A nice walk to a new pizza place would be a good appetite stimulant and help digestion on the way home. The only problem was when we realized that Spacca Napoli was on Sunnyside, not Summerdale. So we stopped at Joie de Vin, next to Pauline's on Balmoral, had a glass of wine and then started our additional mile-long march for pizza.
A total of 2.7 miles usually means eat like a pig but somehow we didn't. We simply ordered the four cheese pie, two more glasses of wine and the antipasti plate. While it's not enough to really judge this place, it was a tasty evening and delivered on the artisanal wood-fire style pizza where we were disappointed by Pizza D.O.C.
The claim to fame at Spacca Napoli is that they use Italian ingredients- Italian flour, Italian oils (obviously), etc. and cook it in the traditional way. Pizza DOC does this as well but we found the pies soggy rather than springy and their ingredients to be average. That being said the only pizza we've had at Spacca Napoli has been the four-cheese.
The four cheese sat on a thin and doughy crust that had a distinct char to parts of it and a light and airy quality at the same time. The gorgonzola came through strongly as it usually should and on the whole it spurred the debate whether we should try a pie with tomato sauce. The answer was next time, but soon.
The antipasti is sometime a tossup for me. I'm not a huge prosciutto fan. I feel it can taste very aged in a way I don't appreciate. This plate had meats all with fresh flavor while retaining their distinctness. The olives were very fragrant and not very vinegary. The green olives were light and looked like evergreen-colore cherries. They were great. We had olives at Joie de Vin earlier and while they were very good, these were unique.
The restaurant was very crowded and they usually don't accept reservations for 2. The way to go to this restaurant is in a group of 4 or more where everyone gets a different pie and you can taste around the menu. The flavors and ingredients are all pretty interesting.
We'll be back.
Spacca Napoli
1769 W. Sunnyside (NOT Summerdale)
773-878-2420
All of a sudden, we've been discovering pizza in Chicago that actually tastes like pizza in Italy...could be that we've been under a rock but have you tried Sapore di Napoli..down to earth and yum. What about Folio on Fulton Street? More expensive (they say all the ingredients come from Italy???) but well worth it.
Posted by: wendy | May 28, 2007 at 06:15 PM
GIGIO'S PIZZERIA - Mama Nitti's 1603 Oakton, Des Plaines - corner of Oakton and White.
Fellow blue East Coasters looking for the perfect "slice" not square (you know what I mean) this is the place. It used to be located on Waukegan Rd. just south of Oakton, but recently moved to this new address. We had been going there for 8 years before they moved. It's definitely a little out there, but so worth the trip. Just order a pizza to go as you eat your slice. This is real New York style - Italian pizza. Crisp crust on the outside, chewy and perfect inside (no oyster cracker thin crust here - what is that anyway??) delicious sauce, amazing cheeses. If you order the pizza with basil - you will see him chopping up the basil fresh at that moment before it goes on the pizza. The meatball sandwich is also incredible. Even if you don't like meatball sandwich - you will like this. The building is new and very nice with a parking lot along the street in back and nice little outdoor seating, too.
Posted by: Nina | August 02, 2008 at 03:26 PM
Addition to Gigio's Pizzeria - 1603 Oakton, Des Plaines
(847)298-5700
Caution - Closed on Sundays
Posted by: Nina | August 02, 2008 at 03:30 PM