Giotto Pizzeria

Giotto Pizzeria The Pastry Chef Who Fell in Love with Pizza There are people who make pizza. And there are people who spend their lives thinking about what makes a single bite extraordinary. Marco Manzi belongs to the second group. Tonight, our Hungry Tourists have come to Giotto, a pizzeria in Florence whose story begins somewhere rather unexpected. Not in a pizzeria. But in a pastry kitchen. Marco was born on the island of Ischia, and his first profession was pastry. He spent five years at the Albergo della Regina Isabella, then went to Rome to work with chef Kotaro Noda. When he returned to Ischia, he opened a small takeaway pizzeria. And that's where something interesting happened. He began bringing everything he'd learned in pastry into the world of pizza. The precision. The attention to texture. The understanding that changing one element can transform an entire mouthful. In 2016, Marco moved to Florence and opened his first Giotto pizzeria, in Novoli. Even the name tells us something about the way he thinks. Marco was inspired by the story of Giotto's famous O, the perfect circle the painter is said to have drawn freehand. A gesture that looks impossibly simple. But behind that simplicity lies a lifetime of practice. I love that idea. Because the same could be said of a great pizza. A round of dough, a few ingredients, a hot oven. How difficult could it possibly be? And yet the difference between an ordinary pizza and an extraordinary one can lie in the smallest detail. When Marco creates a new pizza, he asks himself some fascinating questions. What will you taste first? What will remain after the bite? What happens when you change the texture of an ingredient without changing its flavor? And how can you take something everyone thinks they know and make them discover it all over again? Before dinner, Marco sent me his own explanations of the pizzas he wanted us to taste. Not just a list of ingredients. He explained what he was trying to achieve, how the different elements work together, and what he wants us to experience in each bite. We also tasted two other preparations, Lucifer and Ripieno Fritto, whose stories he shared afterward. This is exactly why I started our What We Ate project. Because sometimes the most interesting part of a meal begins before the first bite.

Margherita | San Marzano Tomatoes, Agerola Fior di Latte and 24-Month Parmigiano Reggiano

Every great pizza tasting should begin with the Margherita. Because when there are so few ingredients, every one of them matters. Marco makes his with San Marzano tomatoes, fior di latte from Agerola, fresh basil, and Parmigiano Reggiano aged for twenty-four months. He explained that the Parmigiano leaves a savory note after the freshness of the tomato. But he also gave us a very particular instruction. Taste a piece of the cornicione, the raised outer crust, on its own. Forget the toppings for a moment. Just the dough. Because, as Marco sees it, understanding the dough is the simplest way to understand everything that follows. Our Margherita arrived with a beautifully puffed crust, marked by the dark blisters of the oven, surrounding the familiar combination of red tomato, melted cheese, and basil. Nothing complicated. And nowhere to hide. I love beginning with a classic for precisely that reason. It tells you everything you need to know about the foundations of a pizzeria.

Capricciosa 2.0 | The Pizza You Thought You Knew

Marco told me this is his favorite. And I understand why he wanted us to taste it. A Capricciosa is one of those pizzas you order already knowing what you expect. Tomato, cheese, ham, artichokes, mushrooms, olives. Except Marco's version arrives white. The tomato you expect to see in the sauce appears instead as sweet, semi-dried cherry tomatoes. The artichokes are roasted. And the olives? You might not even see them. Marco uses Taggiasca olives in powdered form, so their flavor appears in a bite without the familiar texture of a whole olive. The pizza also brings together fior di latte, cooked ham, salami, porcini mushrooms, basil, and extra virgin olive oil. Our pizza arrived covered with delicate folds of ham, artichoke pieces, little tomatoes, basil leaves, and dark specks of olive powder. It is recognizable as a Capricciosa, but not quite the one you've known all your life. And that is exactly Marco's intention. His little caprice, as he explained it, was to take a familiar pizza and let you rediscover it, one bite at a time.

Lucifer | A Diavola with Heat in Two Acts

And then there's Lucifer. Marco's own interpretation of the classic Diavola. He explained that the heat arrives in two stages. First comes a jalapeño cream, bringing a fresh, vegetal character. Then the tomato with habanero raises the temperature. The fior di latte from Agerola softens the bite, while spianata, the seasoned cured meat, gives the pizza that unmistakable Diavola flavor. And finally come those fine strands of chili pepper scattered across the surface. One last little touch of heat. Our Lucifer arrived with a beautifully raised crust, melted cheese, vivid red tomato, fresh basil, green touches of jalapeño cream, and a tangle of delicate chili strands. What interests me is Marco's way of thinking about the heat. Not simply making a spicy pizza. But allowing the sensation to develop, change, and linger. A pizza that tells its story in stages. Very much in the spirit of Giotto.

Wild Autumn | Chestnuts, Porcini, Beef Tartare and Toasted Almonds

Autumn in a pizza. Marco began with two ingredients that, for him, taste unmistakably of this season. Chestnuts and porcini mushrooms. The chestnuts become a cream, bringing their natural sweetness alongside the aroma of the mushrooms. Then come the beef tartare and toasted almonds. One soft. The other crisp. Marco told me that what he particularly enjoys is finding both textures in the same mouthful. Our Wild Autumn arrived with little mounds of bright red beef tartare, pieces of porcini, toasted almonds, and basil arranged across the creamy surface. The contrast is immediately visible. And Marco wants us to experience that contrast when we eat it. Sweet chestnut cream, earthy mushrooms, tender beef, and the crunch of almonds. Not simply a collection of seasonal ingredients. A pizza composed around the experience of a single bite. This is where his pastry background becomes particularly interesting to me. The ingredients matter, of course. But so does the way their textures meet.

Carbonara 2.0 | Egg Cream, Crispy Guanciale and Black Truffle

Now this is a rather wonderful idea. Take one of Italy's most beloved pasta dishes. Forget what it looks like. And concentrate instead on the perfect forkful. Marco created this pizza together with chef Rocco De Santis. He told me that when he eats carbonara, there is one particular mouthful he always looks for. The one where the creamy egg sauce meets a crisp piece of guanciale. That combination. That exact moment. And he wanted to recreate it on a pizza. So here we have the egg cream, the crisp guanciale, and black truffle, whose aroma reaches you before the slice arrives in your mouth. Our Carbonara 2.0 came with a magnificent, deeply browned cornicione surrounding a rich, creamy center, with pieces of guanciale, touches of golden egg cream, and delicate slices of black truffle. It is an interesting way of interpreting a familiar dish. Not trying to reproduce the appearance of pasta alla carbonara. Trying to reproduce the pleasure of eating it. Only now, instead of a fork, you're holding a slice of pizza.

Ripieno Fritto | Neapolitan Fried Stuffed Pizza

And finally, a return to Marco's Neapolitan roots. Ripieno fritto. A classic fried stuffed pizza, folded into a half-moon shape. Marco explained that the dough is filled with fior di latte from Agerola, buffalo ricotta, pork cicoli, salami, and Timur pepper from the Terai region. The dough is folded over the filling, sealed, and fried until golden. What emerges is a completely different expression of pizza. No blistered crust from the oven. Instead, a golden fried exterior enclosing the filling. Marco described the first bite beautifully. The crisp crust breaks open. First you encounter the creamy ricotta. Then the savory richness of the cicoli and salami. And finally the aroma of the pepper. Another preparation designed around the sequence of sensations in a mouthful. And another reminder that Marco's fascination with pastry has followed him into every corner of his pizza-making.

The Last Bite

Before we met, Marco ended his message to me with a question. He wanted to know which pizza I would return to for a second bite. And then he reminded me that he'd already told me his answer. The Capricciosa 2.0. I think that's a lovely way to think about this meal. Because after all the explanations, techniques, combinations, and carefully considered textures, the final question is wonderfully simple. Which slice makes you reach for another? Marco has spent years thinking about that question. And tonight, he gave our Hungry Tourists six different ways to answer it.

A Chianti Classico made entirely from Sangiovese by the Cresti family's Fattoria Carpineta Fontalpino, near Castelnuovo Berardenga, south of Siena. The wine is aged for approximately twelve months in oak. The 2024 vintage offers dark cherry and berry fruit, floral notes, a touch of spice, and the freshness characteristic of Sangiovese. A lovely expression of Tuscany at our Florentine pizza table.