There are 34 people working at Pepe in Grani, in Caiazzo, Campania region. “We have to know English to get hired,” the waiter says. He’s happy to be working here and it shows. Now this town with 5,000 inhabitants a few minutes away from Caserta has become the worldwide temple of pizza. That’s because Franco Pepe is the king. For the third year straight he’s won first place in the 50 Top Pizza 2019 rankings. “They come here from all over the world, this is a quiet evening. (The place is actually full and it’s Sunday night, ed.) Usually, there’s a line all the way to the main street.”
Thanks to this man, the town has become a destination since the opening of the restaurant in 2012. The stores on the main street, Via Caiatino, are now boutiques, the rents have doubled. The café-bar right next to Pepe in Grani is always chock-a-block full. Let’s just say that for Caiazzo there’s a before Franco and an after Franco. Today you can come across Americans, Indians, and Japanese on a pilgrimage, plus Neapolitans and local people. The menu is always €13.
“I understand how was the week on Mondays, when we’re closed and the town is empty,” he says.
Franco is an incredible man, a man who has changed destinies. He started as a pizzaiolo in the family restaurant and then created his own space. His pizzeria, located in an 18th-century palace, seats 140 (they once served 1,000 pizzas in four hours), has two rooms for those who don’t feel like hitting the road again, a welcoming area near a garden with fruit trees a few meters away from where his son Stefano was born, and the 8-seat Authentica room for a more intimate meal where you watch the pizzaiolo in action. “I’m working on a menu meant to change the perception of pizza, so it’s not considered cheating on a healthy diet, but rather as a healthy food. I’m paying attention to the balance of macro-nutrients,” he says. He’s smiles, his eyes light up, he isn’t stressed in the least even though the place is full and he still has to take pictures with us. He dialogues with the territory by reclaiming it in a certain sense and giving excellent opportunities to good local producers of riccio tomatoes, a juicy and very flavorful variety; or of conciato romano, the most ancient type of cheese in the world, mentioned by Pliny in his writing. And let’s not leave out the Alife onion, the main ingredient of one of Franco’s legendary creams. A Ciro fried pizza finds its way to the table. It’s made with 12-month aged Grana Padano, arugula pesto and caiazzane olive powder, a local product. It literally melts in your mouth.
Now comes the Margherita sbagliata pizza (which means Mistaken Margherita). The sauce is made using three different tomatoes with a basil reduction. But it’s the dough that gets the highest score, its lightness is amazing (and easy to digest, so we’ll sleep well at night, despite the huge amounts of food). The pizza invented by his son Stefano, who works in the kitchen next to his father with the same gentle determination, is also special. It’s called Sud Estate, a flatbread with ricotta and Campania water buffalo mozzarella, made with tuna from the Costiera, tomato confit with olive powder, and lemon-scented celery that adds an excellent note of freshness. “To make a good pizza at home, if you have an electric oven, it has to be extremely hot, between 430° and 480° F to provide the thermal shock and make the dough react. And it needs to be turned on at least a half an hour before cooking,” adds Pepe. “Never use convection, because it dries the dough out and stops the leavening. Better not to load it with too many toppings either, otherwise one part will be undercooked and another overcooked. The thickness of the pan is also important, the thinner the better.”
He continues with his master’s secrets. “You have to follow the leavening times indicated on the flour package. Don’t exceed them, because each grain has its own time. And you should never make the dough rise in the fridge because that annuls the process. Add a few extra spoonfuls of sauce, because it dries out, then add the mozzarella halfway through the cooking, quickly, so as not to disperse the heat.”
Photos by Giacomo Bretzel