Pizza is a word known all over the world, from New York City to Los Angeles, from Paris to Tokyo. As a flatbread with toppings, “pizza” has been around since ancient Greek and Etruscan times. Modern day pizza traces its roots to Naples, Italy, where tomato & cheese found their way onto the flatbread that had previously been dressed with simple herbs, olive oil & salt. Today, “pizza” has become a word used to describe many products; deep-dish, cracker thin, stuffed crust, etc. However, the historical meaning of the word “pizza” is the style that originated in Naples referred to as “Neopolitan”. Our goal is to produce real Neopolitan style pizza – in short, to bring a little bit of Naples, Italy to Las Cruces, New Mexico. As has been the case for hundreds of years good pizza requires great attention to the dough, a proper oven and the use of simple high quality ingredients.

Pizza dough is the most overlooked item in modern pizza preparation, often viewed as a mere base for toppings. In many chain pizzerias the dough is purchased from a factory in frozen dough balls containing a wide variety of chemical additives, dough conditioners, preservatives, enricheners, etc. At Zeffiro we bring the same care to our pizza dough that we do to our Artisan Breads. Our dough is made from only four ingredients: flour, water, salt & yeast. The dough receives a lengthy fermentation over 24 hours giving a flavor and complexity of texture that is impossible to achieve with modern day shortcuts. Our dough is made daily and is never frozen — as a result, some days we may simply run out of dough. Leftover dough is discarded or baked off to make salad croutons.

Real pizza requires an extremely hot oven, from 750 degrees to 900 degrees F. This extreme heat allows the crust to spring & become flaky & crisp, while also allowing the cheese & tomato to cook quickly. At Zeffiro we use a dual fuel oven – this allows the use of environmentally friendly natural gas to pre heat the oven and the use of traditional wood fire during the pizza baking to impart the smoky flavors. Local pecan wood is used which provides the extreme heat required.

Due to the extreme temperatures the crust will take on a charred appearance – this is the sign of a correctly baked pizza and should not be thought of as burned. Although the spots on the crust may be black, the quick baking at extreme heat produces a superficial char, which does not taste bitter, rather taking on a complex set of smoky & caramelized flavors. Real pizza aficionados will not eat a pizza that lacks charring on the crust – they know it will be underdone, limp & doughy.

We use only the highest quality cheeses, tomatoes and meats we can find. Like our pizza dough, our tomato sauce is made from scratch. We keep our pizzas as simple as possible to allow the flavors of each ingredient come through and to allow the pizza to bake correctly. Too many ingredients will not allow the pizza to bake correctly at these high temperatures.

We welcome you to Zeffiro Pizzeria Napoletana where our goal is to produce real Neopolitan style pizza – to bring a little bit of Naples, Italy to Las Cruces. We are not a chain or franchise operation – you’re looking at “Mom” & “Pop”!

I fell in love with bread when traveling in France and Italy — so much so that in 1991 I quit my Law practice and attended the International Baking & Pastry Institute at Johnson and Wales University, graduating in 1993 with a degree in Baking and Pastry Arts. My real education had just begun — in 1993 I opened Zeppole Baking Co. in Boise, Idaho — over the next 13 years I honed my skills as a baker, producing countless loaves of crusty Artisan bread. The bakery grew and prospered to the point that I was spending more time as a manager than as a baker, leading to my decision in 2006 to sell the bakery and search for a community to start a small “hands on” bakery once again.

I also developed a strong interest and passion for traditional Naples style pizza. Real Naples style pizza crust requires the same attention to detail and craftsmanship as artisan breads so it seemed natural to combine an artisan bread bakery in conjunction with a traditional pizzeria. Thus, the decision to launch the Popular Artisan Bread Bakery and Zeffiro Pizzeria Napoletana.

The name selected by a business should reflect the philosophy and underlying commitment of the business. We chose the name “Zeffiro” for the pizzeria based upon one of its meanings in Italian – “something of fine value” to reflect our commitment to serving the finest Neopolitan style pizza possible. In selecting a name for the bread bakery we wanted to honor the company that had done business on our premises for many years and was a fixture in the Las Cruces community, The Popular Dry Goods Company — hence, the Popular Artisan Bread Bakery.

We hope you enjoy dining with us as much as we enjoy preparing the food. If there is anything we can do to make your dining experience more enjoyable please let us know.

Gary J. Ebert
Anne Marie Boardman
Owners, Zeffiro, LLC