A neighbourhood pizzeria is a wonderful thing, but the outlook is even better when it’s Al Volo, featuring an Italian-raised chef and pizzaiolo turning out excellent wood-fired Neapolitan pizza, freshly-made pasta and piccolo piatti (small plates).

Chances are when you call into Al Volo you’ll meet its owner-operator Luca Villari, because this powerhouse is, as he puts it, “the host, the manager, the pizzaiolo ... I’m the first here and the last here; I’m a hands-on owner and that’s what has kept us going”.

When Luca bought Al Volo almost nine years ago, he returned to his roots after many years working as a chef in high-end kitchens and as a food writer. As a youngster, Luca spent his afternoons and weekends folding boxes in the pizzeria run by his parents, and during time spent living with his grandparents in Italy, he became familiar with the ritual of lighting the wood-fired oven in which his grandad would cook pizzas. Luca worked his way up through the ranks at Cin Cin on Quay in his twenties, where the lively atmosphere centred around the open kitchen with its groundbreaking wood-fired oven was legendary.

The pizzas that emerged from that oven at Cin Cin in the heyday of fusion cuisine were also legendary, but Luca’s focus at Al Volo is very different. “Hey, back in the day I’d make the tandoori chicken pizza, or one with guacamole and caramelised onions and they were delicious! But I’d never put that on the menu here – or even a pizza with pineapple – it’s highly offensive to my culture. I make Neapolitan-style pizza, it’s a tradition that goes back 150 or more years an artisan skill, and quite technical. There are certain elements that are stringent: you need a super-hot oven, around 400 degrees and wood-fired, the dough has to go through a 24-48hr slow rise and be made with only four ingredients – the best quality flour, water, salt and minimal yeast.” The long slow ferment, says Luca, means the resulting pizza base is light and airy.

The classic margherita is a good test of the mettle of any wood-fired pizza restaurant, and Al Volo’s – made with only the best and freshest ingredients – is exemplary. But if you’re looking to try something with just a slight Luca tweak, don’t miss the eponymous Al Volo. “It’s basically a margherita, but finished with arugula, buffalo mozzarella, shaved parmesan and extra virgin olive oil on top.” And for something that pushes the boat out a little further, but still has its roots very much in Italian cuisine, go the carbonara. “I’ve taken the meaning of carbonara – bacon and egg – and run with it.” We’re talking a no tomato-sauce pizza with garlic, mozzarella and speck that is cooked and topped with crispy pancetta, an egg and parmesan emulsion, and a finish of truffle oil and parmesan.

If you’re thinking this sounds like world-class pizza right here in Uptown, you’re dead right. Al Volo took out the top place in New Zealand and was named in the top five in Oceania inthe exacting global 50 Top Pizza awards a few years ago, beating renowned Aussie spots with multimillion-dollar fit-outs. But Luca is not one to rest on his laurels, and this year has seen him busy evolving the business so that he can take his winning pizza beyond the shopfront. Luca has restored a 1969 Piaggio Ape, kitting it out with a wood-fired oven on the back. Seriously good Neapolitan pizza turned out from a cute but sturdy and thoroughly Italian three-wheeler? It sounds like just the ticket for your next corporate event.