Delhi’s Leo Pizzeria ranks 41st on Worlds 50 Top Pizza; Founder says, Cheese was a big challenge in India…

Leo’s menu features a variety of mouthwatering options, including Marinara, Margherita, Pesto Chicken, Il Diavolo, Classic Pepperoni, Spinach & Garlic, and Truffle Salami, among others.

50 Top Pizza, a global guide that ranks pizzerias worldwide, recently announced the best pizzerias in the Asia-Pacific region. Among the fifty selected, one pizzeria from Delhi, India, made the cut. Specialising in Neapolitan pizzas that transport you to the cobbled streets of Southern Italy, Leo’s Pizzeria secured the 41st spot on the list. This marks a significant shift from the days when Indian pizza options were limited to either thick-crust, deep-pan pizzas from American chains or the desi pizaaaas loaded with tomato sauce, processed cheese, and even mayonnaise. Later, the thin-crust wood-fired trend took off, and we saw Indianised toppings like chicken tikka, sweet corn, and paneer. Today, all major metro cities offer a variety of styles, from hand-tossed Italian to New York-style and even Chicago deep-dish pizzas.

However, it’s the craft of Neapolitan pizza-making recognized as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage six years ago that is now carving its own niche in India’s artisanal pizza scene.

Leo’s menu features a variety of mouthwatering options, including Marinara, Margherita, Pesto Chicken, Il Diavolo, Classic Pepperoni, Spinach & Garlic, and Truffle Salami, among others. Notably, this isn’t the first time the Indian pizzeria has been recognized on the global pizza stage. In 2024, Leo’s ranked 44th on the 50 Best Pizzerias in Asia-Pacific list, and in 2023, it secured the 47th spot.

Leo’s Pizzeria founder, Amol Kumar, the passionate pizza maker who loves kneading Neapolitan dough, has a Bachelor’s degree in Hospitality from Les Roches, Switzerland. He learned the art of pizza-making in Piemonte and Naples, Italy, and gained hands-on experience working at a small family-run pizzeria in Lecco, Italy. Here are a few questions we asked him:

Q. Congratulations for constantly being in the list of the Top 50 pizza Asia pacific. How has the journey been so far?

A. “It’s been incredible, a lot of hard times as well, a lot of lessons learned but it’s been amazing. Getting recognised like this keeps us going and is a huge motivator for us as a group.”

Q. Looking back at the 8 years, what were the challenges you faced in the FMCG industry?

A. “8 years ago ingredients were a big challenge, there was no Italian flour, maybe just a couple of brands of tomatoes from Italy and cheese was a big challenge too. We put fresh buffalo mozzarella on our pizzas and that was also hard to come by back then. Now the cheese scene has exploded, there are many local cheese plants making a product of Italian standards. Tomatoes and flour are also a lot more accessible now, it has also given rise to focussed work domestically so now people are trying to grow Italian tomatoes locally and are working on growing specific varieties of wheat which suit pizza making.”

Q. How long did it take for food and pizza lovers to shift from pan pizzas served by big brands to embracing traditional Napoli-style pizzas, considering that a smaller percentage of them were familiar with the authentic taste of Italian pizza?

A. “The ones who were familiar took to it right away and very really happy to discover they could get Neapolitan pizza locally. In general it has been a process of spreading awareness and educating our guests which is ongoing since India has such a large population. A lot of people have switched entirely and are regulars, some still prefer different styles.”

Q. What was the thought behind introducing a pizza lab?

A. “The pizza lab was meant to serve two main purposes. The first was to create a space where we can do our research and trials to keep improving our pizza and to create new styles. The second was to start teaching pizza making to enthusiasts and professionals in a professional space. We have a collection of different equipment to serve each person’s needs and we also teach the entire process by hand in our enthusiast classes.”

Q. How has the art and technique of making pizza evolved over time?

A. There’s been a lot of interesting activity in the last 15 years or so in the pizza world. The contemporary pizza was born with a really big, puffy crust and thin bottom. This is an evolution of the Neapolitan pizza. Earlier pizza was made with a very simple technique where all the ingredients were mixed in one phase. Now, there are endless possibilities, modern pizza makers have incorporated bread making techniques into pizza making in order to serve something elevated.

There’s one more Indian brand Pizzeria Da Susy that ranked number 6 in the 50 top pizza Asia Pacific Awards 2025.