Michele Cuozzo | Mike Pizza

Executive Chef

Michele Cuozzo (also know as Mike) is an Italian chef which comes from a small town named Sala Consilina, Salerno, in south of Italy. He lived in the surroundings of mountains and the national park, Cliento and Vallo Di Diano. He is proud to say that this is where he learnt him way to cook. Since young, he worked, on part-time basis, in a restaurant and look the chefs were all busy working in the kitchen.

Years later, him uncle invited over to work in the kitchen with him in Germany during him school holidays. There, he had the opportunity to step into the kitchen.

There, he learned how to make a pizza.

Than, it all started from an opportunity on 1994 where he was offered a job to work in Asia, Indonesia. Here he became the first Italian Pizza Chef there.

Stepping into Asia…

Six months later, he was offered yet another opportunity to work in Singapore where he managed to work for “Al’ Forno and Ox Grill & Bar”.

Then he moved to work in “Modesto” in Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur.

After being away from home for such a long time, he decided to head back to Sala Consilina, him hometown. After all these years of crafting pizza, it seems like the chemistry between him and pizza-making have grew stronger.

He was intrigued that by making a perfectly crisp pizza is not just by flipping the pizza, adding of ingredients and then baking it into the oven. The technique of mixing the ingredients for the dough and flipping of the pizza all have to be right…Just to get that perfect pizza; that he make, and where everybody loves it.

Going back home…

There, he continued improving my pizza skills by working in the restaurants as a Pizza Chef as well as taking part in several pizza competition.

All to gain more exposure and knowledge about pizza making.

After some years, being more confident of being able to serve awesome pizza, he decided to open him own Pizzeria in Sala Consilina named “MIKE PIZZA”.

After running MIKE PIZZA for six years, he decided to sell the business and head back to Singapore to work with him advanced knowledge and skills in pizza making, where he worked for “Baraonda and La Braceria Pizza & Grill”.

He was also given the opportunity to dish out some traditional Italian cuisine dishes for the customers. He always wanted to try him skills that him mother and grandmother had taught him before.

Hello Asia… again

One day, he was being head-hunted and asked to join to work in an Italian restaurant as a kitchen chef and a pizza chef in Indonesia.

It was too good to reject, and he had to bid Singapore good bye…again. Within a year there, he joined with him friends in Singapore to work as head chef at their restaurant: “The Sailors”. Later on, it was designing and building of “Capri Trattoria” as well as working there as a head chef. In 2013, he was head-hunted to work in one of Kuala Lumpur’s well-known Italian Restaurant: “NeroVivo”.

As head chef at NeroVivo, it has opened to many opportunities for him.

From shooting cooking programmes and attending Malaysia International Gourmet Food twice during him stay there. Working for more than twenty years, he have, not only gained experience in the kitchen, but also in creating a restaurant, to being a kitchen consultant, a personal chef and even conducting a cooking class!

On 2017 he created and worked for Black Sheep Restaurant in Jakarta, Indonesia.

On 2020 he decided to open Mike Pizza restaurant in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Chef Michele Cuozzo

You can find him in the following social networks.