Francesco Micillo, one of the managers of the Cloud Factory pizzeria in Esch: "We're going to prepare a 100 to 150m pizza this Saturday." / © Raphaël Ferber / RTL Infos
On Saturday, 20 July, the Cloud Factory pizzeria in Esch will attempt to surpass its 2023 record by making a pizza over 100 metres long.
Last year, the pizzeria made headlines with a 100-metre pizza served on Rue de l'Alzette in Esch-sur-Alzette, which was quickly consumed by around 700 passers-by in just five minutes.
"This year, we want the event to last a little longer," says Francesco Micillo, co-founder of Cloud Factory alongside Maurice Delcourt and Tom Zigrand. The first Cloud Factory pizzeria opened during the peak of the Covid-19 crisis in Luxembourg City's Neudorf neighbourhood. The Esch location, situated in a shopping arcade on Rue de l'Alzette, has been operating for nearly two years.
Saturday's event will feature a DJ playing Italian music, as well as counters serving Italian cocktails and ice cream. The festivities will begin at 11am and conclude around 3pm. Although the organisers have discussed the event with the municipality, it has not been officially approved by any public entity.
"This idea comes from my hometown of Naples," explains Micillo: "There, we have a similar event by the sea where hundreds of metres of pizza are made using a big roller oven that cooks the pizza as it moves along." In 2016, 250 chefs in Naples set a Guinness World Record by preparing a pizza measuring 1,858.88 metres. In Esch, Cloud Factory will lay out one-metre-long pizzas next to each other, as they do not have a roller oven. Given the weather forecast, the pizzas are expected to remain warm.
One tonne of flour, half a tonne of tomato sauce
On Saturday, the one-metre pizzas will come straight out of this oven installed on level -1 of the Cloud Factory restaurant in Esch. / © Raphaël Ferber / RTL Infos
This year, the pizza could stretch up to 150 metres and will remain a Margherita, chosen for its broad appeal, including to vegetarians. To prepare it, Cloud Factory has ordered one tonne of flour, half a tonne of tomato sauce, mozzarella, and fresh basil. "We're not going to skimp on quality," promises Francesco Micillo: "For example, the tomatoes are San Marzano, and the mozzarella comes from a farm in southern Italy, arriving with the ideal humidity level for our oven." The event will cost the restaurant around €10,000, up from €7,000 last year. Approximately 60 people, including staff from both restaurants and volunteers, will start preparations at 6am.
Municipal services will block off Rue de l'Alzette and the surrounding streets and set up tables. All local shopkeepers are invited to join the festivities.
"Yes, it's a marketing stunt, but that’s not the only thing motivating us," says Micillo, who hopes to attract around 800 people. "The idea is to bring together all the inhabitants of Esch and the surrounding area around a big table, creating an atmosphere centred around food. In the south of Italy, we have a strong culture of communal eating, especially on weekends," he explains.
Cloud Factory is listed in the '50 Top Pizza', which Micillo describes as "a bit like the Michelin guide for pizzas." In 2023, the restaurant was ranked 36th in Europe.
