If you wonder what happiness tastes like, in Portici, in via Gaetano Poli 43, there is someone who can give you the answer: he is Pasquale Damiano, 30 years old, owner of “I Damiano Pizza Concept”, a rising star in the pizza world and an absolute talent in the art of leavening who, with his motto “happiness tastes like pizza”, is conquering the palates of gastronauts and lovers of the queen of the table.
Despite having opened his restaurant last summer, on July 18, 2023, Pasquale Damiano immediately caught the attention of the public, but also of food industry experts, in just a few months, winning important trophies and international awards: in fact, between November 13 and 15, 2023, he swept the board during the 9th World Pizza DOC Championship, triumphing and ranking first in the Pizza Margherita DOC, Pizza nel Ruoto and Pizza Gourmet categories, also earning third place in the Pizza a ruota di carro category and, above all, climbing onto the winners' podium, ranking third overall.
Furthermore, with its excellent doughs and toppings it delighted the palates of the guests of the Vesuvio Motor Show, three days, 10/11/12 November 2023, dedicated to motors, lifestyle, fun and adrenaline.
On December 4, 2023, in Naples, at the Teatro Sannazaro, Pasquale Damiano received a special award as an “Emerging Entrepreneur” as part of Arcobaleno Napoletano, a solidarity event organized in collaboration with and in support of the Fondazione Melanoma onlus, directed by Prof. Paolo Ascierto, oncologist and medical researcher at the Pascale Tumor Institute in Naples.
“I have always been – says Pasquale Damiano - a bread-making enthusiast. The constant search for perfection allows me to be up-to-date on leavening techniques and food trends. Thanks to an intense apprenticeship, I have had the opportunity to absorb many secrets of the culinary art. All this, combined with my innate determination, my desire for innovation in the wake of tradition, has allowed me to develop a unique dough, obtained through careful leavening for 48 hours, which gives my pizzas a very high digestibility. The combination with quality toppings, together with the lightness and melting of the base, arouse pleasure and joy at the moment of consumption, giving strength to the concept of pizza intended as happiness. With my collaborators – concludes Damiano - We make every effort to ensure that all those who come to visit us every day have a unique and positive experience from every point of view, constantly remaining faithful to the motto "Chest is happiness!".
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Pasquale's ability to be an innovator within tradition can be perceived from the gastronomic proposals of "I Damiano Pizza Concept" which, in the space of a few months, have conquered the hearts and palates of customers.
In addition to the classic Neapolitan pizzas, the special ones and the “cartwheel” ones, the menu features “O' Rutiell”, a pizza cooked in an iron wheel, using a traditional cooking method that gives the pizza a crunchy crust and a characteristic flavour.
But Pasquale Damiano's desire to innovate, without ever forgetting tradition and the valorization of typical local products, leads him to continually experiment with new culinary proposals. Among these is undoubtedly the now famous "Sciò Sciò", born from a "four-handed" collaboration with the starred chef Peppe Guida, which allowed him to recreate for the first time a lemon delight inside the fried pizza.
“Sciò Sciò”, whose name derives from its “curniciello” shape, a lucky charm par excellence in the Neapolitan tradition, is a dessert made with Pasquale Damiano’s dough, leavened for 48 hours, highly digestible and “dented” in re-milled durum wheat semolina. The topping is babà soaked in limoncello with the addition of a special home-made custard. After that, the “Sciò Sciò” is hermetically sealed and cooked in a fryer. When it leaves, it is taken to the table and served by cutting it in front of the customer, adding a little limoncello at the time to increase the alcoholic note and a zest of lemon from the Sorrento Peninsula, with the simultaneous delivery of a valid Lotto ticket, with the wish of double happiness, for the palate and for the pockets.
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