“Even pineapple pizza can be good,” says Italian creator of the 50 Top Pizza

Born in Capaccio, in the Italian province of Salerno, Albert Sapere He is passionate about his country and his gastronomy, and spreads it wherever he goes. Veteran sommelier and master in cheese and olive oil tasting, along with Barbara Guerra and Luciano Pignataro He created in 2017 the 50 top pizza . It is an up-to-date online guide every year, which proposes to elect the best pizzerias in Italy and the world, and has become a reference for professionals and enthusiasts.

Sapere came to Brazil for the dissemination of 50 Top Pizza Latin America 2025 . This is the second time that the version of the awards focused on Latin America has been launched, the event took place yesterday (10) at the Italian Institute Di Cultura, in Rio de Janeiro. There are also other regional arms, such as Europe, the United States and Asia, as well as the global ranking – this, traditionally released in the second half.

“We seek to recommend to our readers places full of personality, who use quality ingredients,” he explains, noting that service and service are also taken into consideration. In 2025 Brazil dominated the Latin American list, with 25 pizzerias,

For the second year in a row, the Leggera Pizza Napoletana from São Paulo, appeared first in the ranking, being elected The best artisan pizzeria in Latin America . Commanded by André Guidon, the pizzeria has two units in São Paulo, Perdizes and Gardens.

The podium was completed by Ti Amo, in Adrogué, in the region of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and alleria, in Providencia, Chile.

Four other Brazilian pizzerias were at the top 10. They are: the Iron and flour (4th place), commanded by Sei Shiroma, which has units spread in Rio de Janeiro; the Qt pizza bar (5th place), from Matheus Ramos, from São Paulo; The Pizza da Mooca (also in 5th place), from São Paulo and led by Fellipe Zanuto; and the Unique Pizzeria (7th place), from São Paulo, who repeated last year’s placement.

Between pizza and another, Sapore talked about the ranking, the evaluation criteria and what he thinks of the classic paulistana pizza. Check it out:

CNN V&G: The 50 Top Pizza was born in Italy and quickly won the world. What do you believe that contributes to this global guide success?
SAPORE: I believe the success of 50 Top Pizza concerns credibility. This is based on the fact that we have been in the pizza world for over 20 years and we have known the sector very well.

CNN V&G: By the way, how did the idea of ​​the 50 top pizza come about?
SAPORE: The 50 Top Pizza was born along with the other two guide curators, Barbara Guerra and Luciano Pignataro, and our different experiences came together. Barbara and I were organizers of a congress of chefs and pizzaiolos called LSDM for 13 years, with several editions around the world. And it was the first culinary congress to have pizzaiolos as speakers, alongside chefs.

Luciano Pignataro, an influential Il Mattino journalist (the most important newspaper in southern Italy), with the blog that bears his name, was the first to deal with pizza on the web, over 20 years ago. From this union between us, and the continuous discovery of new stories and ever -growing quality in the pizza world, we decided to systematize all our experience.

CNN V&G: What are the fundamental elements that allow the guide to evaluate the best pizzerias in the world?
SAPORE: Obviously, when we talk about pizza, the mass is of great importance, as is the quality of the ingredients, the service, the beverage menu, as well as the coherence and personality of the project, aspects that matter to us in a particular way.

CNN V&G: Assessments are made by inspectors. How are these inspectors selected? What kind of guidance do they receive?
SAPORE: The first edition of the Guide in Italy was born in 2017, but the project started in 2014. We need time to create a network of reliable people who could help us, following our standards to carry out the project. Just as it was for Italy, we also adapted to other places, taking time to build a network of employees with great passion for pizza. Our structure is vertical; In the case of Latin America, we have a panel leader, which is our point of reference, for each country. We talked to them continuously and compared to understanding the new trends in this world.

CNN V&G: How much does the service and environment count on the evaluation of a restaurant? Are they as important as food?
SAPORE: As I mentioned before, the service and the environment are also fundamental to us. I would add that, especially when it comes to pizza and pizzerias, the smile is an indispensable element, because a pizzeria is a place of joy. We often repeat to our inspectors that the smile is one of the best ingredients.

CNN V&G: Is there something that would make a restaurant lose points in the evaluation, such as putting pineapple in pizza?
SAPORE: If it is well done and with gastronomic thinking, even pineapple pizza can be good! What can make the place lose points is rude service and poor quality pizza, whether mass or ingredients.

CNN V&G: Have you visited any of the best classified Brazilian pizzerias, such as the Pizza da Mooca, Bráz, among others? What were your impressions about them?
SAPORE: Yes! I went to some and, in the case of Pizza da Mooca, Fellipe Zanuto certainly created a place full of personality and uses quality ingredients. This is exactly what we seek to recommend to our readers.

CNN V&G: São Paulo is the second city that consumes the most pizza in the world. Did you even try the typical Paulistana pizza?
SAPORE: Of course! A few days ago I went to Bráz and tried the São Paulo pizza. I have known Bráz for years and it has always been evolving. It is a style that shows how much the city of São Paulo loves Pizza.

CNN V&G: How do you see regional styles when it comes to pizza? Are you open to change and innovations?
SAPORE: We tried to tell all the styles of pizza: Paulista, New York, obviously Neapolitan… Over the years we have found many styles, but the condition has to always be the same: excellent mass, ingredients of quality, service and hospitality.

CNN V&G: In addition to Italy, what places do you consider to have the best pizzas today?
SAPORE: It’s a difficult question because we find many good pizzas around the world. Certainly in countries where pizza is most consumed for more quality. I would say that to answer your question, they are New York, Sao Paulo and Tokyo.

CNN V&G: In general, do you think the quality of pizzas around the world is improving?
SAPORE: The quality of pizza has improved exponentially in the last five years.

CNN V&G: Do you consider that awards and guides like 50 Top Pizza play any role in that?
SAPORE: Consumers are more attentive and certainly the ambition to enter a worldwide ranking leads many pizzerias to increase quality, which benefits customers.

CNN V&G: Did the pandemic have brought changes to this market?
SAPORE: For sure! After the pandemic, the number of pizzerias increased and there is a higher demand for pizza. The delivery service has improved, there were new ideas to improve the production and delivery process.

CNN V&G: For pizzaiolos and chefs who strive to reach the level of excellence of the 50 Top Pizza, what advice would you give? What are the key elements for creating an internationally recognized quality pizza?
SAPORE: The advice I would give is to think about the happiness of your customers. There are three fundamental concepts: product, service and personality.

CNN V&G: Finally, if you had to choose one last pizza to eat in your life, what would it be?
SAPORE: Definitely a pizza of my origins: Napolitan marguerita, with tomatoes San Marzano Dop, Fior di Latte, extra virgin olive oil and plenty of basil.

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The post “Even pizza with pineapple can be good,” says Italian creator of the 50 Top Pizza Appeared First on CNN Brazil V&G.

Source: CNN Brasil