ROCCO DeAngelis used to be known as the ‘Pizza Nazi’ when he ran a pizzeria in Sydney, now he’s in Adelaide - but utter the words “ham” or “pineapple” and Rocco will be calling “Next!”.

The nickname, a throwback to Seinfeld’s ‘Soup Nazi’, came from his insistence on following some key dictats in his restaurant: no ham and pineapple, no half and half pizzas, no changes.

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“When we opened this place (in Sydney), we only did it to true Italian standards, so we didn’t have ham and pineapple, didn’t do half-and-half and didn’t do changes,” Rocco says.

“People kept coming in and wanting ham and pineapple and they wanted half and half and they wanted this and that and they wanted to deliver and we didn’t deliver.

“I ripped down the specials board where we had some specials and I wrote ‘The Rules’ and just started free-flowing from my brain.”

Rocco and co-owner Janis Luks work with the same iron-handed principles at Rocco Pizza – No Ham and Pineapple in Kidman Park. Pizzas on the menu include margherita, roast chicken and mushroom, and start at $10.

“You can’t get ham and pineapple pizzas over in Italy,” Rocco says. “You find some crazy guy trying to be different, but no you don’t get that (here) and personally I don’t eat sweet and meat because it doesn’t go on a personal level.

“It’s also processed food, and I won’t have cooked ham because it’s full of salt and full of fat and pineapple comes right out of a can.”

Rocco Pizza, 336 Findon Rd, Kidman Park

ROCCO’S RULES

■ No ham and pineapple

■ No half and half

■ No changes

■ No overpriced pizzas

■ Nothing processed

■ No freezers, no fryers

■ Only true overnight sourdough

■ Only Italian toppings

■ Only baked on stone

■ No cash

■ No corkage