Pizzaiolo Lineage: Bottega Owners and Operators Daniele and Paolo Salvo On Their Family’s Foodie History

Ahead of the 2018 Beijing Pizza Festival, on Oct 13-14, 11am-8pm, we take a look at the giants, the classics and the movers and shakers of the pizza scene right here in the capital. 

Pizza making isn’t just a passion or a vocation for Paolo and Daniele Salvo (pictured opposite), it’s part of their lineage. The Neapolitan brothers can recall – long before they opened Bottega and became the Beijinger Pizza Cup winners in 2016 – being young boys falling asleep on the Coca-Cola ice box at their family’s pizzeria as their parents and relatives scurried to tend to customers.

That business has been going strong since their grandfather became a pro pizzaiolo in Naples in 1928. When they were little, Paolo (who oversees the kitchen at Bottega) and Daniele (who mostly handles front of house, though often pitches in out back with his brother) would head to the restaurant after school to lend a hand with the family biz. “I would carry pails of water to the sink and then wash the forks,” says Daniele, smiling as he looks back on that 25-year-old memory. Those simple chores were the beginning of his and Paolo’s tutelage in everything from pizza making to restaurant management.

Despite the mom-and-pop operation’s storied history, it didn’t get bogged down in the past or lose touch. It was one of the first Napoli pizzerias to add more water to its dough recipe in order to aid with digestion, and a pioneer among Italian restaurants in professionally marketing and promoting its wares. Today many of the Salvo brothers’ cousins, uncles and other family members operate pizzerias back home, with two of those restaurants – Fratelli Salvo and 50 Kalò – being ranked among the top 10 in Napoli by Michelin, Gambero Rosso, Guida Espresso and other esteemed foodie organizations.

Daniele and Paolo saw similar opportunities to innovate when they arrived in Beijing seven years ago, for a consulting gig with La Pizza. Daniele says: “At that time only one restaurant had Napoli pizza. In a city of 20 million people, we knew that wasn’t enough.”

And although the market was fresh as newly made dough and more than ready to rise when Bottega opened, that doesn’t mean there weren’t a few hurdles for the Salvo siblings to overcome in Beijing before they reached the high regard that they enjoy today. Daniele says, initially, plenty of Chinese customers were more accustomed to American style pizza, and even seasoned diners were befuddled by the signature Salvo recipe. “Some people would complain that the pizza was soggy at first, and we had to explain that it’s not soggy, there is just more water in the dough to help with digestion, which is better once you’re used to it,” Daniele says. He adds that the Beijing market has evolved vastly since then and now many patrons, Chinese or otherwise, familiar with the Bottega brand know exactly what to expect when they order up a pie. “We had to educate people a bit, not to eat the right way necessarily, but to eat pizza our way,” Daniele says.

Now that the Salvos have gained far better traction among Beijing foodies, they’ve also enjoyed other developments in the scene, like easier access to ingredients. Challenges still abound, however, such as brutal local redevelopment policies that forced them to move their original location to Nali Patio a few years back. There are also particular hurdles for specific ingredients. Their family’s trademark usage of mozzarella, for instance, is tricky in China, because it spoils so quickly it often doesn’t survive the distance. Paolo and Daniele’s solution? Import authentic Neapolitan milk, then work with a producer here in China to make the cheese fresh.

Despite such hiccups, the Salvo brothers enjoy coming up with creative solutions and being part of a market like Beijing’s, which is dynamic and quick to flourish. Daniele says he also loves being a pizzaiolo in 2018 in general, saying: “I can remember when pizza was just pizza, just a normal thing, and now with Instagram and social media people are going crazy for it. But we were making it before it was a cool thing!”

All this history talk got you hungry? Well, you're in luck as tickets are now on sale for our 2018 Beijing Pizza Festival. Early bird ticket buyers will receive a complimentary vintage bandana, while group ticket buyers (three tickets and up) will receive a free picnic blanket. Tickets are RMB 20 for early birds or RMB 30 on the door and can be purchased by scanning the QR below via WeChat:

Photos: Uni You