Marinara Pizza

by Celia Sin-Tien Cheng
August 6, 2005

UNA PIZZA NAPOLETANA [CLOSED]
349 E 12th St
(1st & 2nd Aves)
New York, NY 10003
212-477-9950

Wow! I haven’t been this excited about a new place in a long, long time. I must give credit to Hearth chef Marco Canora for introducing me to Una Pizza Napolentana. This new pizzeria on East 12 th Street is unparalleled both in terms of its delicious creations and its integrity in making the highest quality, authentic Neapolitan pizza with true Italian ingredients. The menu consists of only four types of pizza:

Marinara: San Marzano tomatoes, extra-virgin olive oil, oregano, fresh garlic, fresh basil, sea salt.

Margherita: San Marzano tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, extra-virgin olive oil, fresh garlic, fresh basil, sea salt.

Bianca: Buffalo mozzarella, extra-virgin olive oil, fresh garlic, fresh basil, sea salt.

Filetti: Fresh cherry tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, fresh garlic, extra-virgin olive oil, fresh basil, sea salt.

I tried all four and while the ingredients all seem to be overlapping, they all taste very unique, amazingly fresh, and just deliciously out of this world. And yes, I have been to Naples and tasted “real” pizza. Una Pizza Napoletana has, hands down the best pizza in New York.

Generally, given the choice, I always choose a margherita pizza, but I’m glad I tried all four. My favorite was definitely the marinara, which came as a huge surprise. I would not even have tried it normally, mainly because I’ve had too many badly made marinara sauces in the US, but this pizza just rocked my world. It’s not a gooey, saucy marinara that other pizzerias like to throw on pizzas and pastas alike. The San Marzano tomatoes are imported from San Marzano, near Naples, and those who have tasted tomatoes from Southern Italy know that nothing compares to the ripe, juicy tomatoes from that region. The aroma of the fresh herbs and the crushed tomatoes as well as the crust instantly seduced me and now I can’t stop wanting more.

The restaurant itself is small and intimate. It’s laid-back atmosphere makes it an inviting and cozy hang out. The kitchen is hidden from view in the back, while the wood-fired brick oven is in plain view for all, adding to the charm of the restaurant and making diners even hungrier for the pizza while they wait.

Open four nights a week, Thursday through Sunday from five pm “until sold out of fresh dough,” Una Pizza Napoletana uses high quality flour ground from wheat berries by stone, then mixed with Sicilian sea salt to make the pizza dough. The dough-making process takes two days to complete; that’s why they close when the dough runs out. All ingredients are imported from Italy, thereby honoring the true tradition of pizza-making in Naples . The restaurant affirms that “taste may be an opinion, but quality is a fact.” The fact here is that both quality and taste are unconventionally excellent.

Also in East Village, Italian, Pizza