Let's head to Winston-Salem, where a Neapolitan pizza not only has James Beard acclaim, it's consistently voted one of the top 50 pizzas in the country.

- Once we launch the pizza in the oven, we have a very short window.

[clock ticking] There's so many things to be engaged in, and so many elements.

Thermal conditions, the oven conditions, the wood, the fuel source, the pizza itself, how many toppings.

Slide the peel under, give it a little spin.

Be patient, wait, observe.

I have no margin for error.

Do I need to sort of bake it half in, half out of the mouth of the oven?

Do I need to dome the pizza, lift it up into the top of the oven a little bit?

Does it need to come up, bake a little more on the bottom?

Where's the dough at?

Like, it's nonstop.

We have to do that in real time in probably like a minute, 15 seconds maybe, or it's trash.

[upbeat music] [upbeat music continues] The real two passions in my life predominantly are soccer and food.

And a soccer career was kind of out of the question, so I leaned into food.

Started a small mobile pizza company with a pizza oven on a trailer, and I was doing private events in people's homes, an occasional festival or public event, and migrated into the brick and mortar in 2014.

- I've had pizza in Naples.

And you know, he's bringing that little bit of Naples to Winston-Salem, and I don't have to go to New York and I don't have to go to Naples, you know, each week I can just come down here, come on Trade Street.

- The ambiance itself here is different than a lot of other restaurants within the triad, and especially within Winston-Salem.

- Italian journalists have created a list of top 50 pizzerias in Italy.

There was an American list put together in the same way by the same group of people, and Mission Pizza Napoletana, it was the only North Carolina pizzeria on the top 50 in America list.

- The best way to experience Mission Pizza Napoletana is just to come in.

Neapolitan Pizza is meant to be fresh, bright.

It's really, like, meant to be eaten as soon as it comes out of the oven, within reason.

- His pizza is true to the format of Neapolitan style pizza as far as the hydration goes, and just the focus on the ingredients, of keeping it simplistic.

You're never gonna find a pineapple and ham pizza in this establishment.

- For the kind of person who would be attracted to coming to a place like Mission, they're willing to experience different things, different flavors, different people, different cultures.

- They have a lot more to offer than just pizza.

- [Jennifer] I love his pasta as much as I love his pizza.

- Bit of olive oil, post baked.

- [Alice] I don't know a place where they will offer a quote, unquote, a pizzakase experience.

That is uniquely Peyton.

- [Peyton] Pizzakase is inspired, the name comes from omakase, which is a Japanese tradition.

You sit at the counter, the sushi chef makes you, frankly, whatever they wanna make you.

And so you're really basically saying to the chef, "I'll leave it up to you.

Do your thing.

This is what I'm here for."

Can come with a wine pairing if the guest elects.

- [Jay] If you went into a trattoria in Naples or Rome, you would find these kinds of wines on their wine list.

- [Peyton] Pizza, frankly, has become sort of a daily practice and a daily purpose that's really meaningful to me.

I get to make a real thing with my hands and nourish other people with it.

- [Jay] And there's a lot of great places in North Carolina today, but more Mission Pizzas would make me a very happy eater.

- Mission Pizza Napoletana is at 707 Trade Street in Winston-Salem, and they're open Wednesday through Saturday, beginning at 5:00 PM.

For more information, give them a call at 336-893-8217, or visit them online at missionpizzanapoletana.com.