I read Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert about two and a half years ago. I remember I was already living in Naples. I heard about the book from my mother, a very good read she had heard. Ms. Gilbert attributes approximately four pages (Don’t shoot me if I am wrong. It’s been a while since I read the book) to Naples and for the most part all of her observations are on the mark. Unfortunately, we have a difference of opinion where L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele is concerned. In the book, Ms. Gilbert fawns about, oozes over, melts for the double cheese pizza. "So Sofie and I have come to Pizzeria da Michele, and these pies we have just ordered - one for each of us - are making us lose our minds. I love my pizza so much, in fact, that I have come to believe in my delirium that my pizza might actually love me, in return. I am having a relationship with this pizza, almost an affair. Meanwhile, Sofie is practically in tears over hers, she's having a metaphysical crisis about it, she's begging me, "Why do they even bother trying to make pizza in Stockholm? Why do we even bother eating food at all in Stockholm?" (p.79) She describes the oozing cheese and the softness of the crust so succulently that I file away the name of the restaurant in the dark recesses of my mind with the thought that we will definitely have to try this place out, one day.
Fast forward to June, 2009, my mother has come for a month long visit. One afternoon we were in the commissary and we ran into my friend, Beth. Beth asks all the pertinent questions of my mother about her visit, places she has been, things she has done, sights she has seen. Then Beth volunteers that we absolutely have to try this restaurant, the pizza is to die for. You guessed it; it was da Michele’s. She told us it is the very restaurant mentioned in Eat, Love, Pray. She described the pizza like this: Italy has the best pizza in the world. Naples has the best pizza in Italy. And L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele has the best pizza in Naples. Well, that did it. I was sold. We were definitely going to have to find this place & try it out. What better time for such an adventure than when we have a houseguest? Beth gives us general directions: It is straight down from the Garibaldi train station, a 10 minute walk. Look to the right. It’s off one of the cross streets. (This is loosely paraphrased. You don’t get real directions in Naples. Everything is explained by curves in the road and landmarks.) Beth’s directions leave me uneasy; we are VERY American after all. I find Pizzeria da Michele’s quite easily on Google and from there it is a breeze to get the address. We make the decision to drive rather than take the train and we set the date for Tuesday, June 23rd, after work.
Skip to the evening of June the 23rd. We arrive at L'Antica Pizzeria da Michele. The restaurant is bare bones, old looking inside, all the walls are a dirty white, sparsely decorated, white marble topped tables, heavy metal chairs. I couldn't figure out why the floors had sawdust all over them, and that is still a puzzle; however, perhaps it is because the floors are the slickest marble I have ever had the pleasure of sliding across? Immediately, I notice the coolness of the waitstaff and an underlying impatience. You have three options for pizza: marinara (pizza dough with tomato sauce, oregano, and no cheese), margherita (pizza dough with tomato sauce, basil, and mozzarella) and double cheese (margherita with double cheese). You can get either small or large. The pizza was good, only good. I had the marinara.
I ate less than 3/4 of it, not because it was bad but because it was big. Now factor in that for our 3 hour trip we were in the car for a total of 2 hours & 10 minutes fighting downtown traffic (normally a 30 minute drive with no traffic); walking time there & back was another 20 minutes (not to mention almost being killed a zillion times while trying to cross those streets); we only spent 30 minutes in the restaurant for crying out loud! During high season people wait for about 1.5 hours to have this pizza so the waitstaff is used to getting people in and out. Thankfully we did not have to wait at all because if we had I would have been really disappointed. Will I ever return to L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele? Probably not. The restaurant does have 3 advantages: (1) It is old. It has been operating since 1870. (2) All of the 12 ounce drinks, that’s water, soda, and beer, are only €1.50 (which is really cheap compared to other restaurant prices). (3) The most expensive thing on the menu is the large double cheese pizza for €5.00. However, they are not enough to bring me back. Heck, they don’t even sell t-shirts.
So, where do I think the best Neapolitan pizza is served? That is a very difficult question. I can tell you I have found my own favorite spot though. When we arrive and walk in the door the waitstaff greet us with smiles. They do not treat us as though we are a contemptible piece of furniture. In fact, I can tell they are genuinely happy that we are there. They know that I prefer (and always order) Fischer beer. We can order just about any topping we choose for our pizza which gives us virtually an unlimited number of choices. And the waitstaff lets us sit as long as we desire, savoring our pizza, sipping our beer, talking, never to be treated like herded cattle. It is a very small place, run by a family. It is called La Vera Pizza and the most beautiful thing about it is I can walk there in 5 minutes. Kyle and I visited this establishment last night and I had a marinara pizza with mushroom and onion. Buonissima!
Fast forward to June, 2009, my mother has come for a month long visit. One afternoon we were in the commissary and we ran into my friend, Beth. Beth asks all the pertinent questions of my mother about her visit, places she has been, things she has done, sights she has seen. Then Beth volunteers that we absolutely have to try this restaurant, the pizza is to die for. You guessed it; it was da Michele’s. She told us it is the very restaurant mentioned in Eat, Love, Pray. She described the pizza like this: Italy has the best pizza in the world. Naples has the best pizza in Italy. And L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele has the best pizza in Naples. Well, that did it. I was sold. We were definitely going to have to find this place & try it out. What better time for such an adventure than when we have a houseguest? Beth gives us general directions: It is straight down from the Garibaldi train station, a 10 minute walk. Look to the right. It’s off one of the cross streets. (This is loosely paraphrased. You don’t get real directions in Naples. Everything is explained by curves in the road and landmarks.) Beth’s directions leave me uneasy; we are VERY American after all. I find Pizzeria da Michele’s quite easily on Google and from there it is a breeze to get the address. We make the decision to drive rather than take the train and we set the date for Tuesday, June 23rd, after work.
Skip to the evening of June the 23rd. We arrive at L'Antica Pizzeria da Michele. The restaurant is bare bones, old looking inside, all the walls are a dirty white, sparsely decorated, white marble topped tables, heavy metal chairs. I couldn't figure out why the floors had sawdust all over them, and that is still a puzzle; however, perhaps it is because the floors are the slickest marble I have ever had the pleasure of sliding across? Immediately, I notice the coolness of the waitstaff and an underlying impatience. You have three options for pizza: marinara (pizza dough with tomato sauce, oregano, and no cheese), margherita (pizza dough with tomato sauce, basil, and mozzarella) and double cheese (margherita with double cheese). You can get either small or large. The pizza was good, only good. I had the marinara.
I ate less than 3/4 of it, not because it was bad but because it was big. Now factor in that for our 3 hour trip we were in the car for a total of 2 hours & 10 minutes fighting downtown traffic (normally a 30 minute drive with no traffic); walking time there & back was another 20 minutes (not to mention almost being killed a zillion times while trying to cross those streets); we only spent 30 minutes in the restaurant for crying out loud! During high season people wait for about 1.5 hours to have this pizza so the waitstaff is used to getting people in and out. Thankfully we did not have to wait at all because if we had I would have been really disappointed. Will I ever return to L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele? Probably not. The restaurant does have 3 advantages: (1) It is old. It has been operating since 1870. (2) All of the 12 ounce drinks, that’s water, soda, and beer, are only €1.50 (which is really cheap compared to other restaurant prices). (3) The most expensive thing on the menu is the large double cheese pizza for €5.00. However, they are not enough to bring me back. Heck, they don’t even sell t-shirts.
So, where do I think the best Neapolitan pizza is served? That is a very difficult question. I can tell you I have found my own favorite spot though. When we arrive and walk in the door the waitstaff greet us with smiles. They do not treat us as though we are a contemptible piece of furniture. In fact, I can tell they are genuinely happy that we are there. They know that I prefer (and always order) Fischer beer. We can order just about any topping we choose for our pizza which gives us virtually an unlimited number of choices. And the waitstaff lets us sit as long as we desire, savoring our pizza, sipping our beer, talking, never to be treated like herded cattle. It is a very small place, run by a family. It is called La Vera Pizza and the most beautiful thing about it is I can walk there in 5 minutes. Kyle and I visited this establishment last night and I had a marinara pizza with mushroom and onion. Buonissima!