Long ago in a little village in Sicily, there lived a baker called Papa Romano. People loved the homemade bread he baked in his stone-hearth oven, and they traveled for many miles over the cobblestone streets to buy it.
Mama and Papa Romano and their six little bambinos lived above the bakery flat. One day while Papa was working in his bakery, his little bambinos, summoned by the aroma of fresh bread baking, came down the stairs and asked “Papa, can you make us something good to eat.” Papa, already working with some bread dough, began stretching it and twirling it in the air, shaping the dough into a thin circle. Meanwhile, Mama Romano was making a pot of her delicious, hearty tomato sauce. She said to Papa “Why don’t you cover your dough with some of my tomato sauce and top it with mozzarella cheese, and bake it in the oven for the little bambinos.” Papa and the little bambinos loved the idea, so they gave it a try. When it was finished baking, a customer asked “May I try a piece of that?” Papa said “Of course, you may try a piece of… piece of… pizza! That is what we shall call it: pizza!” And that is how pizza got its name.
Papa Romano’s pizza was a great success, and Papa Romano turned from baker to pizza maker. People came from all over the world to try his pizza. When the little bambinos got older, they too became pizza makers. For generations, the Romano family made pizza in their little bakery in a little village in Sicily.
One day, an American traveler suggested to Papa, “You should go to America and make your pizza there; Americans will love this mouth-watering delight.” So Papa talked it over with his family, and they decided to go to America, the Land of Opportunity.
Papa Romano packed up his family and set sail for America, finally settling in Southfield, Michigan. He established his business and soon found that there was great demand for his famous pizza. Each and every town wanted their own Papa Romano’s pizzeria, so they built many more to meet the demand.
It wasn’t long before people tried to copy Papa Romano’s pizza, but none could measure up. They had to sell two pizzas for the price of one to compete with Papa Romano’s. But Papa always said “One of the best beats two of the rest!”
Today Papa Romano and his staff of highly trained pizza makers still make his homemade pizza dough the old-fashioned way: fresh, every day. Mama’s secret tomato sauce is still made the way Mama used to make it. And each pizza is hand-stretched and baked to perfection in a stone-hearth oven for each customer in every location. Papa Romano insists on it.