If you’ve passed by Ala Moana Center on Atkinson Drive, chances are, you’ve seen Zucchi Pizza. Or, rather, you might have is a seen the groups of people waiting for the business’s Neapolitan-style pizzas.
Rodrigo Zucchi opened this business about four months ago and runs it with his wife, Vanessa. Prior to living on Oʻahu, Zucchi lived in Miami, where he worked at ‘O Munaciello and learned the art of Neapolitan pizza from Carmine Candito, who won the World Pizza Champion title at the Pizza Expo in Las Vegas in 2022.
“Carmine has been making pizza for 33 years,” Zucchi says. “He came from Naples — he only speaks Italian — to Miami to open a restaurant.”
Opening his own business was never a planned venture, but something Candito encouraged Zucchi to do.
“He told me, ‘You have to get out of the restaurant; you have to grow, you are the only guy I taught my recipe to,’” Zucchi says.
“When Vanessa was pregnant, we decided to move from Miami, but we didn’t know where to go,” he adds. “My sister was living here for eight years; six months after my son was born, we decided to move.”
To make his pizzas, Zucchi uses high-quality ingredients imported from Italy along with vegetables from local farms. He explains the pizza is cooked for 60 to 90 seconds at 850 degrees Fahrenheit in a handmade Stefano oven that was imported from Naples.
“Only the most authentic pizzerias in Naples have this oven,” Zucchi says. “If you go higher than that (850 degrees), it’s going to burn the pizza; if you go lower than that, it’s going to be more of an American-style pizza, which is crunchier.
“I import fior di latte mozzarella from Italy,” he adds. “It’s a fresh product; they freeze it and I defrost it here. My tomato sauce is made from San Marzano tomatoes; my pepperoni is from Italy. The arugula, spinach and vegetables — they’re organic; I get most of them from Gava Grow Farm in Waimānalo.”
The San Daniele carpaccio pizza ($29) is currently the most popular one on the menu, according to Zucchi. It features San Marzano tomato sauce, fior di latte mozzarella, fresh basil, beef carpaccio, Zucchi’s special drizzle sauce, arugula, burrata, cherry tomatoes, shaved Parmigiano Reggiano and extra-virgin olive oil.
“San Daniele is a type of prosciutto,” he explains. “Some pizza makers get whatever’s traditional and change it a little to a more contemporary style. I decided to make a carpaccio like what you’d find in restaurants — beef carpaccio — and brought that to pizza. It’s unique because nobody makes San Daniele carpaccio.”
The spinach, feta and mushroom pizza ($29) is another popular option, according to Zucchi. This pie features a creamy alfredo sauce, fior di latte mozzarella, organic spinach, feta cheese, homemade garlic paste, shimeji mushrooms sauteed in a wine reduction, organic leeks, Italian artichokes, Parmigiano Reggiano and extra-virgin olive oil.
Other flavors range from margherita ($25) and quattro formaggi ($27), or four cheese, to premium pepperoni ($27) and Calabrese and sausage volcano ($29).
Zucchi credits his success thus far to his family and mentors, and says that having a “family business that has the real product” is significant.
“I would never say that I’m better than anyone,” he says. “We are trying to give this life experience — how we eat in Italy — to people.
Carmine said, ‘It’s not about the recipe, it’s about the legacy; what you have as a talent and passion is in your blood,” he adds.
CONTACT
Zucchi Pizza
401 Atkinson Drive, Honolulu
Zucchipizza.com
Instagram: @zucchipizza
Hours: Open 5-9 p.m. every day except Fridays
Kelli Shiroma Braiotta can be reached at kelli@alohastatedaily.com.
