See you on Place des Cardeurs.
13 Place des Cardeurs, 13100 Aix-en-Provence
Lunch : 11h30 — 14h30
Dinner : 18h00 — 23h00
At Di Micheli, our wood-fired oven reaches 450° to bake a true Neapolitan pizza in just seconds. Here's why this temperature changes everything, from our trattoria on Place des Cardeurs, in Aix-en-Provence.
Each theme links to a dedicated page on the site to go further on Neapolitan pizza.
It's one of the questions we hear most often at the counter: at what temperature does a Neapolitan pizza bake in a wood-fired oven? At Di Micheli, our wood-fired oven reaches 450°, and that intense heat is anything but a detail. It lies at the heart of what sets a true Neapolitan apart from an ordinary pizza. Since our family trattoria opened in September 2021, on Place des Cardeurs, we work with this baking every day, and we wanted to share what happens behind the scenes.
You won't find a miracle recipe or grand theories here: only the way we work, day after day, with a team of five. The aim is simple: to explain why the oven's temperature changes the result on the plate so much, then make you want to come and taste it in the dining room or on the terrace, a stone's throw from the historic centre of Aix-en-Provence.
At 450°, our Neapolitan pizza bakes in just a few seconds. This very high heat sets the dough almost instantly: the edges puff up, colour and take on those characteristic wood-fire marks. This is exactly what Neapolitan pizza calls for, a short, powerful bake that keeps the centre soft while the crust rises. A cooler oven would never give the same result: the dough would dry out instead of puffing, and you'd lose that contrast between the slightly crisp outside and the soft inside.
The oven temperature isn't everything: you also need a dough able to take it. Ours ferments for 48 hours at 70% hydration, which makes it both more digestible and more resistant to high heat. It's this combination, a long-fermented dough and a 450° wood-fired oven, that lets the Neapolitan bake fast without burning and stay light. Without this preparation upstream, the oven's heat would be a drawback rather than an asset.
The best way to understand the effect of this temperature is still to sit down at the table. At Di Micheli, we keep a tight menu, with fresh produce and no frozen dough, because the quality of the baking also depends on the ingredients. Our private room seating 24 and our 20-seat terrace welcome solo lunches as well as family meals or corporate dinners, with tailor-made menus.
To better understand the tradition behind this baking, you can browse the reference page on Neapolitan pizza on Wikipedia, then come and find it fresh from our wood-fired oven.
Whether you're curious about the technique or simply hungry, our wood-fired oven temperature has only one goal: to serve you a Neapolitan pizza true to its tradition, in Aix-en-Provence. Happy reading, and see you very soon on Place des Cardeurs.
A few pages to go further after your reading, from the dough to booking your table.
At Di Micheli, our wood-fired oven reaches 450°. At this very high temperature, the Neapolitan pizza bakes in just a few seconds, which makes the crust puff up and marks the dough with the wood fire.
Intense heat sets the dough almost instantly. This gives puffed edges and a soft centre. A cooler oven would dry out the dough and make it lose this characteristic texture.
At 450°, baking takes only a few seconds. It's this short, powerful bake that sets Neapolitan pizza apart from a pizza baked longer at a lower temperature.
Yes. Our dough ferments for 48 hours at 70% hydration, which makes it more digestible and able to withstand the oven's 450° without burning, while staying light.
At 13 Place des Cardeurs, 13100 Aix-en-Provence, right in the pedestrian centre. Our trattoria welcomes you at lunch and dinner, both indoors and on the terrace.
After the reading, time to taste: book your table at Di Micheli, on Place des Cardeurs.
