![]() "I got to the hospital and they asked, 'Why do you have flour and sauce on you?' I said, 'Because I was making a pizza.'"įrancesca's name also appears on Pizza Amore's menu. "My water broke while I was making pizza in the pizzeria," Eva recalled. "She grew up on pizza only eats pizza."įrancesca, 13, literally was born into the pizza business. "She had to be here to taste the pizza before we opened," DJ said. When it comes to tasting the pizza, their oldest daughter, Francesca, is the "expert." We don't count pepperoni or weigh cheese we just put it on. When his sons are in the kitchen, DJ said, "I want you to make it for me and for mom the same as you make it for customers. I take my time with an extra minute I like to take the sauce and push the sauce all the way to the edge and special cheese all the way to the edge." We don't put any sugar in the sauce or dough. "You don't smell the yeast, because we give it time to kill the yeast."Įva added, "Our dough we make and let rise for two days before we touch it, because it makes it fluffy but crispy and melts in your mouth. "The trick is how to mix the dough, when to use cold water, when to use hot water," DJ said. People put everything together, but the carrot cooks faster than the celery and loses flavor." Put spice, celery, a little bit of carrots, a little spice. We put it on the side. It's knowing when you put basil, salt and pepper. "Many cooking here put the pan over the middle of the flame. "In Italy, they use spice, know how to turn the sauce, put flavors in the sauce," DJ said. ![]() It's not only the fresh ingredients, but the timing. Their sons Giuseppe Chakri, 20, and JohnMichael, 23, also wait tables and lend a hand in the kitchen - on certain dishes. DJ admits he doesn't want anyone else to touch the sauces. It is pure tomato, oregano, basil, garlic, salt and pepper," Eva said. "The pizza sauce we make is only for the pizza. The tomato sauce is used to make lasagna, which also features layers of bolognese, as well as spaghetti and meatballs, chicken parmesan, stuffed shells and calzones. "I have fresh basil on the counter and more in the back with rosemary, oregano, parsley, cilantro," said DJ, who uses the fresh herbs in his dishes. ![]() On Wednesday afternoon, the kitchen beckoned with the scent of tomato sauce simmering in a pot with fresh basil, while his homemade Italian lemon and orange cheesecakes baked in the 72-inch Baker's Pride oven. I don't put oil, just butter and heavy cream - that's how it thickens," DJ said. "I take the fresh garlic and onions, mix and blend them with butter, and burn them together in a pan to get that smokiness. Though customers have asked to buy the alfredo sauce, it is made from scratch to order. The sauce was a darker hue than a typical Alfredo, with a rich, smoky flavor. We use beef pepperoni it doesn't let out so much fat and oil like pork."Īt my son's insistence, I had tried his order of Fettuccine Alfredo with chicken - which he said was unlike any he had ever tasted. "I said people need good pasta and good food, and we decided to open a good one, a family one. We tried first pizza and didn't like it, so we tried the second and didn't like it - for three or four months, and we didn't like it," DJ said. "We looked over here for pizza when we came. The family relocated to Panama City Beach to help a cousin with his business - and then found themselves back in their own. Consulate General Naples at a pizzeria, where he was trained by a master chef. But Djamel first began getting American customers while working next to the U.S. The menu also includes a few American items, such as burgers and fries at customers' request. Though the couple has operated pizzerias by different names, their family recipes have remained the same - from Pizza Amore in Newport News, Va., to Primo Pizza in Virginia Beach, and Roma Pizzeria in Williamsburg, Va. in 1994, DJ and Eva have continued share their family's passion for Italian cooking. with his wife, Eva.ĭJ was raised in Mergellina on the coast of Naples, Italy, while Eva was raised in Naples' countryside. In Italy, we do everything with our hands - no books, no rules," said Djamel Chakri, aka "DJ," who opened Pizza Amore three weeks ago at 1405 W. "In Italy, we do things different than here. The slice of the 16-inch New York Style pie was still foldable with a springy, slightly crispy crust, topped with a fresh tomato sauce, and loaded with Grande Mozzarella, then pepperoni, sausage, ground beef, mushrooms, onions, green peppers, black olives, garlic and oil - but it wasn't greasy or soggy. PANAMA CITY - It was love at first bite, as I sank my teeth into a large slice of Supreme Pizza - and the hand-sliced pepperoni hit my palate.
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