North Korea has several restaurants serving pizza.[note 1] Most people in the country cannot afford pizza, and it is mostly available for the elite. Pyongyang has five restaurants that serve pizza, including Pizza Restaurant on Kwangbok Street [ko] and Italy Pizza on Mirae Scientists Street. Kim Jong Il hired Italian chefs to train North Koreans in pizza making and introduced it to the country.
Kim Jong Il became interested in pizza in the 1990s. Choson Sinbo, a North Korea-aligned newspaper published in Japan, wrote that introducing pizza to North Korea involved "repeated trial and error". In 1999, Kim brought a group of Italian pizza chefs to Pyongyang to train army officers.[4] Ermanno Furlanis, a chef from near Milan, wrote about this experience.[5] According to Furlanis, the chefs underwent medical scans before being sequestered on an anchored ship, where the trainees asked questions such as how far apart to space olives. He believed they were once observed by Kim. In 2008, Kim sent chefs to train in Naples and Rome. He authorized the opening of the country's first pizzeria in December 2008. Its manager, Kim Sang-Soon, said, "General Kim Jong-il said that the people should also be allowed access to the world's famous dishes".[4]
The restaurant, called Pizza Restaurant,[note 2] opened on Kwangbok Street [ko].[3][6] Kim had ingredients and a pizza oven flown in from Italy.[4][3] The restaurant opened with foreign funding.[2] According to Choson Sinbo, it was busy in the months following its opening, and it was the first Italian food many of its customers had ever eaten.[7] Its menu in 2010 included 11 traditional pizzas, though Italian food comprised only two-fifths of the menu. The Korea Times called it "Pyongyang's best pizzeria".[1]Lonely Planet listed it as "pretty decent".[8]
In response to publicity about the opening of Pizza Restaurant, a South Korean artist based in London, Kim Hwang, created a series of short films titled "Pizzas for the People". It was filmed in South Korea and premiered at a festival in Heidelberg.[8] He burned it onto 500 DVDs, which he sent to five people to smuggle across the border.[3][8] He did not know how many North Koreans received the DVDs, but his smugglers brought back fan mail from North Koreans.[6] The series is a cooking show and mockumentary that satirizes the exclusivity of pizza in North Korea. The artist said it was "subtly challenging an ideological status quo."[3] The videos imagine North Korea as a democracy and explain various aspects of Western lifestyle.[8][6] They instruct viewers to make potato-dough pizza using tofu instead of cheese, and to use a liquor bottle as a rolling pin.[9][3]
In 2011, a new pizzeria owned by Corital, an Italian–North Korean joint venture, was reported to serve Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola said it did not authorize the sale of the product, which would violate United States sanctions against North Korea.[10][11]
The third Italian restaurant in Pyongyang, Italy Pizza, opened in late 2015 as part of the launch of Mirae Scientists Street.[12] It serves less traditional pizza than the Kwangbok Street pizzeria. Its staff performs live music twice a day.[1]Vice described its decor as "1970s cruise liner-level kitsch" and its pizza as "pretty good" despite being served without cheese.[12] The restaurant existed before the redevelopment of Mirae Street, when the building was replaced with another at the same location.[13]
As of 2021[update], Pyongyang has five restaurants that serve pizza.[13] It has more Italian restaurants than Chinese restaurants.[2]North Korean street markets, a major source of food, sell pepperoni pizza for wealthy customers.[16]
In 2018, a pizza cost about US$5 to US$10 ($6 to $12 in 2023), which most North Koreans cannot afford. Pizza is eaten by Pyongyang elites, diplomats, and foreigners.[3] A pizza may cost a month's salary for a middle-ranking official.[17] Since middle- and upper-class individuals are allowed to live in cities, Western-style restaurants have become popular in Pyongyang.[12]
Restaurants serve pizza with traditional toppings, as well as local varieties like kimchi pizza. All restaurants, including pizzerias, serve familiar dishes in North Korean cuisine. Most customers order these rather than pizza.[13]
