Passion for Pizza: An Interview with Phillip Bruno

Phillip Bruno, famed pizzaiolo and proprietor of Scoozi, was born in Melbourne in 1959 to a Neapolitan mother and a Sicilian father. Although he studied engineering, Phillip always longed to have his own business. At the age of 22, he did just that. He gave up engineering and in 1983, along with his wife Amelia, bought into his first pizzeria in the Melbourne suburb of Watsonia. He has never looked back.

Philip has been 35 years in the pizza industry. He has been declared a Master Pizzaiolo by the Associazione Pizzaiuoli Napoletane (APN), and in April 2015 was made President of APN for Australasia.

Scoozi is the only pizzeria in Australia to be accredited by both the APN and the Associazione Pizza Verace Napoletane (APVN) as offering authentic Neapolitan pizza. Both associations are based in Naples and are dedicated to promoting and preserving the tradition of true Neapolitan pizza.

How passionate are you about pizza?

I am very passionate about pizza, my first pizza expo was 1989 in Las Vegas, and my wife and I have been back many times. I also have been asked to judge several Neapolitan pizza-making competitions around the world — in America, recently in Taipei, and in August last year I judged the ultimate annual pizza event, The Caputo Cup, World Pizza Championship [Campionato del Mondo del Pizzaiuolo – Trofeo Caputo 2015], which is held at Pizza Village in Naples. This event runs for six days and last year we had over 650 contestants, the best of the best from around the world, and a Neapolitan woman, Teresa Iorio, won the competition, she was awarded world champion 2015.

I was also honored to receive an award from the City of Naples, Caputo Flour Mill and Associazione Pizzaiuoli Napolitani, for my dedication and passion in artisan Neapolitan pizza and Italian gastronomic culture, and which was signed by the mayor of Naples Luigi de Magistris.

And in 2016, along with Alfonso Scanio [former Italian Minister for Agriculture] and Arturo Arcano [Italian Consul General of NSW], I helped petition to have Neapolitan pizza placed on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list. We collected over 3000 signatures at Scoozi and over a million-worldwide.

The way pizza dough is manipulated, the way the base is made, the way a Neapolitan pizza is put together and the way it’s cooked is now heritage listed!

When did you get started in the pizza-making business?

It was close to 35 years ago. I always wanted to get into and run a business of my own.

A friend mentioned he had found a pizzeria and needed a partner. It was in Watsonia, and I was 22 years old at the time. Three months later my friend decided to leave the business, so my wife and I took it over. We started pizza delivery and in three-and-a-half years went from a staff of four to a rotating roster of 30 staff.

And have you always been in the business of making pizza?

Yes, for most of 35 years, although I have tried my hand at selling pizza equipment and building large commercial kitchens, so you could say I’ve never really been out of the industry. We’ve had a few pizzerias in that time, Watsonia, another in Ivanhoe, I was in Sunbury for a fair while, and finally in Ascot Vale with Scoozi.

When did you start making wood-fire pizza?

I was always fascinated with making wood-fire pizza and around 20 years ago I built my own wood-fire oven at home. I got so involved I would make pizza at the restaurant, and then I’d come home and entertain guests with wood-fire pizza.

Going back 20 or so years I didn’t think Australia was ready for wood-fire pizza. Basically everybody in the pizza business stuck to what they knew best.

When did you open Scoozi?

We submitted council plans late 2007, around the same time I started work on our pizza oven, I took it slow as council was almost a year in approving plans, the whole  project  was completed in about two-and-a-half years. My wife and I opened Scoozi in May 2009, and we were joined by our two sons soon after.

You have become recognised for making the best wood-fire pizza in Melbourne, did you do any training or go to cooking school?

I loved Home Economics, and I cooked for the family after school, also with my Nonna of course, when I was growing up. As for making pizza I was around 16 years old when I would help out at a friend’s pizzeria.

Once I was in my own pizzeria, I was basically on my own, no one explained what to do or how to do it. The hardest part was having the right ovens in Australia that were specifically made for pizzas, I was forever changing dough recipes and pizza ovens trying to get it right.

Now we know a Neapolitan pizza needs to cook at around 430 degrees, and the only way to do that is with a wood-fire oven, along with very quality ingredients and the freshest produce you can acquire.

Pizza making has become a cult almost, much the same way coffee has cult status in Melbourne?

I’ve been in this industry for 35 years and when I think back one of the biggest problems the industry had was that no one really went out to eat pizza because it was so easy to make at home. The pizza your mum or Nonna made at home was always a lot better than the one you’d buy.

That has changed and recognition comes from making authentic pizza that cannot be made at home unless you have the right oven, the right flour, and high quality ingredients. I am constantly trying to better myself — as are all the passionate pizza chefs — always looking for the best quality products, always trying to get an authentic product.

Now, if you take one of your mum’s or Nonna’s  pizzas and put it up against a wood-fire pizza that is made properly, you’re going to have a hard time saying which one you like better without offending someone. Twenty years ago people could get away with making an ordinary pizza, but today if it’s not made properly customers look at you strange, and they have every right to. The population has become educated on what makes a good Neapolitan pizza, I feel this is the reason pizza making has grown with the public and in popularity.

What do you have in store for the future?

I’m working on developing an accredited course in artisanal pizza making, so people from Australia and all over the world can participate in learning how to make pizza Napolitana.

I would also like to bring Pizza Village-style events to Melbourne, such as The Caputo Cup.

Scoozi’s pizza dough recipe by courtesy of Phillip Bruno

This recipe makes 5 dough balls of 270 grams. Each dough ball will make an approximate 12.5 x 30.5cm (5 x 12 inch) pizza base.

Water  500ml (1/2 litre)

Salt      27g

Flour    850g

Yeast   1.5g

Pour 500ml of water into a bowl and stir in all of the salt.

Mix in roughly half of the flour, then mix in the yeast.

Add the rest of the flour and knead well for approximately 15 to 20 mins.

Place the dough in an airtight container and leave for up to 2 hours.

Portion into 270g dough balls and store balls in an airtight container at room temperature (23 C) for minimum of 4 hours to maximum of 8 hours.

Remember, at this stage it’s all about timing, so the closer you can get to 8 hours the better.