Macchialina Summer Series Features Pizza, Oysters, and Prosecco

Michael Pirolo, chef and co-owner of Miami Beach's rustic Italian eatery Macchialina, has just given up his only day of rest.

"Sunday is usually my day off," he confesses to New Times. "Not anymore!"

June 4, Pirolo will launch O.P.P. Sundays, a series offering oysters, pizza, and prosecco that will run through the summer.

"The star of the show is the pizza." Pirolo explains he tested the recipe for more than a year to get it just right. The pizza is made with flour imported from Parma, uses 85 percent hydration, and undergoes a 72-hour fermentation, which, according to the chef, creates a much more digestible product. "The pizza has huge bubbles and is light, airy, and fluffy; then it is supercrispy on the bottom."

In Italy, it is called pizza al taglio, a Roman-style pie usually sold in rectangular sheet pans with portions measured with a ruler. Pirolo will sell it by the pie, priced at $22 each, with only a limited number available each week.

"When we run out, we run out."

Pizzas will include the traditional tomato, mozzarella, and basil margherita; 18-month-old prosciutto di Parma; and sausage and peppers. Toppings will vary each week.

Guests can also enjoy Kumamoto oysters, which hail from the Pacific coast and are known for their slightly sweet, briny taste. Choose a half-dozen straight up for $18, or go for the half-dozen dressed oysters ($22), which showcase Pirolo's creativity with flavors, such as burrata with pickled strawberries, lime and smoked pineapple, and smoked onion mignonette. "You think at first it isn't going to work, but it really does," he says.

Then, of course, there's bubbly for $8 a glass. "It's a champagne, oysters, and pizza party," Pirolo says. "I like to eat a wide variety of things."