Restaurant opening: Miami’s most famous pizza now served in Boca Raton
The story behind Alfredo Keri’s favorite pizzeria in Miami might have been enough to entice him from his Pompano neighborhood 40 miles away, as one enterprising immigrant showing admiration for another.
After all, it was quite a story: the southern Italian chef who founded Mister O1 Pizza named the place for the O-1 category of U.S. visa he was granted for his “extraordinary ability” and distinction in the art of making pizza.
But it wasn’t chef Renato Viola’s visa story that prompted Keri to not only drive miles south to Miami Beach just to have pizza but also to open a franchise location in Boca Raton on March 1.
It was Viola’s pizza.
Its crust, made with dough that begins with finely ground, double-zero Italian flour, is thin and delicate. Its dough is rested for at least 72 hours. Its standard-pie toppings are a mix of traditional and creative. And then there are Viola’s signature star-shaped “Extraordinary Pizza” pies, boasting pockets of ricotta within each star point.
Hailed by Food and Wine magazine as the “Best Pizza” in Florida last year, Mister O1’s pies just might be the most Instagrammable in the state.
“I was a huge fan. I lived in Broward and used to drive all the way to Miami to have that pizza,” says Keri, a marketing executive and business developer who hails from Venezuela. “I know people in Boca Raton who would drive two times a week to eat at Mister O1.”
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Keri, who now lives in Boca Raton, went from Mister O1 super-fan to operating partner for the new Boca Raton location. He is one in a group of Boca-based partners hoping to expand what has become Miami’s most famous pizza brand.
“We saw a huge following in Boca for Mister O1 and felt it was a great opportunity for us to start the concept here,” says Keri, who reports that nights have been busy at the new pizzeria in what he calls its “ramping up” phase.
'The secret is the dough'
How is Mister O1 extraordinary? Keri says it’s all about the ingredients used – and those not used – for each pie.
“We add no sugar to the dough or to the sauce. The ingredients are locally sourced or imported from Italy,” he says. “The secret is the dough. The dough is prepared and rests for a minimum of 72 hours, and it’s super rich in flavor and super crispy.”
How those ingredients are worked together also is key, he says.
“It’s a very artisanal process. Everything is handmade,” says Keri. “We don’t freeze anything. We don’t have a freezer at our locations. We don’t have a fryer, either.”
The result is pies like the Alessandra Jalape?o pizza (mozzarella, fresh mushrooms, jalape?o, Italian tomato sauce), the Star Luca (personal-size, star-shaped pizza topped with spicy Calabrese salami, mozzarella, tomato sauce and basil), the Coffee Paolo (gorgonzola, mozzarella, tomato sauce, honey, coffee and spicy Calabrese salami) and the Claudio pizza (fresh burrata stracciatella cheese, tomato sauce, white truffle oil and basil).
At the new Boca location, where a 13-inch pizza ranges in price from $11.99 to $18.99 and 8-inch pies sell for $6.99 to $9.99, the top-selling pie so far is the Star Luca, followed by the Coffee Paolo and the Claudio, says Keri.
Consistency of quality products and preparation is key, he says.
“I used to be a loyal customer and now that I’m inside the ropes, I can vouch for it,” says Keri.
With four locations in Miami-Dade County and a fifth on the way, Mister O1 has expanded its brand in Florida to include restaurants in Pembroke Pines, Melbourne and Naples in addition to the new Boca Raton shop. Mister O1 has expanded abroad as well, with two restaurants in Madrid, Spain, and one in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Chef and pizza acrobat
With each location, the story of chef Renato Viola’s visa-worthy pizza artistry is spread:
The boy from Agropoli on Italy's Cilento coast began his kitchen apprenticeships before he was 12. He studied the craft in culinary capitals including Naples, Milan and Rome.
Young Viola not only became a prize-winning pizzaiolo but also an acclaimed pizza acrobat, starring in pizza-throwing competitions as part of Italy’s acrobatic pizza team.
After arriving in South Florida on the O-1 visa, Viola went on to open the first Mister O1 location (briefly known as Visa-O1) in 2014 on Michigan Avenue in South Beach. In 2016, he opened a location in Miami's Brickell neighborhood. The following year, he opened one in Wynwood. In 2019, he debuted Mister O1's location in Coconut Grove.
Now that Viola’s pizza has landed in Boca Raton, the new location’s operating partner says the pizzeria may be just the start of Mister O1’s adventures in Palm Beach County.
“We’re excited about Palm Beach County overall,” Keri says. “We do see a few different cities in the county that are booming as well. We have plans for this area.”
Mister O1 Extraordinary Pizza
Located at 555 N. Federal Hwy, Suite 5, Boca Raton, 786-677-2903, Mistero1.com, on Facebook @MisterO1BocaRaton
Hours: Open Monday through Thursday from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m., Saturday from noon to 11 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 10 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Miami’s famous Mister O1 Extraordinary Pizza opens in Boca Raton
