(Hong Kong, 11 March 2025) Announced at an awards ceremony in Tokyo on Monday 10 March, Hong Kong’s Fiata Pizzeria in Soho Central helmed by Chef Salvatore Fiata (Sasà) has been awarded the position of 3rd on this year’s 50 Top Pizza Asia-Pacific list 2025 - the highest position held by a Hong Kong-based venue. Fiata has held the position of 4th on the 50 Top Pizza Asia-Pacific list and 22nd on the 50 Top Pizza global list since 2024.
(Hong Kong, 11 March 2025) Announced at an awards ceremony in Tokyo on Monday 10 March, Hong Kong’s Fiata Pizzeria in Soho Central helmed by Chef Salvatore Fiata (Sasà) has been awarded the position of 3rd on this year’s 50 Top Pizza Asia-Pacific list 2025 - the highest position held by a Hong Kong-based venue. Fiata has held the position of 4th on the 50 Top Pizza Asia-Pacific list and 22nd on the 50 Top Pizza global list since 2024.
Awarded globally and regionally, the 50 Top Pizza list is the equivalent of the Michelin Guide of pizzerias. Founded in 2017 by a group of Italian food journalists, the goal of the guide is to find and celebrate the very best pizzas - a food loved by everyone but requires excellent techniques and skills, along with patience and dedication to achieve the right consistency of dough and ingredients for the perfect bite. In Italy, pizzas are an important part of social gatherings. The guide is released annually based on the assessment of ‘pizza inspectors’.
On his win, Sasà shares, “I am so pleased with the recognition of our hard work with this award as we rose our ranking and continue to remain on the radar of the inspectors in this competitive landscape. We have worked very hard to maintain consistency with our classics and to constantly evolve and improve ourselves to stay ahead of the curve and to cater to our diners.”
Sasà started working in restaurants when he was about 16 years old. A summer job waiting at tables and a chance shift helping in the pizza kitchen led him to find his raison d’etre, continuing the family’s tradition of becoming a pizzaiolo—a pizza maker.
“I went for formal training at a pizza making academy in Naples and also learnt on the job, working in a professional kitchen. I then spent 6 years working in a gastro pub group in London, doing pizzas and English food for 600-800 covers a day. In my last year, I was head chef of the pizza kitchen and sous-chef in the kitchen, a management role, but I was itching to get back behind the oven and make pizzas.”
In 2017, renowned pizzaiolo Franco Pepe sent him to Hong Kong as a consultant on a project for a week, he eventually accepted a job in Hong Kong. The protest and pandemic followed, and Chef Sasà returned to Europe. He returned in 2021 and opened his own pizzeria Fiata in Soho.
Success came with dedication and perseverance, along with skills, traditional techniques and great Italian produce, “In the first year we opened, as the world was still coming out of the pandemic, we were awarded 8th in the coveted list of 50 Top Pizzas Asia Pacific. It was a quiet period, but our pizzeria was full of Italians in the initial few months of opening, which led me to believe that I was doing something right. The Italian community was coming for authentic pizzas, a taste of home and it was spreading through word of mouth. We have since grown from two in the kitchen, including myself, to nine!”
The best kind of publicity is through the grapevine and recommendations from fellow countrymen. Chef Sasà is committed to building his Hong Kong community, and very supportive of fellow Italians running independent bars and restaurants.
“I don’t see this as a competition but more a community to share about Italian culture, cuisine and of course pizza.”
Key to a good pizza
A Fiata pizza is all about the dough and the quality of its ingredients, which are all imported from Italy. Chef Sasà is an early riser and prepares the dough before dawn.
“I like to start early to prepare my dough, fermenting it the proper way and letting it rest. If you mess up one step, you mess up for the entire batch. I have a lot of steps in the day for the dough preparation. I have only messed up a few times in my life. So, I’d say the secret ingredient is waking up early. And after that it's the quality of the produce," shares Chef Sasà on what happens on a typical day.
The pizzeria has made a record number of 320 pizzas in a day for the 50-seater pizzeria. The dough is prepared a day before and he makes up to 290 pizzas a day at capacity. Working with live yeast and preparing the dough in the traditional autolyse way, Chef Sasà can adapt to the different humidity to keep quality consistent. "When the weather gets too hot, I work with a little ice to make adjustments, and I have plenty of measuring instruments to keep track of the humidity in my kitchen.”
There are no more than 3 or 4 ingredients in a Fiata pizza. “I want people to still feel light after they eat one and make sure the ingredients are well distributed over the dough. We usually cut it into 4, and each slice should have the same distribution of ingredients.”
Bestsellers and Mortadella
“I like changing and updating the menu every couple of months, keeping things fresh and seasonal. Our specialty pizza is a classic in Napoli, the Provola e Pepe, which is like a Margherita but smoked.” Chef Fiata on the award-winning best seller at his pizzeria.
The key ingredient that features on the menu is mortadella, a personal childhood favourite of chef, and it has seen different iterations paired with different ingredients. Every 6 months, Chef Sasà updates the toppings that pair well with mortadella and he’s done five versions so far: ricotta/mortadella, pistachio/pesto/mortadella, burrata/mortadella and the current one on the menu is another bestseller that’s always sold out: Bronte 5.0 consists of pistachio, lemon, ricotta, semi-dried tomatoes and mortadella.
As the busy foot traffic of Soho Central brings in new diners vying for seats with the regulars, the bustling pizzeria continues to refine and bring new pizzas to the menu inspired by Italian produce.
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For more information, please contact COMPANION
Alex@companioncommunications.com
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Address
2 Staunton Street,
Soho, Central,
Hong Kong
Opening Hours:
Lunch: 12 pm - 2:30 pm
Dinner: 6 pm - 9:30 pm
Phone/Whatsapp: +852 6032 6626
Website: www.fiatapizza.com
IG @fiatapizza
About Fiata Pizza
Fiata Pizza, founded by Salvatore Fiata in 2021 in Soho, Hong Kong, quickly gained recognition for its authentic Italian pizzas. Salvatore, hailing from a family of traditional pizza makers in Campania, has a rich background in culinary arts, including formal training at the Naples Pizza Academy.
In 2024, Fiata was ranked 22nd on the coveted World's 50 Top Pizzas list and 4th in the APAC region, a testament to its quality and popularity. Salvatore emphasizes the importance of high-quality ingredients, all imported from Italy, and meticulous dough preparation. His pizzas typically feature three to four ingredients, ensuring a light and flavorful experience.
Fiata Pizza thrives on community support and aims to celebrate Italian culture through its offerings, continually refreshing its menu to attract both regulars and new diners amidst the lively Soho environment.