Spaccanapoli (split Naples) is the continuation of three or so streets in central Naples built on top of the decumanus inferior of the earlier Greek and Roman cities. I have had many memorable meals in Spaccanapoli. Today I had lunch at the new Spacca Napoli and enjoyed it enormously, too. I may have a slight bias because I have known the owner, Jonathan Goldsmith, for years, but to my palate he's making the most authentic
vera pizza napoletana I've ever had in Chicago. He lived in Italy for years and spent months in Naples learning the craft of pizza making. Indeed, he displays a
Diploma di Pizzaiolo on the wall of the attractive restaurant, along with pictures of the great Neapolitan comic actor Totò, photos of Naples by
Jed Fielding, and paintings by Jon's wife, the artist Ginny Sykes.
The pizza is built on a dough made with 00 flour from
il Mulino Caputo that is mixed with a very butch Sottoriva machine, the
impastatrice a bracci tuffanti (don't stand too close to this bad boy, Bill/SFNM). Jon says he's experimenting with flour from
il Mulino San Felice, but hasn't added anything made with it to the menu. Pizza is fired in an oven beautifully decorated with a tesserae mosaic by Ms. Sykes. The oven is made of 13,000 pounds of brick, sand, and tufo imported from Italy and was built by three craftsmen from Naples. It appeared to me to cook a pizza in about a minute.
The menu centers on pizza with ten different types offered, including
pizza bianca con mozzarella di bufala (the cheese is imported from Caiazzo and is beautifully flavored),
pizza prosciutto e rucola, pizza salsiccia e broccoletti di rape, plus the standards,
marinara, margherita, funghi, and quattro formaggi, et al. There are seven antipasti, plus they make their own bread. They plan to add a charbroiler for more appetizers.
Today we led off with the
salsiccia e broccoletti and
melenzane. Both were very good, but I especially enjoyed the eggplant, which tasted just about perfect to me. I tried both the
pizza bianca con mozzarella di bufala and the
margherita. The crust was chewy with well developed gluten and had the signature Neapolitan
cornicione, which I would happily eat all by itself. I asked about JamPhil's experience with overly salted crust and was told that there was a problem on Saturday. Today I found the saltiness on the low side for my taste (I like food salty). They have a nice selection of southern Italian wines, reasonably priced. I particularly like the Insolia from Sicily and the Falanghina from Campania. They have Italian beer (regrettably not Baffo d'Oro, though), and plan to offer several
digestivi, probably including limoncello, Averna, Strega, and a grappa.
The pizzaiola, Nella Grassano, is a Napoletana who makes a fine and satisfying meal. I detected hints that there might be some
zeppole in time for San Giuseppe's Day, my
onomastico, but that might just be wishful thinking on my part. I'm adding Spacca Napoli to my training regimen for this year's
Giro di Cibo.
Spacca Napoli
1769 W. Sunnyside
Chicago
773 878.2420
Lunch Tu-Sat 11:30-3
Dinner W-Th 5-9, F-Sat 5-10
Sunday 3-9
Last edited by
Choey on February 22nd, 2006, 4:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.