According to the New York Times, “In New York’s fiercely competitive pizza landscape, how can a new Neapolitan pizzeria stand out? At Donatella Arpaia’s forthcoming restaurant, called Donatella, the oven is the thing.”

“As reported in this profile of Ms. Arpaia, it will be hand-constructed from the ground up — or at least, upon a newly poured concrete slab — virtually entirely of materials from Naples. Some 890 pieces of the 11,000-pound behemoth have arrived in a container shipped from Italy — including dozens of volcanic-soil mud bricks and bags of Neapolitan sand and cement. The ever-energized Ms. Arpaia will be spending several weeks in Naples, studying pizza. ‘I’m not a phony,’ she said. ‘I need to learn how to make the best Neapolitan pizza. This is something you can’t fake.’ Her mentor will be Enzo Coccia, 48, a third-generation pizzaiolo who began working with his father at age 8 and now runs Pizzeria La Notizia on Via Michelangelo da Caravaggio in Naples. Mr. Coccia will soon travel to Manhattan to build the oven.”