A VERY GOOD AUTHENTIC NEAPOLITAN PIZZA IN WILMETTEA few sunny days ago, at lunch time I was craving for a real Neapolitan pizza. I already had the very decent ones at Forno Rosso, Spacca Napoli, and some years back Nella.
But I wanted to try a new address. So I drove to 1126 CentralAvenue in Downtown Wilmette. After seeing a good foreign film at the Wilmette Theater I had spotted many times an attractive Italian restaurant, called NAPOLITA, that looked very popular next door. But I never tried it. They have been open for 5 years and ot rave reviews.
I sat down at a bistro-type small table on the sidewalk outside and when I when I ate the first slice of the very beautiful pizza I had chosen among a dozen of other attractive ones, a Salsiccia Rossa priced at $17.95, and drank a sip of Sangiovese (available on tap)I could easily imagine that I was in a pizzeria in Italy or in my native Southern France.
The crust was perfect, semi soft in the middle and the side presenting a few burned spots spots from the exposure to the fire of the wood burning oven built in Napoli. The little balls of home-made sausage were delicious. So were the roasted red peppers, the caramelized onions, and the fragrant fresh basil. I especially enjoyed the texture and the authentic Italian aroma of the fresh mozzarella flown each week from Campania in Italy. I understand that even the dough mixer in imported from Italy. The flour used to make that great dough (probably a "doppio zero") is also imported.
Altogether this pizza was one of the best I had in a long time. The owner should be proud of his VPN certification from the very strictly regulated Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana. It is well deserved.
The restaurant also serve various traditional and special pasta, veal, chicken, and fish dishes as well as the favorite "contorni" ( side dishes) such as polenta.
They also do gluten free pizzas. The whole Italian wine list is well selected.