When a new customer places a typical American order from Pinotti’s Pizza, owner Osvaldo Biffe — like a Brazilian godfather — makes them an offer they can’t refuse.
“We fight on the phone sometimes,” jokes Biffe, a native of Sao Bernardo. “They’ll order pepperoni, and we’ll say, ‘Listen, we’ll send you half pepperoni and then we’ll pick a flavor of Brazilian pizza for you on the other side. And if you don’t like it, call me back and I’ll refund your money.’ “
They almost always call back, but it’s never for a refund. Instead, he says, they rave.
“They say it’s really different, really delicious, and the next time, they come in, they forget about the pepperoni, and they bring friends.”
Biffe estimates that in the five and a half years his Winter Garden pizzeria’s been open, he’s turned hundreds of American customers on to Brazil’s version of what many consider the world’s most perfect food, a style born in Sao Paulo courtesy of a wave of Italian immigration that took place between the late 1800s and 1930.
Steeped in this sultry stewpot of South America, the classic Margherita would scarcely recognize her Paulista prima beneath the Carnaval headdress of toppings — hunks of tuna and hearts of palm, Calabresa sausage and creamy Catupiry cheese, sliced eggs and a flurry of singed white onion.
Often, they stuff the crust or embed another Brazilian favorite, the coxinha (a teardrop-shaped chicken croquette), right into it.
Not to get all bumper-sticker about it, but when it comes to pizza, Brazilians like it on top.
“One of the staples of Brazilian pizza is all the toppings,” says Albert Mathaus, who opened 14Bis Pizzeria back in May. “And we love a lot of cheese. Our dough is also a little sweeter than the dough here.”
The airplane-themed eatery is the company’s first stateside. Mathaus’ family founded the business 30 years ago in Sao Paulo. The name originally came from the phone number ending in 1414. ” ‘Bis’ means ‘twice’ in Portuguese,” he explains. “We were takeout and delivery only and my father thought it would be a good way for people to memorize it.” But as the business expanded, people came to associate it with Brazilian aviation pioneer Alberto Santos-Dumont, whose plane was called the 14-bis.
Airplane imagery figures in the logos back home, but for Orlando, Mathaus took it to the theme-park level with a section that mimics a cabin with screens that show clouds floating past its bubble windows. Customers — Mathaus puts them at 65-70% Brazilian so far — have been enjoying the taste of travel they get on each visit, along with the taste of home.
Winter Park resident Marcia Schwartz was born and raised in Rio de Janeiro’s Ipanema neighborhood but moved to the U.S. in 1990. She’s gone home to visit every summer since, sometimes for up to two months, until COVID-19 hit.
In the interim, she and her Brazilian girlfriends often lunch at Braccia Ristorante, where amid other Italian fare, they can opt for a taste of home via pizzas piled with smoked sliced Calabresa sausage or Brazil’s No. 1 combo: chicken and Catupiry.
“When I go, it brings me back to my childhood,” she told me via Zoom from Brazil. She was thrilled to be back after being away so long. “There is nothing better than music and food to bring you back in time.”
Schwartz married a New Yorker — “the first time I went the pizza looked so plain,” she says, laughing. But being Carioca, a native of Rio, she was unfazed by the pizza tribalism so prevalent in the States.
In Rio, it’s common practice to put ketchup and mustard on pizza.
“In school, growing up, I did it, too!” she says. “I don’t know how it started but in the ’80s you’d see it on the table in every pizzeria … In Sao Paulo, they would never put ketchup and mustard — but Rio? Everything goes here!”
Daniel Janequine is a recovering ketchup-and-mustard Carioca, as well.
“I grew up in Rio, but my family is from Sao Paulo, and I used to go there once a month. When I was younger, I’d ask for it and oh, you should have seen the looks on their faces. It’s like when you’re in an Italian house and you break the spaghetti before you put it in the pot.”
Though often overlooked for all the toppings, the crust, Schwartz says, is part of the experience, as well. At Pinotti’s, allowing the dough to rest 24-48 hours ensures a light, thin result after it goes through its conveyor oven. They use the same type at 14Bis, though the dough here is used same-day.
“Many places in Brazil have the brick oven, which gives it a nice taste, but the thinness — it’s crispy on the bottom but also a little bit wet— that’s what really makes it feel like home.”
Rokka’s Market, says Leonardo Guimaraes, is a newer stop for his fix of homestyle pizza.
“They make it every day there and you can just take it home and put it in the oven for 20 minutes,” he says. “It’s one of the best I’ve had in a long time.”
Guimaraes, also from Rio, has lived in Orlando since 1991. The University of Central Florida grad saw Brazilian pizzerias come and go early on and has been happy seeing more than a few finally stick as the community continues to grow. He had a few go-tos for American pizza years ago, “but now when I get it, it’s always Brazilian.”
Which, not surprisingly, requires silverware.
All the pies I tried at Pinotti’s were good, but the Prosciutto — with garlic butter, prosciutto and a cheesy love fest of mozzarella, blue, Parmesan and Catupiry — was my favorite. I hoisted my first slice of this pie and quickly realized it would be the only one I wouldn’t knife-and-fork.
In Brazil, there’s dessert pizza, too. At Pinotti’s you’ve got a choice of 15, along with nearly 50 savories — though apparently, the sweet version doesn’t have the same history.
“It’s a recent phenomenon,” says Guimaraes. “When I was growing up, they didn’t have it. I think it’s a Millennial thing.” Schwartz said the same.
That doesn’t stop most of the customers, both Biffe and Mathaus said, from going for a crust that’s covered in caramelized banana, cinnamon and a thick, sweet drizzle of condensed milk or a Nutella-spackled version topped with strawberries. Dulce de leche. Cherries. Chocolate in all shades.
“They’ll get maybe one small, sweet pie, and it’s very fun,” says Biffe.
Like their savory counterparts, they seem dressed to party — whether it’s for a birthday or the World Cup.
“It is the mixture of Italy and Brazil that created this special pizza,” says Schwartz, who loves a New York slice but can’t place it higher than the style she grew up with — which, much like the rodizio, all-you-can-eat pizzerias of Rio and Sao Paulo, is all-inclusive.
“We have everyone here — Portuguese, Italian, Japanese, Lebanese, German … ” she says proudly. “You put all this stuff together, and this is what you get on the pizza.”
“Brazil is a melting pot,” she says.
You can see it on every pie.
A few places to try it
14Bis Pizzeria: 2869 Wilshire Drive in Orlando; 407-777-1414; 14bispizzeria.com
Braccia Ristorante: 153 E. Morse Blvd. in Winter Park; 407-960-7596; bracciaristorante.com
Pie Fection: 3120 S. Kirkman Road in Orlando (407-523-2200); 720 Centerview Blvd. in Kissimmee (407-603-0123); piefectionorlando.com
Pinotti’s Pizza: 1201 Winter Garden Vineland Road in Winter Garden; 407-347-3505; pinottispizza.com
Rokka’s Market: 6507 Old Brick Road in Windermere; 407-217-2143; rokkasmarket.com
Find me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram @amydroo or on the OSFoodie Instagram account @orlando.foodie or email me at amthompson@orlandosentinel.com.