If this pizza were single and dating it would have suitors queuing around the block to tie the knot.
Because when a slab of dough gets dressed up this deliciously, it’s eye candy, tummy love and totally addictive.
Benoni’s Pizzeria Sogno di Napoli now joins the ranks of legendary East Randers Charlize Theron, Princess Charlene of Monaco, Springbok Bryan Habana, politician Denis Worrall and a bucketload more.
The pizzeria only opened four months ago after owner Balint Jozsa fell in love with Neapolitan pizza while on a trip to Italy, just like he fell in love with South Africa when he moved here two years ago from the Hungarian capital Budapest.
“I felt stuck in Hungary,” he said. “It’s not easy to start anything there. Here, it’s different. You register, fill in some forms and you can actually do something. South Africa is very entrepreneur friendly. I couldn’t have opened a business like this back home.”
From engineering to pizza
He first came to join his uncle, who runs an engineering company and helped start a small mechanical parts business. But when things slowed down, he started thinking about something new.
“I wanted to do something that was alive,” he said. “Something where I could see people enjoy it. Engineering is okay, but it doesn’t feed your soul.”
That was when Italy came calling again, or rather, the memory of Naples.
“When we visited Naples, the food was amazing. The pizza was light, balanced, just incredible,” he said. “Back here, we couldn’t find that same taste anywhere. So, I decided to make it myself.”
Sogno di Napoli, which means Dream of Naples, is almost hidden in a corner of Benoni. But those who find it, come back.
“People who try it usually return,” Jozsa said. “They taste the difference between everyday pizza and Napolitan style straight away.”
He said that the secret lies in the balance. “A proper pizza should be fifty percent base and fifty percent topping,” he said.
“Most places drown the dough to hide that it’s not tasty on its own. Here, the dough is the star.”
His dough ferments for hours, creating a soft, airy base that doesn’t sit heavy. “People who usually can’t handle the gluten in regular pizza bases tell me this one’s fine for them,” he said.
People fall in love with Napolitana pizza
The ingredients are simple and deliberately so. The flour and tomatoes come from Naples, the cheese from a small local supplier. “The oven hits 450 degrees,” he said. “That’s what gives the base its character. The cheese must melt exactly right, not burn, not bubble wrong. It took time to find the one that works.”
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The tomato sauce is stripped down to basics. “Crushed tomato and salt, nothing more,” he said. “When ingredients are good, you don’t need to disguise them.”
And when it’s served, forget about elegance or spoiling it with cutlery. “You eat it with your hands, fold it, make a mess, that’s part of it,” he said. “You can’t eat it neatly, and that’s exactly how it’s supposed to be.”
Jozsa said that he doesn’t plan to overcomplicate the menu or chase trends. “I’ll add one or two new pizzas maybe, but that’s it,” he said.
“Restaurants are about trust. When people know what to expect, they come back for it. You don’t need to reinvent everything.”
His personal favourite is the Hungarian Pizza, his own invention. “It’s got tomato, mozzarella, bacon, onion, garlic, baked hot and when it comes out, I put sour cream mixed with smoked paprika on top,” he said. “It reminds me of home. Smoky, rich and different.”
While the engineering industry is still on his radar’s background, his focus has pizza in its crosshairs. “This is it now,” he said. “I love this. You make something with your hands, people smile and that’s the reward.”
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