From Naples To Paris: The Maltese Connection Behind One Of The World’s ‘Best Pizzas’
Did you know that the owner of the highly acclaimed Peppe Pizzerias in Paris, which according to many international competitions makes the “World’s Best Pizza”, has a very strong connection to Malta?
Before we delve into Peppe Pizzerias’ owner Giuseppe Cutraro’s relationship with our islands, we want to give readers an insight into how big his pizzas actually are. Giuseppe, better known as Peppe, opened his first restaurant in Paris during the height of the COVID pandemic. Now, he has a whopping six restaurants all across the bustling city, all of them specialising in what he calls “the pizza Napoletana Contemporanea”, which focuses on a highly digestible dough with an airy, pronounced border.
In 2022, Giuseppe was named “Pizza Maker of the Year” by 50TopPizza. That same year, Peppe Pizzeria was named the third best pizzeria in the world. This is just one of Peppe and his pizzerias’ many accolades, with Peppe Pizzeria being named the Best Pizzeria in Europe in 2021 and 2022.
Although Peppe now has six restaurants all over Paris, the man had a very humble beginning and our island was one of the major influences on the trajectory of his life, especially since he spent two years working in Malta, where he met his Gozitan wife Sarah.
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Speaking to Lovin Malta, Peppe explained how he didn’t have the easiest childhood growing up.
“I am an only child and have grown with a single parent, ‘mia mamma’. I did not have an easy childhood, as my mother used to work in a ‘Pelliceria’ and lost her job when a lot of ateliers started closing. So, for this reason, I had to leave school early and help my mother with the income.”
Peppe explained how he “left school at around 16 years of age”, needing to find a job to help his mother. “I tried a few jobs here and there, until I found a job as a helper in a pizzeria,” he said, adding very slowly, he “started to make my way up to becoming a ‘fornaio’”.
“Back in the day, opportunities were not given as easily, so you really had to be ambitious to make your way forward. Which is why I left Naples—to be able to expand and experiment in the sector.”
“Pizza was my opportunity to travel the world,” he continued, adding that he “was given the opportunity to go to New York at 18 years old and work in a pizzeria in New Jersey.”
“From that day onwards we never parted ways, and it became my profession.”
“In fact, pizza was the same reason why I came to Malta. You see, being an only child and having only one parent, America became an impossible dream to follow. So, I accepted another job opportunity which led me to Malta, precisely Marsascala where I stayed for about two years,” where he worked at restaurant Cote D’Azure.
While in Malta, Peppe met his now wife Sarah, who hails from Gozo. Now, the pair have two boys, Gabriel who is nine years old, and Thomas who is one.
“We spend our summer holidays in Gozo together with my in-laws, where I enjoy relaxing and spending my days by the beautiful beaches on the island, with my children, family and Maltese friends acquired during those years.”
Now the whole family lives in Paris, where Peppe has just inaugurated his sixth restaurant in the city.
When asked to detail how he got to this impressive stage in his career, Peppe explained that a French group approached him to become an Executive Chef of their chain of pizzerias.
“After about two years, where I learned a lot, I thought it was time to open something small of my own, as I deemed that the city was able to give me new opportunities.”
Cutraro inaugurated Peppe Pizzeria in January 2020, located in the 20th arrondissement of Paris. Within a mere month and a half post-launch, his establishment garnered immense popularity among pizza aficionados in the City of Lights.
Despite the onset of the Covid pandemic in March, Cutraro’s pizzeria not only weathered the storm of lockdowns but remarkably ascended from the 29th position to claim the pinnacle of 50 Top Pizza rankings within a single year.
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