I have eaten a lot of very good pizzas over my very good years in San Miguel de Allende. Neopolitan, Centanni, Cien Fuegos, Bennu, Fari and Florios are San Miguel restaurants that are all still producing exceptional pies. Recently though, some rave recommendations led me to another restaurant.
Well not physically led me to another restaurant. Though pizza is something I’ve eaten almost every week of my long life, it’s rarely something I eat inside a restaurant. It’s almost always something that I have delivered. Something I eat in my home. So, even though I’ve recently savored three of their pizzas, I have never ever stepped inside this highly recommended restaurant. For me, their address is their Uber address.
The name of the place is Napoli 39. I liked that they had named the place after the birthplace of pizza. And I wanted to know more about them.
So, I messaged the restaurant. The chef responded, told me his name was Jonathan, and said to fire away with questions.
The first thing I wanted was a little history. About him, about his restaurant, and about his devotion to Neopolitan-style pizza.
He told me, “My full name is Jonathan Pérez Gonzalez and I’m originally from this beautiful city of San Miguel de Allende.”
“I’m a Mexican chef, passionate about gastronomy and, back in culinary school, I took a Neapolitan pizza course taught by a renowned pizzaiolo. He introduced me to this style of pizza, and from that moment on, I began to delve into its world, researching, experimenting with different doughs and ferments, and meeting great pizzaiolos who guided me with their experience to the point where I developed the pizza we serve today at Napoli 39.”
On each of Napoli 39’s boxes you’ll see a logo, a nicely designed logo. It belongs to the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana or the easier to remember AVPN. There are a few restaurants in Mexico that belong to the association but Napoli 39 is the only one I know of in San Miguel de Allende or anywhere else within 100 miles of the town.
The rules and regs of the AVPN put a lot of restrictions on a pizza maker. The dough, for instance, must be made from a certain type of flour with a very specific protein content. It must be fermented for between 8 to 12 hours. It must be kneaded by hand or a very gentle mixer.
There’s also a significant cost associated with only being able to use San Manzano or Vesuvius cherry tomatoes and only Buffalo Mozzarella or Fior di Latti
I asked Chef Jonathan where he sources his flour, his tomatoes and cheese. He told me, “The flours we use at Napoli 39 are 100% Italian, such as Signetti or Caputo, depending on their availability in Mexico.”
“Our San Marzano tomatoes are from the Rosso Gargano region of Puglia.”
The cheese is from the renowned Remo’s cheese factory, located on the outskirts of San Miguel, on the road to Querétaro.
I mentioned earlier that, so far, I have tried three different pizzas from Napoli 39. All three had a wonderfully fresh pomodoro sauce and a generous amount of Mozzarella and Parmesan. The crusts were all perfectly cooked with the puffy edges having just the right amount of blister and char with a hint of smokiness from the mesquite-fired oven.
The Prosciutto Crudo y Rucola had some decently-aged meat and was enhanced with Genovese basil and a nice big glob of Fior di Latti.
The generously-layered Pepperoni added an ingredient more commonly found on a New York style pizza but welcomed by me on a Neopolitan style.
My favorite of all though was the Capricciosa o 4 Stagioni. Combining ham, salami, artichokes, mushrooms, black olives and basil created a symphony of flavors, with each of them working individually and in harmony. And all on that wonderfully composed traditional Naples style crust.
One more thing about Napoli 39’s pizza, actually all Neopolitan-style pizzas that you pick-up or have delivered. They’re best when they come right out of that wood-fired (or gas-fired) oven but they lose very little when they’re reheated.
Napoli 39 is on one side of town. We’re on the other. So, at the same time that we place an Uber order from Napoli 39, in goes the pizza pan to our oven with the heat set at max. When it arrives, out comes the pan from the oven, on goes the pizza and, 90 seconds later, out comes a bubbling beauty.
Right at the beginning of this post, I mentioned how many good pizza purveyors there are these days in San Miguel de Allende. I think there’s now one more that definitely deserves a try.
Napoli 39 is located at Francisco Lanzagorta 39, in Colonia Independencia, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. The restaurant is open from 3:00 to 10:00 pm every day but Tuesday. To order from Uber Eats go to https://www.ubereats.com/mx-en/store/napoli-39-san-miguel-de-allende/2zKIcJGSVjadvGPaIuZKow?diningMode=PICKUP&surfaceName=
Gracias, Don, for a laudatory and worthy review of Napoli 39. It is only one block from our home so you can imagine how frequently we eat there! And we’ve never been disappointed, the high quality is consistently delivered. Jonathan has expanded his menu to include arancini, risotto rice balls, the best you will ever eat, promise, as well as salads and 3 new delicious pastas! Service is excellent by his amour Andrea. Wines by the bottle add to the pleasure!
Nice find Glenn. Richard and I will be trying this out very soon!
Love this place. Jonathan and Andrea add greatly to the pleasure of Napoli 39.
That sounds great & I will try it! Thanks! Also, try 4-Bophelo at the intersection of Zacareros, the Ancha & Codo. Between Guadalajara and the entrance to Barrio Aldea.
Please add me to your mailing list.
Thank so much.
Looks great. Short walk from my house. Looking forward to trying it. Some concern about the out of the way location
I’m going today to try it out!
Thanks for recognizing Jonathan and his team. His pizza and the menu are worth the trip to Independencia.
While I’m sure Don’s hack for getting his oven ready to the Uber delivery is appreciated, don’t underestimate the fact that VPN pizza delivered brings the quality down significantly. Please, please, please amigos, make it a point to go to the restaurant itself and enjoy not only the pie in its best form but also the family of people making the pizza and the quaint setting. Oh and don’t forget to order one of the best deals on Montepulciano in town.
I’m sorry to say we ordered this last Friday. Two pizzas and we just live about 5 minutes away but I had the oven on ready and I did put them in for about 5-7 minutes. Still the pizzas were soggy in the middle and not great. worse though, the sauce was tasteless. It was like eating plain tomato sauce with nothing added. Will not order again. Glad you had good experience.
KG
That’s unfortunate you did not appreciate the pizza, and I would attribute it to personal preference not the quality of Jonathan’s product. While he strays from what is typically offered in toppings in VPN Neapolitan style the base of the pie, the ingredients, recipe and baking are all authentic.
There are many styles of pizza available through out the world including San Miguel. Everyone will find the style they like and that’s great. I love all styles and appreciate that when I don’t want to make it at home I can get Neapolitan style in San Miguel.
Two important realities of VPN that perhaps have determined that style of pizza is not for you:
Unless the Pizzaiolo takes liberties with the crust (larger dough quantity, thickness of the center) the pie will be soupy in the middle. You will need eat at least the pointy part of the slice with a knife and fork.
As for the taste of the sauce, here is the list of approved ingredients that go into authentic VPN pizza:
San Marzano Tomatoes.
That’s it. Only crushed tomatoes. No garlic, sugar, olive oil, herbs or spices go to into the sauce. So yes the sauce you describe is exactly that, plain tomato sauce.
The pizza should be a balance of fresh simple ingredients. Flour, water, tomatoes and fresh mozzarella, and some basil. The extremely hot temperature of the oven adds the final ingredient, the char.
Add the toppings Jonathan offers and yes you might get eye rolls from the nonnas in Italy but that’s a nice choice he lets you make.
Again, we all have our preferences and in no way am I criticizing yours. I only offer this reply to make other aware of just the style pizza you can expect at Napoli 39.
Provecho and see you soon Jonathan!
I tried it for the Super Bowl. The pizza was about $100pesos more than the other wonderful places that you mentioned but it was indeed excellent and I thought worth the extra expense. I also had the Caprese salad, which was generous and easily share-able (and competitively-priced). I will order again