For the second consecutive year, Melbourne’s very own 400 Gradi pizzeria has been awarded the best pizzeria in Oceania award at the 50 Top Pizza Gala held in Naples, Italy this week.
This event (which also sounds like the best event in existence) pits 1,000 pizzerias from around the world together to find the best pizza in the world. Each pizzeria is secretly evaluated to determine the best 50 pizzas in the world.
400 Gradi took out the top spot in the entire Oceanic region, but it wasn’t the only gong 400 Gradi and owner Johnny Di Francesco won: 400 Gradi was also awarded the second-best pizzeria in the world at the Olimpiadi Vera Pizza Napoletana contest earlier this month.
I'm dusting off my rusty Italian to tell you that the Olimpiadi Vera Pizza Napoletana is literally the Olympics of traditional pizza making. It's supposedly the "greatest challenge" for pizza makers, which, OK, hold your horses. The greatest challenge for pizza makers is getting the base right (not too floppy, guys).
At the pizza Olympics, there's also a category for pizza fritta (literally deep-fried pizza, also known as the greatest pizza you will ever eat). Guess what? 400 Gradi also won this category.
“It’s always been a dream of mine to bring the authentic taste of Naples to the mouths of Australians,” says Di Francesco. “Staying true to tradition is something I’ll never sacrifice, so being acknowledged by the Verace Pizza Napoletana, still after ten years is such an accomplishment.”
You can taste 400 Gradi’s award-winning, wood-fired margherita verace pizza at 400 Gradi’s Melbourne locations in Brunswick, Crown, Eastland, Essendon and the Yarra Valley.