Giovanni Santarpia was born in Castellammare di Stabia in 1973. At fourteen, on his father’s advice, he started working in a pizza-by-the-slice shop. That is where he met Espedito Raffone, known as ‘zi’ Spedito’, the mentor who taught him the foundations of the pizza he still makes today.
From that first informal workshop, Giovanni never stopped. In 1991 he worked as an assistant pizzaiolo in Capri, before moving through Calabria, Abruzzo and Emilia-Romagna: every stop was a school, every oven a different lesson. In 1996 he arrived in Vicchio del Mugello, and Tuscany has been home ever since.
The next step came in 2006, with his first restaurant in San Donato in Poggio, in the heart of Chianti. Years of constant research and growth led to his first Due Spicchi from Gambero Rosso in 2013 and, from 2014 onwards, Tre Spicchi — an accolade renewed year after year.
In 2020, Giovanni opened Pizzeria Giovanni Santarpia in Via Senese, on the edge of Florence. Even through the toughest years, he kept going, finding new ways to stay close to the city and to the people who followed his work — and keeping their appetite for great Neapolitan pizza alive, even from a distance.
Today, the pizzeria is firmly established as one of Florence’s leading names for pizza. Giovanni’s passion goes far beyond the restaurant: in summer 2024 he curated the pizza offering at Al Fresco, Four Seasons Hotel Firenze’s open-air restaurant, and he continues to share the craft behind his contemporary Neapolitan pizza through events, masterclasses and consultancy projects.
