Italia - Le Pizze

Caffetteria G. G. Belli

Roma

The first day, we walked around to get a feel for the neighborhood and find something to eat. A young guy was outside this restaurant trying to entice people to sit down and eat. I got suckered in, and of course I wanted to break the seal on what would be a couple of weeks of pizza. This is a Margherita pizza, sort of, though not they way they make them in Napoli. Decent char on the bottom, not really a Neapolitan crust, and not too different from the pizza I make at home.

Self Service Pizza

Firenze

I tried not to eat pizza every day before going to Napoli, but I was hungry and this place had outdoor seating, which I like. Note the fluffier edge to the crust. It's also interesting that in Italy they are not afraid to add a heavy layer of toppings; they don't expect you to pick it up and fold it as New Yorkers do, so it doesn't matter if you load it beyond what the crust can support.

Mister Pizza

Firenze

We'd been encountering a lot of truffle dishes and decided to try the truffle pizza here. It was not my favorite pizza flavor.

L'Antica Pizzeria da Michele

Napoli

There are two establishments in Napoli that people consider the best traditional pizzeria. This is one of them. At da Michele, you can only get the two prototypical types of Neapolitan pizza: the marinara, named because sailors would come off their boats and buy them from street vendors, and the Margherita, named for Margherita of Savoy, the Queen Consort of the Kingdom of Italy.

The true Neapolitan crust is light, soft, supple, and slightly crispy with a strong yeast flavor. This is a truly fine example, showing the characteristic specks of char that come from long proofing at room temperature, extremely high oven temperature, and very short cooking times.

You are supposed to eat it with a knife and fork, but I get to know a lot about a pie by picking it up and folding it. Old habits die hard, I guess.

Sorbillo

Napoli

The other "best pizza in Napoli" is Sorbillo. Here you can get a much larger variety of pies. She ordered a Margherita. I chose the pizza con tonno, which I had never tried before. Both pies were astonishingly delicious.

 

 

They will even give you a to-go box if you wish to take your leftovers with you. I can tell you that true Neapolitan pizza is not that great eaten cold the next day, as compared with the hardier New York style.

Ristorante Macetto

Marigliano

The town of Marigliano is where Antonio Tolli, founder of Modern Apizza (New Haven) was born. I had picked out a couple places to try, but they were not open. I tried this place instead, ordering the pizza alla diavola which I had seen on a few different menus. It's supposed to be spicy, but this one didn't have much heat to it. You can see it is similar to the Neapolitan style but with a darker and crisper crust. Not as dark and crisp as the crust at Modern Apizza, of course, but there you go.

Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana

Napoli

The AVPN is an association that maintains the standards for true Neapolitan pizza and provides training to pizza chefs around the world who want to make real pizza according to those standards. We took a half-day class and learned to make our own Neapolitan pizza. The pizza was delicious, similar to the pies at Sorbillo. The results are hard to duplicate at home because the oven is not hot enough. Further experimentation with the grill is warranted.

Everything that you do to make New-Haven-style pizza is a problem or mistake from the Neapolitan point of view. For example: I asked the teacher about proofing the dough in the refrigerator for a few days, and he said "You don't want to do that, because then you get a darker, flatter, crispier crust." Okay, noted.

Enjoy Restaurant

Sorrento

This charming little restaurant served a completely different style of pizza. I talked to the owner, asking her if this was a Sorrento style, and she said yes--but I don't know if she knew that I was asking if Sorrento style is distinct from Neapolitan style. It does look a bit like the pies from Roma and Firenze. I'll do more research. It was a tasty pizza!

Mammato dal 1890

Maiori

Frank Pepe, founder of Pepe's in New Haven, was from Maiori. We stopped in at Mammato to see what their pie was like. As you can see, it is a typical Neapolitan style pizza. The restaurant was founded three years before Pepe's birth, so it's entirely possible that he ate there before he left for the U. S. in 1909.

Europizza

Maiori

A couple blocks from Mammato is Europizza, where I found the most New-York-looking pizza of the whole trip. Check out the one with the fries on it! Anyway, I ordered a slice of the plain cheese pizza--which the cashier called a "Margherita"--and as you can see it looks like a run-of-the-mill pizza from New York City.

Bar Syrenuse

Sorrento

Back in Sorrento, I tried another pizza: this time, a pizza quattro stagioni, meaning it has four different toppings in different quadrants. This crust is an interesting hybrid between the high rise of a Neapolitan crust and the flatter, browner crusts I had found elsewhere.

Al Forno della Soffitta

Roma

This restaurant had guys who throw the dough in the air (which the AVPN teacher had called "playing with your food." It was pretty good; I ordered pizza con tonno again, and this time it came with potatoes and no tomato sauce.

Pizza Florida

Roma

She was watching Mike Chen's food vlog on YouTube at the hotel. He said "If you happen to be in Rome," which we were, "check out Florida Pizza." Then he talked in superlative terms about how good it is, how light and crispy, how full of flavor.

Looking at this pizza, you would think I would not like it. It's about as far from a New Haven pie as you can get. But we had to try it.

The crust is thick like a foccaccia, but this is actually a pizza style called pizza al taglio, and it's sold by weight. We got several different kinds, including our new favorite, con tonno.

 It was surprisingly good. So good, in fact, that after we ate a few slices and left--

We came back and got more. Pizza con tonno, and pizza con patate, delizioso!