by Enzo Coccia
Are you ready with the beach towel, the sun umbrella and the ball to go to the beach? Ready to enjoy the summer holidays that you’ve been waiting for too long and are approaching in a few days? For me, it is 22 years that the year ends on July 31. Yes, it is just so.
Since I opened Pizzaria La Notizia on June 24, 1994, my way of understanding time has changed a lot, as Luciano De Crescenzo cleverly tells us in the famous film, shot in 1988, “32 Dicembre” (December 32). It’s as if I have two calendars: the Gregorian one, as anybody else, which starts in January and ends in December, and my work calendar which ends in July. During the entire month of August, in effect, I am on standby or, if you prefer, off line. In short: I take a pause from work. And now, just as at the end of every year, it is time to review the situation!
This is surely the opening year of ‘O sfizio d’ ‘a Notizia, my third pizza place (besides the two pizzerias La Notizia), a peculiar venue, result of a bet to pair a working-class product like the deep-fried pizza with what, in the collective unconscious, is considered to be the most exclusive things like the champagnes, the crémants (the French sparkling wines produced in the Loire Valley, Alsace and Burgundy), or the Italian bubbles, from Greco di Tufo wine to Dubl Sparkling Aglianico, from Lambrusco to Franciacorta Ca’ de Bosco and Campania’s traditional wines like the Asprinio spumante and Gragnano red wine.
Four months later, ‘O sfizio d’ ‘a Notizia is an autonomous and successful business, a location frequented by friends, gourmets and experts. And whoever doesn’t want to taste a deep-fried pizza can always savour a ‘Mpustarella, a classic Neapolitan sandwich.
I don’t want to list all the events, dinners and moments that have turned ‘O sfizio d’ ‘a Notizia into a place which is little by little achieving popularity… they are snapshots of the “year already passed”. In these few lines I just want to thank my staff and greet my friends and customers that make every night spent working so special. It is naturally only a goodbye, I will see you in September with the passion, dedication and enthusiasm that go with new projects and ideas. So, enjoy your summer breaks and, if there’s a book you want to read under the beach umbrella, I’d suggest you choose Socrates … for him too – as Luciano De Crescenzo believed in “December 32” – time is an abstract mental construct! Time doesn’t exist!
