SANTA MARADONA: THE PERFECT MARRIAGE OF FOOD AND FOOTBALL

May 6, 2024

“Maradona is the people, Maradona is revenge, Maradona is each of us when in life he manages to overturn the patterns and win. Maradona is me, Maradona is you.“

Andrea Viviani is the founder and owner of the legendary Neapolitan pizzeria, Santa Maradona, an ode to his city, his love of Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli and of course, Diego Maradona.

Located in the historic Spanish quarter, Santa Maradona became the first venue in the city dedicated to El Dios and has become a home away from home for many who regard its food and welcoming hospitality amongst the best in Naples.

Listening to Andrea talk, as he explains his love for the city he will always call home, his club and the pizzeria he created from nothing, is a joy, “Santa Maradona was the choice, the choice to invest in my city, to want to stay here at all costs and to be successful in it.” Andrea tells us.

When Andera speaks you can see his genuine and sincere pride in being able to give back to Naples and throughout our time together, his warmth, energy and enthusiasm are as clear as the Tyrrhenian Sea.

THE SEA, THE PEOPLE AND NAPOLI FOOTBALL CLUB

I start from the assumption that for me Naples is not a simple city, Naples in its own way is a microcosmos, a small world apart, different from perhaps any type of city one has the idea of knowing.

I was lucky enough to be born and grow up in the historic centre and to have all the comforts and beauties of the city always within reach.

My growth in Naples has always been characterised by a very strong sense of belonging and a strong bond with the habits and everyday things that only this city can give you.

My happy memories are certainly linked to 3 determining factors of my life here: the sea, the people and Napoli football club.

Throughout my life, I have been lucky enough to be able to live with the possibility of going to the beach every time a beautiful sunny day came out, of sharing those fantastic moments with the people I love and with whom I grew up and of having a relationship visceral with the team of my city, until reaching the championship last year. For me, Naples is my place in the world.

My happy memories are certainly linked to 3 determining factors of my life here: the sea, the people and Napoli football club.

SANTA MARADONA WAS BORN FROM A BOUNDLESS LOVE FOR NEAPOLITAN FOOD, FOOTBALL AND DEGO ARMANDO MARADONA

In my life before Santa Maradona, I was a boy who always gave importance to studies and culture, with a great desire to travel, to discover the world and with many ideas ready for use.

Two factors in my life that led me to be the person I am today were my family, who raised me with love and always allowed me the freedom to choose and make mistakes independently, and curiosity, curiosity to discover, experience and understand everything that I considered interesting.

Santa Maradona was born from a boundless love for Neapolitan food, football and Diego Armando Maradona.

For me, Neapolitan food is probably the best food in the world and pizza is one of the greatest representations of it.

For this reason, the idea was to connect this cosmopolitan food with probably the most well-known footballer in the world, although, in my opinion, It is absurd and reductive to consider Maradona only and exclusively a footballer. Although he was the best player of all time, he is much, much more! Maradona is the people, Maradona is revenge, Maradona is each of us when in life he manages to overturn the patterns and win. Maradona is me, Maradona is you.

Don’t take me for a fool but in my opinion, he was a figure (with all his mistakes and defects) characterising all of recent history, from the 80s to today, an unconventional leader who did things in his own revolutionary way.

Santa Maradona was born from all this, born from the desire to be happy and to be able to do beautiful things at home, without looking for happiness elsewhere.

Santa Maradona was the choice, the choice to invest in my city, to want to stay here at all costs and to be successful in it.

To say that seeing this project born and grow was exciting would be an understatement. The place where we are when we took it over had been closed for 40 years and was in terrible condition. Day after day, seeing something new inside and something that looked more and more like what I had thought was indescribable.

What makes Santa Maradona such a unique place is love, the feeling that transpires from this small place in the world, composed of sincerity, loyalty and a lot of pleasure in doing things well.

OUR MENU WINKS AT TRADITION

We were the first in all of Naples to dedicate a venue to Maradona and to be successful in this, but all of this was always done while protecting the mythology regarding Diego and respecting the culture that exists regarding him. There were many reactions, both positive and negative, but the negative was certainly not as much as all the affection and beautiful things experienced to date.

Deciding to open a pizzeria in a city like Naples where there are around 10,000 is a real act of courage. Pizza is one of the most iconic things in Naples and also a very delicate topic.

The biggest challenge is to be able, day after day, to always offer the best possible product, respecting the centuries-old tradition and culture regarding this food. Santa Maradona’s goal is to be the best possible compromise between a brand that works and a pizza that represents the history of the city. Apparently, this is succeeding, as demonstrated by our unexpected and sudden success and the fantastic reviews that place us among the best pizzerias in the city.

Our menu winks at tradition, so you will find the iconic Pizza Margherita, Pizza Fritta and Pizza Salsiccia e Friarielli, but I certainly recommend people try one of our “special pizzas”, created specially by us, and are called “I’M Diego” and chronologically retrace all the most important stages of Maradona’s life.

My favourites are the “Mano de Dios”, the “Vida Tombola” and indeed the “Santa Maradona”, a pizza that changes day after day depending on the pizza chef’s choice. Seeing is believing!

MARADONA IS REDEMPTION, IT IS BEING PROUD OF BEING BORN HERE, OF BEING NEAPOLITAN

To me, Napoli Football Club is one of the most beautiful and characterising things in my life here. I grew up in a historical moment in which my team was starting from failure, starting again from Serie C and it was a place that a city and a team like Naples certainly did not deserve.

I started going to the stadium when I was very young with my father and uncles, when I was just 4/5 years old, and I never stopped.

Every week I go to the stadium, in the dark moments and in the happy moments, Napoli has given me emotions for more than 20 years, of travelling around Italy and Europe to watch matches and collect fantastic and unforgettable memories.

For every Napoli fan of my age, the first football videos you saw in life were those of Maradona in the blue shirt. Maradona for us was our Robin Hood, a player too strong for the Napoli of the 80s who decided to oust power from the north and bring it to the south, to Naples, to that city so hated and criticised by all of Italy.

Maradona is redemption, it is being proud of being born here, of being Neapolitan.

Precisely for this reason, after the years of Maradona, number 3 was the greatest example of sporting redemption in recent years for our city, a fantastic and unforgettable ride, which finally allowed us to rejoice again after 33 years and to be able to say once more: “We are Champions!”