my children to bed.

I had lost all that.

I couldn't fully appreciate
my success without my family.

In the last few years, my mother got sick.

During that final period,

she talked about me and my brothers.

She dreamed of a united family.

I promised her
that I would do everything possible

so that this family could continue
in the most united way possible.

[scraping]

[emotional ambient music playing]

[Franco] At the funeral,
I went to my brothers,

and I took them by the hands
and hugged them.

My brothers' hugs were something
I had missed for a long time.

I started to cry.

[Antonio] My mom used to say,

"Sometimes a pat on the back
or a caress count more than words."

[Franco] It's wonderful that
after that hug, a dialogue began.

It was something that freed us
from so much tension.

I realized that during those nine years
when I was distant from my family,

I had missed the most important things.

That hug was a rock for the future.

The future of the Pepe family.

[up-tempo string music playing]

TH CENTURY STYLE FLATBREAD

HONEY AND ROSEMARY STRIPS

FRIED PIZZAS

THE APRICOT FROM VESUVIUS

CHERRY

CURLY ESCAROLE CALZONE

BOOKLET PIZZA

GRANA PEPPER AND FANTASY

SUMMER SOUTH

MISTAKEN MARGHERITA

[music fades out]

[birdsong]

[Franco] Life is made up of ups and downs.

Moments. Good and bad.

I've made mistakes.

But the important thing is
to correct them.

There were times when my son,
Stefano, pushed me away.

But then, after high school,

he said, "I'm not going to university."

"I'm going to work in the pizzeria."

[pensive string music playing]

-[Stefano] Let's go.
-[Franco] Let's go.

[Franco] Now he's with me.

I enjoy him every day.

-Come on, Stefano.
-Go.

Let's see what this baby looks like today.

Wow.

Look.

-Stefano, look at this. See?
-Nice.

I just told him one important thing.

"One day, you won't be making
your dad's pizza anymore."

"But you'll have to make your own pizza."

"Stefano Pepe's pizza."

And so I gave him the freedom to create.

And on my menu,

there are already three
or four of Stefano's pizzas.

And when the customers say,
"This pizza is delicious,"

and it's Stefano's pizza,

I'm much prouder than when I'm told

that customers like my pizzas.

[in English] For me, it's one of
the greatest things in the world.

Franco has cast a spotlight
on the role of the pizzaiolo,

and has brought the world to Caiazzo.

That's pretty fantastic.

[Franco, in Italian] When I look back,

I worked with dedication

and overcame difficult moments.

Those moments when I suffered,

they've served me very well.

They trained me as a man

and as a professional.

Today, I'm satisfied

as a pizza chef,

as a man,

as a father.

[all] Cheers!

[music fades out]

[woman, in English] Chef Imai.
This pizza is not what people expect.

He brings in traditional Japanese flavors.

The plants, the vegetables, and the herbs.

It's something that
would only happen in Kyoto.

[upbeat rock music playing]

[music fades out]

[gentle instrumental music playing]