The pizza of the moment seems to be the Naples version. Once a rarity in the ‘90s, the Italian specialty can now be easily found throughout the city.

“When we opened in 2009, Neopolitan pizza was only popular among a small clutch of diners,” said The Kitchen Salvatore Cuomo manager Yu Byeong-gyu. “Recently, it has become all the rage.”

Yu attributes this in part to increasingly food-savvy, well-traveled diners who have tasted the world’s first pizza from its place of origin ― Naples, Italy ― returning with a yen for yet another puffy-edged slice.

Kim In-chul, associate research engineer of the R&D team for the newly minted Vera Pizza Napoli, points to the current trend of a health-conscious lifestyle as another contributing factor.

Indeed, the popularity of Pizzeria D’Buzza’s rucola-laden Buzza Classica pizza hints at a “well-being” connect.

According to Galleria Department Store, a survey taken one month after its food court Gourmet 494 opened last autumn placed the salad-like Buzza Classica in the No. 4 spot out of a list of 10 popular restaurant dishes.

Whatever the reason, it looks like Neopolitan pizza is having its moment.

“Lots of Naples-style pizza spots have popped up in the past two years,” Yu, 32, said.

For fans of Neopolitan pizza, this is good news. If a decade ago searching for Naples-style pies was limited to a handful of options, now there is more to pick and choose from, including a growing number of pizza makers that uphold Neopolitan pizza traditions.

Amongst the latest crop is Vera Pizza Napoli located in Hannam-dong. The new restaurant which opened in March aims to hold an Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana-certified “Verace Pizza Napoletana” trademark by early May, according to Kim. That would mean that it has met all the requirements for making marinara and Margherita pies set forth by the 29-year-old, nonprofit, Naples-based organization.

Already, the establishment dishes out a solid pizza Margherita Extra, piping hot with an airy, chewy crust, creamy shards of buffalo mozzarella and a rich tomato sauce. Extra virgin olive oil and fragrant basil complete the experience, illustrating how simplicity, when done right with good-quality ingredients, can result in something near transcendent.

Essentially Vera Pizza Napoli’s offering meets the criteria for good Neopolitan pizza as set by consultant Massimiliano Crocetti, an Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana-qualified pizza maker who was enlisted to help launch the restaurant. 

A well-made pizza Napoletana, first and foremost, should not be crispy, and nor should the crust (also known as cornicione). According to Crocetti, the crust should be soft and brown in color.

Furthermore, one needs to be able to taste the tomato and the mozzarella cheese, which means that it gets a short stint in a very hot wood-fired oven, for barely melted cheese and sauce that retains its original, fresh zing.

That explains why the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana, as outlined on its official website, requires that pizza be cooked between one minute and one minute and 30 seconds in an oven at 485 degrees Celsius for an “elastic” pie that can be folded. 

Why might one want to fold a perfect slice? That chewy malleability of base and crust sends a nod to pizza’s flatbread roots, begging to be sandwiched around toothsome sauce and cheese, to keep toppings intact and double the amount of bread per bite.

Of course, Neopolitan pizza can be eaten any way one desires. Crocetti recommends pulling off the crust and dipping it into the tomato and cheese and then eating the center of the pizza with a fork and knife.

The same creativity seems to apply to the toppings as well. While Margherita and marinara pizzas ― both of which hail from 1700s and 1800s Naples ― are the traditional go-to pies, the great thing about pizza is that it allows for a wide variety of toppings.

Take The Kitchen Salvatore Cuomo, the first in Korea to get the “Verace Pizza Napoletana” trademark. Its leading pie, according to Yu, is the D.O.C. pizza ― a riff off the Margherita, where cherry tomatoes are swapped in for the traditional San Marzano plum variety.

The first Korean outpost of the Japan-based Italian restaurant also dishes out a decadent Fichi pizza, where layers of gorgonzola, taleggio, provolone and buffalo mozzarella cheese are paired with sweet dried figs and crunchy roasted pumpkin seeds.

■ Vera Pizza Napoli; 3F, 729-74 Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul; (02) 796-7223; open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily; pizza costs 13,000 won to 26,000 won

■ The Kitchen Salvatore Cuomo; 646-2 Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul; (02) 3447-0071; www.kitchensalvatore.kr; open 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays, till midnight Fridays and Saturdays; pizza costs 17,000 won to 28,000 won

By Jean Oh (oh_jean@heraldcorp.com)