Oceanside Pizzeria Earns 'Pizza Napoletana' Crown

OCEANSIDE, CA — Local pizza devotees who demand nothing short of true Neapolitan pizza pies are in luck in North County, as one local eatery recently achieved "Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana" status.

At Oceanside pizzeria Blade 1936, that's "Buone Notizie!" - the Italian translation for "good news," particularly poignant as the restaurant is housed in the former Blade-Tribune newspaper offices. Credited for the achievement is Blade 1936's Master Pizzaiolo John Carlo Ferraiuolo.

Another boon is that the establishment, in the Art Deco-era building at 401 Seagaze Drive, is equipped with an imported, 900-degree, custom, wood-fired Stefano Ferrara brick oven, that cooks its Pizza Napoletana in a mere 55 seconds.

Blade 1936, which opened last year with a robust Italian menu from Chefs Mario Cassineri and Ferraiuolo, and now Chef Danilo "DJ" Tangalin, was awarded the hard-earned Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana certification after meeting strict Neapolitan specifications for every part of the pizza creation — including sourcing, ingredients, dough prep, fermentation, presentation and the critical cooking temperature.

The international AVPN was established in the mid-1980s to keep alive worldwide the culinary art of making a true, Naples-original Neapolitan pizza, sometimes called “Pizza Margherita” — crafted with a soft crust, tomatoes, fresh basil and fresh mozzarella or buffalo mozzarella cheese. Click here to see the stringent AVPN guidelines.

Blade 1936's Neapolitan pizzas are available for take-out or via at-home, pizza-making kits. Follow this link for ordering details.

Including Blade 1936, 20 pizzerias throughout California are AVPN- certified, with only one other in San Diego County, Caffè Calabria on 30th Street in San Diego.

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