Pizza Today - March 2019 - 58

traditional pizzeria still exists at King
Umberto's, but son Johnny continues to
takes things to the next level by looking
for and understanding current trends in
pizza.
After all, pizza is still a business at
the end of the day. And you're either
in business and selling, or you're out of
business. Greatness in the pizza world
stems from a deep passion for the craft
and the product that allows us to be in
business. Johnny Ceserano has both. Not
afraid to push the envelope, Johnny is a
master of social media, networking with
other pizza makers and keeping a finger
on the heartbeat of pizza. He had in the
last year or so trained with a fellow pizza
maker to learn the rectangular Roman
"pizza al metro," or "pizza by the meter,"
and incorporated this onto his menu
immediately.
Although he has his lines he doesn't
cross as a pizza maker, he introduces me
to a popular-selling Buffalo Chicken
5 8 / P I Z Z AT O D AY. C O M / M A R C H 2 0 1 9

Pizza, a Zucchini Flower & Ricotta
al Metro pizza, and a spinach crust
Grandma pie with bruschetta toppings.
All non-traditional, yet all selling like
crazy. Each day he allows me to sit
behind the counter, ask questions and
learn from him. He shows me how
he preps, ferments and stretches the
different types of pizza. He explains
his views on his pizza, customers and
customer service, has me try different
pies and then sits me down to try a
creation that he and his brother Ciro
(like the dad) created: Deep Fried
Capellini. It knocks me off my feet. And
it, too, is selling like hot cakes. Johnny is
looking outside the box and keeping his
pizzeria in the 21st Century.
IN THE MORNINGS, I'M BLESSED TO BE
WITH THE FATHER, CIRO, MAKING DOUGH.

It's like being with one of my old uncles.
Three mornings, three different types of
dough, same Ciro. This is history before

me and a mind that just knows from
experience how things should be done.
Slow, steady, methodical and traditional,
Ciro doesn't use precise measuring. Like
many old-school Italian pizza makers, he
knows what he is starting with and the
product he wants to finish with. He uses
sight, smell, touch ... and the end result
is perfection. I ask him how many ounces
and he just holds up a container and says
"This much" in his heavy Italian accent.
Ciro won't use digital scales or dough
scrapers either. He defers to a long,
sharp kitchen knife to slice the dough
into pieces and an old metal balance
scale with a led weight to determine
the proper weight of each ball. Down
in the basement where it is cooler and
the dough can proof better, we roll out
dough balls by hand and place them in
custom-made wood dough boxes for
fermentation. The wooden boxes, the
proofing time, the old dough mixer,
the scale and balling technique are
all time tested and reliable tools that
produce the base product for the modern
interpretation upstairs.
He relays a story to me of his
grandfather, who was a baker in
Italy and Europe, and how he would
bring him espresso as he baked in the
mornings. How he spent that time
with his grandfather as a child and was
introduced to dough and baking. These
are familiar things to him from a time
right after WWII. I ask about yeast
and fermentation in those days and he
explains that every three days or so on
the counter in their kitchen was flour
and water sitting in a bowl waiting for
the natural yeast to kick in so it could
be used to make bread. In his late 70's
Ciro is a treasure to listen to. When the
dough is done, he is also done for the
day. Checking everything before he goes,
he leaves the pizzeria in the hands of his
son.
Next month I'll tell you more in the
second and final installment recapping
my discovery trip to Long Island! n
is the owner of Pietro's
Pizza Kauai in Hawaii.
TOM IANNUCCI
http://www.PIZZATODAY.COM
Pizza Today - March 2019

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