Cape Town gem Massimo’s has been recently named as the best pizzeria in Africa by ’50 Top Pizza’, a guide curated by anonymous inspectors who judge pizzerias around the world.
According to Cape Town Etc, 50 Top Pizza is a platform based in Naples, Italy that serves as a guide for good pizza around the world, and every year they host an award ceremony for the best of the best.
They also report that this is the second win for the local pizzeria!
Taking to social media this week, the team sent a huge thank you to all their staff for the hard work, and to their clients for the support.
“Best Pizzeria in Africa award. We did it again!!!! We got awarded Best Pizzeria in Africa 2021 by 50TopPizza. A huge thank you to all our staff for the hard work and to our clients for the support,” they wrote.
Massimo and his wife Tracy Orione opened the traditional Italian pizzeria back in 2009 after they moved to Cape Town.
Massimo Orione says they came to South Africa in 2003 for a holiday and fell in love with the country, its people, and the landscape. Before that, they spent seven years living in the French countryside running a ‘gite’ (a type of B&B or ‘agriturismo’).
He says they did the cleaning, gardening, ironing, pool cleaning, etc ourselves, as well as offering French, Italian, or far Eastern dining on request for up to 26 people.
“We installed a pizza oven and then expanded our offering to pizza. Everybody loved our lighter, thinner style of pizza, so it was a natural progression to bring that idea to Cape Town. Massimo’s Pizza Club" began here in 2009 with us and four staff, preparing all the ingredients in our kitchen at home and bringing them here at 4pm, as we shared the premises,” says Orione.
Fans of the restaurant congratulated the team on the win.
Domestic Animal Rescue Group (DARG) wrote: “Huge congratulations to Massimo's Team. Well deserved! From all of your friends at DARG.”
Msspagadelic wrote: “Wowsers, congratulations to you all. I hope one day we can get to SA to catch up and...eat your amazing Italian cuisine!”