Naples, the beautifully chaotic Italian seaside city is known as the birthplace of some of Italy’s most famous exports from espresso coffee to film icons Sophia Loren and Paolo Sorrentino, rum-soaked babas, crispy sfogliatelle and most notably – pizza.
By Daniele Foti-Cuzzola
Now, Neapolitan-born and raised pizza chefs Andrea Orabona and Antonio Carrino are bringing their own slice of Naples to Perth with their Da Napoli pizzerias. The duo opened their first pizzeria in Como in 2023 and have since expanded with an additional two stores. They opened their Leederville eatery in March this year and earlier this month they took over Republic of Fremantle’s kitchen space.
While Da Napoli’s Como store is more take-away focused, the team are excited to have expanded with a bigger venue in Leederville which includes a bar and can be booked for functions. They are also gearing up to run pizza making workshops in the coming months.
Meanwhile, their new Fremantle venture with Republic of Fremantle includes their beloved pizzas, plus some additional bar snacks that go perfectly with gin-infused cocktails. “Usually in Italy you have pizza and beer, but before we collaborated with the Republic of Fremantle, we tried pizza and gin and found that to be a very good combo,” says Orabona.
Carrino and Orabona believe it is their traditional Neapolitan style pizza dough that has been the secret ingredient to their and success. “[What sets Da Napoli apart from other pizzerias] is nobody else is doing our style of pizza. They are doing either the contemporanea or the Roman style pizza,” explains Orabona.
“It’s very difficult to describe Neapolitan pizzas because there are so many types of pizza. There is the contemporanea which is the one with the big crust and then there is the ruota di carro (cartwheel) which is the one we do and is a very classic Neapolitan style of pizza.”
“As always tradition is coming back, so we do the classic which has a thick crust, is well- stretched and well-cooked and doesn’t have too many flavours on top. I always suggest a maximum of three ingredients on a pizza. It’s good, it’s simple, it’s tasty and it’s easy to digest.”
Growing up in Naples, the pizza capital of the world, means that pizza making is in Carrino and Orabona’s DNA. Orabona grew up watching his uncle flipping pizzas at his pizzeria and as a child would spend time playing with the dough. “It became a passion. So, I started to study all about pizza, the fermentations and everything about it and I’m still in love with it and the pizza world.” While working in Naples, Orabona met a traveller who raved about his time in Perth, and it convinced him to set off on the other side of the world to experience WA for himself.
Arriving in 2018, there were few traditional pizzerias in Perth, but Orabona found a job at Dough Pizza on William Street, which at the time was one of the few places in Perth serving traditional Neapolitan style pizza and was arguably one of the pioneers of a new revival of Italian cuisine spreading throughout Perth which saw a rise of high-quality Italian restaurants, pizzerias and gelaterias.
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Orabona saw a gap in the market for Neapolitan style pizza and planned to open his own pizzeria, but COVID halted his plans. However, seeing a lack of Neapolitan-trained pizza chefs during the pandemic and a growing demand for pizza, he launched his own pizza production company, Oro Dough where he started to sell pizza doughs to restaurants and then opened Pizzeria Da Leo with friends.
It was at Pizzeria Da Leo that he met fellow Neapolitan, Carrino who started working there after arriving in Perth from Sydney. The two bonded over their shared passion for pizza and their home city of Naples and decided to bring their own touch of Neapolitan flair to Perth with Da Napoli.
In addition to their famous pizzas, Da Napoli also serve their own take on Neapolitan street food including panuozzo, which is a Neapolitan style pizza sandwich, and their famous pasta bites which is their take on frittatine di pasta and is essentially pasta that is battered and then deep fried to crispy perfection.
While it’s been a busy 18 months for the duo, they have no plans to slow down and revealed they are in the final stages of opening an additional store in Perth’s East. “We think everyone deserves a touch of Napoli,” says Carrino.
Find Pizzeria Da Napoli at 5/262 Canning Highway, Como, 1/636 Newcastle Street, Leederville, or 3 Pakenham Street, Fremantle.