I bought Ric a present before we left on our trip to France and Switzerland: Where to Eat Pizza by Daniel Young (available from Amazon.com and Amazon.it).  This is an insider’s guide with 1705 selections in 48 countries chosen by 121 regional experts and 956 pizza informants. It’s fun to read and Ric is keeping it on his bedside table.

My pizza Napoli was perfect.Terrific anchovies, a few capers, delicious mozzarella, and flavorful sauce.

It is a big book at 576 pages and not available on Kindle, so I thought to jot down recommended pizzerias in the towns we were planning to visit. Luckily one of those was Pizza D’Or in Antibes, France. We had walked by early in our stay and saw it was tiny, so I made a reservation. We arrived at 19:50 during a significant period of take-out activity. Still we received warm and friendly service in a mix of French and Italian. (I absolutely love it when we are in France and the servers think we are Italian.)

Someone here — the owner or a pizzaiolo — went to pizza school in Italy. This was one of the very best pizzas we’ve had outside of Italy. Wood-fired, the aged impasto (dough) had a lovely flavor that was enhanced by the high quality and fresh ingredients. It is Neapolitan-style pizza, thick on the outer edge but thin in the center, and unlike some we’ve had in Naples, did not become soggy. The mozzarella oozed and stretched, the tomato sauce was tangy but not overpowering, and the anchovies swimming across my pizza were not overly salty.

Click on any picture below for a caption.

Lively interior, fun red water glasses (need to find those for my kitchen), and small staff.

Unprepossessing Pizza D’Or.

My charming dining companion and pizza aficionado.

Is this a great pizza knife or what! So many in Italy are dull.

They did break some Italian pizza rules, though. The Napoli had not only anchovies but also capers and olives. Ric’s pizza featured ground beef, onions and marinated red peppers. I don’t think I have ever seen minced beef on a pizza in Italy. The creativity is welcome when one doesn’t take it too far. Italian pizzaiolos may be a little too adherent to tradition and restrictive in their ideas of what can go on a pizza. (Although I tend to agree that barbecue sauce and chicken do not belong on a pizza.)

I don’t know if this is the best pizza in Antibes. It certainly seems like it would be a contender.

Love the red glasses! If you see these anywhere, tell me,

Pizza Quality: 3 Outstanding ingredients, an especially good crust, wood-fired, with a very fresh taste and some creativity on the menu.

Service: 3 Friendly, mostly in French, some English on the menu, though,  and the owner is present. I think in high season this place could be swamped, but you can reserve online through The Fork. 

Ambiance: 3   Cute and colorful, not noisy, small outdoor area and on a quiet street. Did I say I love the red water glasses?

Total Points: 9

Returnability:  The Best! I am not saying you should travel to Antibes to eat pizza here; However, if you ever find yourself in Antibes and crave a pizza, you cannot go wrong at Pizza D’Or.

Ric’s pizza with minced beef (not done in Italy), onions and marinated red peppers.