Italy’s Best Pizzaiolo Is Opening a Pizzeria in Miami

Francesco Martucci may not be a household name in the United States yet, but for serious pizza fiends, he’s a legend. I Masanielli, his pizzeria in Caserta, a small city about 22 miles north of Naples, Italy, has racked up awards and accolades since it opened in 2017. It has been ranked the No. 1 pizzeria in the world by the judges at 50 Top Pizza five times and was the only pizzeria to be voted among the 20 Top International Restaurants in our 2024 Global Tastemakers Awards.

Now, if you can’t make it to Italy, you’re in luck: the renegade pizzaiolo’s brand new namesake pizzeria is set to open in Miami on Friday, Jan. 16, in partnership with the Liberty Entertainment Group. It marks Martucci’s first-ever expansion outside of Italy, though he has had offers from investors to open in Japan, Dubai, and elsewhere around the world. As he tells me in our exclusive interview, this offer was different because Nick and Nadia Di Donato of the Liberty Group have been restaurant industry experts for decades, even bringing Don Alfonso 1890 — the legendary Michelin-starred restaurant on the Amalfi Coast — to Toronto.

“They invited me to Toronto and showed me all the restaurants they own,” Martucci says. “All the restaurants were always full of people, always well maintained, and always provided excellent service. So this made me think a lot, because usually when you have partners, they are less involved in the industry.” He emphasizes that he was never interested in partnerships that would make him feel like a number. “It was a very important collaboration on a human level too, as we got to know each other’s families. I really adore these people, so I’m very happy about this partnership.”

Francesco Martucci, the pizzeria, occupies a 7,500-square-foot space in Miami’s vibrant Wynwood neighborhood. Though it was conceived as a new brand distinct from I Masanielli, which Martucci tells me will always remain one-of-a-kind, the new pizzeria has a lot in common with the original. The interiors recall I Masanielli’s design, with dark, moody tones and suffused lighting. There’s seating for 145 people, with a main dining room, a long bar counter, a separate dining room for tasting menus with its own private entrance and bathrooms, a space for contemporary art exhibitions, and an open kitchen with five ovens shipped over from Italy, as well as the same high-tech equipment used in Caserta, such as flash freezers, dehydrators, sous vide machines, and fermenters.

Many of the ingredients, including mozzarella, garlic, and tomatoes will be imported from Italy, and Martucci and his team will source fresh vegetables locally. “American farms have infinite added value for me because they know how to work very well, so that will be a strong point, in my opinion,” he says, explaining that the menu will feature some of the signature dishes that made I Masanielli famous as well as others created specifically for the American market, with a strong focus on fresh vegetables. There will also be a gluten-free menu prepared in a separate kitchen space.

Martucci excels at taking one specific ingredient — tomato or onion, for example — and using haute cuisine techniques to extract its essence in a variety of ways, elevating the humble pizza to an art form in the process. At the new pizzeria, his signature “Five Textures of Onion” pizza features the seven textures of onion cream, fermented onion, crispy onion, burnt onion, and onion mayonnaise. For the dough, he’ll use the same ingredients and long fermentation process that he uses at I Masanielli, resulting in light, airy pies with a pillowy soft crust. Like in Caserta, there will be a selection of pizzas cooked at three temperatures: steamed at 100 degrees Fahrenheit, fried at 180 degrees, and baked at 400 degrees. And there will be a more traditional selection of pies, including a margherita.

“The biggest challenge is to keep my feet on the ground, but to dream with my head in the clouds, so as not to be overwhelmed by success, if success comes,” Martucci says. “We don’t take it for granted at all, because when you’re in a new place, it’s important to give it your all.”