A perfect margherita pizza at Una Pizza Napoletana, in New York.

That’s Amore

For nearly 40 years, a little Italian nonprofit has worked toward a big goal: preserving the sanctity of Neapolitan pizza around the world. (San Marzano tomatoes only, please!)

By Elena Clavarino

Any conversation with Antonio Pace, the president of the nonprofit organization Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (A.V.P.N.), is likely to begin with his favorite anecdote: “When staying with an English lord, a Texan oil magnate admired the castle’s lush lawn and asked, ‘How did you achieve such perfect grass?’ The English lord replied, ‘It’s been sown, cut, and meticulously tended for 400 years.’”

This, Pace tells me over the phone, is what he aims to do with Neapolitan pizza. “He’s essentially the head of the pizza police,” a friend from Naples tells me.