The Perfect Pizza, Bettola's Margherita pizza embodies Italy's Neapolitan region.
James Lewis, chef and owner of Bettola and 2012 James Beard Foundation semi-finalist, strives to serve high-quality ingredients in an upscale, casual atmosphere. “A lot of the other pizzas out there don’t have the same genetic makeup,” Lewis says of Bettola’s Margherita D.O.C. pizza. “What is different about our pizza is that every piece is going to be a more authentic approach to what a Neapolitan pizza is.”
Many of its ingredients are imported from Naples, including flour for its dough and a high-fat mozzarella cheese. These ingredients date back to the origins of pizza making, and are required for authenticity, Lewis says. The rest of the ingredients, including basil, are found locally.
The pizza cooks in a Neapolitan brick oven. “A lot of thought goes into it, but this is the original way it was supposed to be made,” Lewis says.
The pizza carries a D.O.C. status, which was defined by the Italian government in 1998 and stands for Donominazione de Origine Controllata. “It tells the consumer that this item is original and authentic based on where it comes from,” Lewis says. “You can go buy cheap mozzarella, cheap flour, cheap tomatoes, but it will never come out the same because you are not using those quality ingredients.”
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