Best Neapolitan pizza: Where to find the best pies in NJ
Esther Davidowitz
Over the next few months, The Record and northjersey.com will be presenting a slew of features on most everyone's favorite comfort food: pizza. Consider this multi-part series your ultimate guide to everything you need to know about pizza in North Jersey.
The Neapolitan pizza. The delicious marvel of flame-licked dough, perfectly ripe plum tomatoes and creamy mozzarella is such an astounding culinary feat that UNESCO has bestowed upon it World Heritage status, an honor the much-fawned-upon baguette and deeply revered sushi have yet to win.
Yet the Neapolitan pie, according to the United Nations organization, is as integral and significant to the "cultural heritage of humanity" as the Great Wall of China, the Acropolis, Petra and, okay, Turkish coffee.
And you thought it was just a really yummy pie.
What makes the Neapolitan pizza so special? Don't let its simple ingredients — flour, yeast, tomatoes, cheese, salt — fool you. This more-than-300-year-old product, which originated in Naples (ergo its name) and today is eaten around the world (from Fiji to Ghana to Tasmania), may be easy to recognize — charred dough, puffy blisters, thin-ish light crust, pinkish-red tomato sauce, melted mozzarella. But it is no ordinary dish: It requires using specific flour and tomatoes — even its cooking method is unique.
"The term Neapolitan is used loosely," said Tim Hanley, co-owner of four-year-old S. Egidio, the Neapolitan-serving pizza restaurant in Ridgewood. "But true Neapolitan pizza require certain ingredients, certain cooking methods."
Those certain ingredients: a finely milled flour known as "00"; delectably sweet San Marzano plum tomatoes; and marvelously luscious fresh mozzarella. Put that into a ridiculously hot oven (around 900 degrees) for a minimal amount of time (no more than 90 seconds), and, paisanos, you've got yourself a beautifully charred, delightfully chewy, brilliantly lush pie. Yes, pie. A Neapolitan is traditionally served whole; the pie is frequently around 12 inches in diameter: just the right amount for one pizza-loving person to devour all by herself.
Of course, over time, pizzaiolos have tweaked, embellished and enhanced the traditional pie, adding toppings to that delightful base: porcini mushrooms, caramelized onions, imported prosciutto, burrata cheese. Or even making white Neapolitans or pesto pies or (heavens!) Nutella dessert pies. You could be a purist and consider those blasphemous, or you could open your mind and palate and enjoy.
How to eat it? If you're in Naples, only a fork and knife will do. But you're not in Naples. So go ahead, cut yourself a slice, fold your slice in half and dive right in.
Where to find the best Neapolitan pizzas
S. Egidio, Ridgewood
When Tim Hanley and his uncle, Rocco Trisolino, decided to open a small pizza spot in Ridgewood four years ago, friends were far from enthusiastic. "Really? Another pizza place in Ridgewood?" Hanley recalled many asking. It turns out you just can't ever have enough pizza places in Ridgewood — or, for that matter, New Jersey. "People love pizza," said the Woodcliff Lake resident. "It's comfort food for us." They especially love S. Egidio's Neapolitan pizzas made with finely milled "Le 5 Stagioni" flour, San Marzano tomatoes imported from Italy that Hanley, "tried in Italy and loved," house-made cow's-milk mozzarella and sometimes imported buffalo-milk mozzarella. The 12-inch pizzas are cooked on the floor of the oven for no more than 60 seconds. "The quick cook allows the dough to retain high hydration," he said.
The restaurant takes no reservations and has 32 seats only. The wait for many is worth it. Said one Yelp commentator: "When you have a wood-burning oven and great dough, it doesn't get anymore authentic. Now throw in some great combos like ricotta, homemade mutz, prosciutto, honey and hazelnuts..... fugetaboutit."
Go: 17 N. Broad St., Ridgewood; 201-389-3525; segidiopizza.com.
A Mano, Ridgewood
A Mano, a lively trattoria with two orange-tiled wood-burning ovens, is one of only three restaurants in the nation certified by both the VPN (Verace Pizza Napoletana) and the APN (Association of Neapolitan Pizzaiuoli), meaning that it follows the rigid rules of making Neapolitan pies. So it's the real deal, which means its crust droops (cause it's slightly "soggy" with good hydration) and it has just the right amount of chewiness. Can't eat pizza because you're gluten-intolerant? A Mano offers gluten-free dough.
Go: 24 Franklin Ave., Ridgewood; 201-493-2000, amanopizza.com.
Porto by Antonio, North Bergen
Parking may be difficult and snagging a table may be problematic too, but these are insignificant inconveniences considering how darn terrific Antonio Dinis's Neapolitan pies are. From the dreamy house-made mozzarella to the gorgeous blistered crust, Porto's 12-inch pies are so good that you may swear off eating any others. Try the prosciutto and arugula pie or the roasted zucchini, eggplant, artichokes and mushrooms one. Heck, try them all. And if the parking is a hassle, know that there's a glass of wine waiting for you inside.
Go: 8921 Old River Road, North Bergen; 201-941-7107, portobyantonio.com.
Aumm Aumm, North Bergen
Aumm Aumm means "hush hush" in the Neapolitan dialect. And while the word is out that the Neapolitan pizza here is terrific (among them, the Capricciosa with black Gaeta olives, marinated artichokes and prosciutto cotto and the Napoli with anchovies), what may surprise is how extensive and good the wine selection is: 150-plus choices. Just ask for a sampling before you choose and then settle in for a delicious, satisfying evening.
Go: 7701 Broadway, North Bergen; 201-713-9937, aummaummnj.com.
Millie's Old World Meatballs & Pizza, Morristown
Not sure which type of char you like best on your pie: one created by wood fire or one created by coal fire. This spot has both a wood- and coal-burning oven so you and your pals can spend the night eating and debating which is better. Here's some fodder: coal-cooked pizzas take longer to cook, so officially are not Neapolitan, but they produce a Neapolitan-like pie with a crispy exterior and bready inside; they are often used for old-school NY pizza. At Millie's you can try a white clam pie (first made famous by New Haven pizza institution Frank Pepe) and, of course, all sorts of meatball pies.
Go: 60 South St., Morristown; 973-267-4992, milliesoldworld.com.
Bivio Panificio, Montclair
Montclair's Tomasso Colao closed his wildly popular pizzeria in Little Falls, Bivio Pizza Napoletana, three years ago but, he has said, "the fire called him back." Pizza aficionados are thrilled that he heeded the call. Colao's teeny (24 seats) three-month-old Bivio Panificio in Montclair is already a huge hit; it takes no reservations, so expect to wait for what some say is the best Neapolitan pie in the region. "He's amazing," said Bryan Gregg, executive chef of Orama restaurant in Edgewater. Colao offers five traditional pies plus two specials the four nights Bivio is opened, Wednesdays through Saturdays only. So get there early — the doors open at 5 p.m. — and bring along a bottle of wine.
Go: 107 Pine St., Montclair; 973-941-9602. No web.