For the press.

Francesco Ialazzo was born in Mainz in 1980 to a family from Sicily. He was eight when he first stood at the oven of the family pizzeria – on a little ladder his grandfather had put in front of it. At nine he made his first pizza for guests; at twelve he was at the oven almost every day after school.

At 17 he went to Naples to learn the craft where it began. In Frattamaggiore he met the master pizzaiolo Umberto Fornito, who became his mentor. In 2006 Ialazzo opened Pizzeria Capri in Ingelheim am Rhein, at first as a small takeaway on the market square; since 2013 it has had its own restaurant there, and since 2024 two golden mosaic dome ovens.

In 2009 he became German pizza champion with his pizza “Sofia”. At his first World Championship, in Parma in 2014, he finished among the best 20 of more than 600 pizza makers from 35 nations. In 2019 Pizzeria Capri received the Golden Pizza Plate of the Neapolitan pizza makers’ association (APN), and at the Trofeo Caputo in Naples he took third place in the nations ranking for Germany.

At the 2021 World Championship in Ercolano, near Naples, he won the Pizza Napoletana category with 428 points, finished second twice and, as overall winner, took the title “Super Campione”. Since then SWR, ZDF, WDR and ProSieben have all featured him, and videos about him have drawn around 6.5 million views on YouTube alone.

In 2025 the Accademia Nazionale Pizza DOC in Salerno made him a “Master di Istruttore Professionale”. Since January 2026 he has led its classes in Germany, now in his own show kitchen in Ingelheim. Under the name Flufflig & Knusprig he sells ingredients and his own pre-baked pizza base. Francesco Ialazzo is married with three children. His motto: “Practice makes perfect – a lot of practice makes a world champion.”