Sietsema Visits Da Michele in Naples

Posted by Adam Kuban, February 1, 2006 at 11:45 AM

Robert Sietsema visits Naples, making stops at the legendary Da Michele as well as nearby pizzeria Trianon. Regarding Da Michele:

The menu is limited to a pair of amazing pies. Most modern is the margherita (4 euros)óinvented in 1885 on the occasion of a visit from Queen Margherita of Savoia, probably the first pizza to feature cheese, which joins sieved canned tomatoes, a generous pouring of olive oil from an antique pitcher, a basil leaf or two, and sea salt on the surface of the pie. The older of the pies, called marinara (3.5 euros), has its origins in Mediterranean antiquity, an irregular round of hand-patted dough with tomatoes, raw garlic, andóoddly, I thoughtódried oregano, making it seem almost Greek. The dough rises with a decades-old starter, rather than commercial yeast, baking up as soft and pliable as glove leather. You certainly can't pick it up like a New York slice. The overall effect of both pies is a sublime blandness.

"Sublime blandness" may be the most befuddling compliment(?) paid to a pizzeria I've ever seen.

Humble Pie: New Yorker discovers the true pizza of Naples [Village Voice]

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Tags: Foreign, Italy, Naples, Neapolitan, wood-oven