Founder of Fiata, now the 3rd best pizzeria in Asia-Pacific, Salvatore Fiata is proud of making Hong Kong pizza crazy in a span of five years
Before Salvatore Fiata’s eponymous pizza restaurant in Hong Kong was crowned the 3rd best pizzeria in Asia-Pacific by 50 Top Pizza in 2025, the independent online pizza guide, the pizza chef was cautious of Neapolitan pizza becoming accepted in the city when he opened in late 2021.
“Before [Fiata Pizza], there was no real Naples style of pizza in Hong Kong, rather more American style. Pizza restaurants would include pasta and other dishes on their menu, but when we opened, I wanted to just sell pizza,” Salvatore shares with Foodie.
Salvatore’s direction to include only pizzas on his menu required unlearning for Hong Kongers typically expecting a more comprehensive menu with pastas, garlic knots, and Italian-inspired salads inside the city’s pizza restaurants.
For Salvatore, he is a pizza purist, he serves the basics of what pizza should stand for. “ If people want a more burnt pizza, different toppings, or a changed recipe at Fiata, we do not accept that. We welcome people to come here to try my culture. We just do pizza at Fiata, Neopolitan pizza.”
As a pizza chef, it was destiny rather than choice for Salvatore to enter an industry already occupied by his father, grandfather, and uncle, all hailing from Caserta, 30 minutes north of Naples.
“One summer break during school in Italy, I was sent to my uncle’s restaurant to make some extra money working as a bartender. One day, their pizza chef gave notice to resign and they were looking for someone to take their place. The boss wanted me to help.”
“I accepted the job to help the chef. As soon as I touched the pizza, making pizza was easy for me.”
Upon his return to Italy, he attended a course at the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana, a non-profit organization in Naples offering training courses to create genuine Neapolitan pizza according to the “International Regulations of the True Neapolitan Pizza”.
“To make great pizza, I believed, I needed to study in Naples and understand the theory [of Neopolitan pizza] and rules of the dough. Of course, it was an easier journey because I had my family let me work at their restaurant to practice.”
Before Salvatore opened Fiata in September 2021, he originally arrived in Hong Kong in 2017 as a chef at famed pizza chef Franco Pepe’s pizza restaurant Kytaly in Central, which featured his world-famous margherita sbagliata pizza.
A move back to London, onto Geneva, and then back to Hong Kong again inspired him to have a crack at making pizza on his own. The choice was obvious: a Neapolitan pizza restaurant.
“It is not about the [Neopolitan] style of pizza, but the story of pizza in Naples. The city is famous for being the creator of pizza. The base of the pizza [at Fiata] and all the pizza recipes come from Naples.”
In the first three months of Fiata’s life towards the end of 2021, the pizzeria met the admiration of Italians living in Hong Kong, before Salvatore’s pizza was embraced with a wider cultural berth.
As Fiata earned a quick reputation in the food scene, Salvatore noticed habit changes in how people enjoyed pizza. “When we opened, people used to share pizzas, now people order one each. At Fiata, we want people to enjoy one pizza each on the table.”
“I have ensured, with our pizzas, that the dough is as light as possible and easy to digest.” With Hong Kong’s seasonal changes, one being a brutal six-month-long summer trudge, weather affects both how the pizza is made and consumed.
“Every day, we need to change the recipe of the pizza to counter the humidity and heat.”
Every ingredient of the pizzas are imported from Napoli or central Italy, including the San Marazano tomatoes, DOP Parmigiano, and the wheat. However, the water, a foundation of any pizza, cannot be brought over from Europe. Salvatore has to settle for Hong Kong’s water.
“We filter the water we use at Fiata to make the pizza, but it does not have the same minerals and taste you can find in Italy.”
Five years ago, Salvatore remembers, people would complain to him of how he opened up a pizza restaurant not in line with Hong Kong’s former pizza traditions. “They said we would close because Hong Kong doesn’t eat pizza, we don’t eat pizza daily, and no one would line up to come to eat my pizza. That Hong Kong was only five years ago.”
A year after he opened Fiata, the restaurant earned its first of four successive 50 Top Pizza rankings. From 2022 to 2025, he climbed from 8th place, to 5th, 4th, and 3rd in the latest rankings.
The impact on business was instantly apparent upon entrance into the 50 Top Pizza rankings. “The day after we received our 2022 ranking we had a line queuing for pizza at lunch.”
Salvatore joins the likes of Italians and pizza-loving chefs strengthening Asia-Pacific’s pizza identity in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Manila, Singapore, Sydney, Ho Chi Minh City, and as far as Kuwait City and Jerusalem at the edge of the region.
In the spirit of pizza in Asia, Singapore’s best pizzeria and Asia-Pacific 13th best Anto Pizza e Aperitivi is coming to Fiata for a five-day collaboration from Jun. 16-21, after Fiata ventured to the Lion City pizzeria in late April.
“I am lucky to be busy every day from Monday through Sunday [at Fiata]. We will continue to make the best Neapolitan pizza in Hong Kong,” Salvatore states.
Pay Fiata Pizza a visit today try their classic Neapolitan pizza recipes
