Buon Appetito!

Among American pizzerias, Seattle’s Tutta Bella stands out with a rare advantage: It is among the few dozen pizzerias in the country to offer authentic Neapolitan-style pizza. Joe Fugere, the owner of Tutta Bella and a former Starbucks executive, studied pizza making in its birthplace of Naples, Italy, and is a certified pizzaiolo. He opened the first Tutta Bella location in Seattle’s Columbia City neighborhood in 2004.

Tutta Bella was first certified in 2006 by the Italian Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (VPN), and the chain’s four restaurants are among just 10 pizzerias in Seattle to gain the coveted seal of approval. The chain’s popularity led to its employee roster nearly doubling to 200 people this year. Most recently, Tutta Bella impressed the foodies at the Nation’s Restaurant News Hot Concepts awards, being one of five winners in the October event.

To create authentic Neapolitan pizza, dough must be shaped by hand and cooked in a wood-fired oven, include a specific type of flour, tomatoes grown in the volcanic soil of Mount Vesuvius, fresh whole-milk mozzarella cheese, fresh herbs and yeast. The restaurant also occasionally sends staff on educational trips to Italy.

Tutta Bella was an early adopter of environmentally friendly practices. Before 2005, when restaurants in Seattle did not have the same compost options as residents, the staff took it upon themselves to take waste home from the restaurant to compost. Today, Fugere says, Tutta Bella uses green packaging, conserves energy and recycles its waste.

“As a young company experiencing consistent growth, change is part of the culture,” says Fugere.