Once again, Miami’s Michelin-recognized pizza chef named among best in the world
For the second straight year, a Miami chef has earned an international award as one of the best pizza makers in the world.
Javier Ramirez, the chef and owner of La Natural in Miami’s Little River neighborhood, was named by The Best Pizza as one of the top 100 pizza chefs in the world for the second year in a row. The only Floridian and one of 14 American chefs to make the list, he ranked no. 40.
Ramirez, who co-founded the restaurant with his ex-wife Andreina Matos in December 2020, said he was grateful for the recognition. His restaurant stands out for its famous 48-hour cold-fermented sourdough crust and for being designated a Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand for five years in a row.
“It’s an incredible honor,” Ramirez said of the ranking. “To be amongst the very best in the industry from around Italy and the world is truly humbling.”
The first place pizza chef was Francesco Martucci of the restaurant I Masanielli in Caserta, Italy. If the name sounds familiar, it’s because Martucci opened the upscale pizza spot Francesco Martucci in Wynwood earlier this year. It’s his first restaurant in the United States.
Martucci called the award, his second first-place award in a row, a “reminder there is still work to do.”
“Awards celebrate a moment,” he said in a statement. “What matters is what happens the day after. Receiving this recognition again means carrying an even greater responsibility: to challenge ourselves, to break our own limits, to respect tradition without becoming prisoners of it and to keep pushing pizza culture forward with humility, courage and purpose.”
Alejandro Diaz, Jose Maria Cardenas and Santiago Huen of the popular slice shop Miami Slice were also praised as part of the “Ones to Follow” list, which is made up of 50 pizza makers around the world worthy of notice.
Chosen by chefs, industry professionals and journalists and announced in Milan at the end of June, The Best Pizza Awards are not the only recent accolades for local pizza spots. Last month, 50 Best Pizza released its annual lists of the best pizzerias in the United States. Francesco Martucci in Wynwood was no. 5, with La Leggenda in Miami Beach and O ‘Munaciello on Biscayne Boulevard in Miami tied at no. 11.
Miami Slice was ranked the no. 3 best slice shop in the country, and La Natural, Il Pizzaiolo in Miami Beach and Roostica in Key West made the list of “excellent” pizzerias worth checking out.