Upper crust: The U.S. government calls his pizza ‘extraordinary.’ Now Renato Viola is opening Mister O1 pizzerias around South Florida

The name of Renato Viola’s pizzeria, Mister O1 Extraordinary Pizza, sure sounds boastful, but the proof of his supremacy comes straight from the federal government. Viola, whose latest Mister O1 pizzeria opened Feb. 1 in Pembroke Pines, is in the country because of an “O-1 visa,” granted to individuals who show what the U.S. deems “extraordinary ability or achievement.” 

That’s hardly the only stamp of Viola’s exceptionalism: Consider the $12,000 pizza he once crafted in Italy, topped with three types of caviar, Norwegian lobster and other imported ingredients. Consider how his pizza-making skills helped Dolce Italian in Miami Beach – where he worked as pizza chef – win $100,000 cash in 2015 after prevailing on Bravo TV’s “Best New Restaurant.” Consider the superlatives from guests and from Food & Wine magazine, who last April shouted out Mister O1 in its annual ranking of “The Best Pizza in Every State.” 

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