Sangha Kitchen becomes first restaurant in Jeolla region to earn Naples pizza certification

Sangha Kitchen, an Italian restaurant, has received official certification from the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana, the Naples-based authority on authentic Neapolitan pizza. The restaurant is located at Sangha Farm Park, a rural experience-themed park affiliated with Maeil Dairies.

Only 16 restaurants in South Korea hold AVPN certification. Sangha Kitchen is the only certified establishment in the Jeolla region.

The AVPN is a nonprofit organization founded in Naples, Italy, in 1984. It verifies that every stage of a restaurant's pizza-making process — from the wood-fired oven and ingredients to dough technique, shaping and baking — conforms to the traditional methods the association has established.

M's Seed, a food-service company affiliated with Maeil Dairies that manages Sangha Kitchen, collaborated on the certification. M's Seed applied operational expertise and a pizza chef training system drawn from The Kitchen Il Forno, its authentic Neapolitan Italian dining restaurant, to Sangha Kitchen.

"We take pride in being the only AVPN-certified restaurant in the Jeolla region, and we will showcase flavors crafted from fresh local ingredients and the traditional Neapolitan pizza-making techniques recognized as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage," a Sangha Kitchen official said.