Valentino Perniola

Valentino Perniola is the chef behind the pizza at Buon Appetito, his family-run restaurant in Burgess Hill, West Sussex. Originally from Mondragone, in the province of Caserta, he attended catering college and built his career as a chef. In 2018, he entered the world of pizza, bringing with him the mindset, technical skills and approach to research he had developed through his culinary career. Since then, he has delved deeply into the study of flours, preferments and doughs, developing his own approach to modern pizza. His research begins with the selection of the finest ingredients, but above all focuses on their transformation and enhancement. For Valentino, every ingredient must have a purpose: it must be understood, worked with and given the opportunity to express its qualities, even when it is a simple raw ingredient. Pizza thus becomes a way of reinterpreting regional recipes and products while telling the story of Italy’s gastronomic culture. Having left Mondragone just after t