Nightly Pizza Acrobatics at Normandy Isle's Capri New Style

Normandy Isle has a new dining spot adding to its colorful roster of restaurants.

Every evening at Capri New Style, Massimiliano Stamerra can be found by the wood oven spinning pizza dough over his head, pulling and stretching it as it twirls in front of his face, whipping it around his body, under his legs, then sending the dough into the air, only to catch it and send it in a different direction.

A pizza chef and acrobat champion for over a decade, Stamerra has won medals at competitions in Italy, France, Brussels, Las Vegas, and Indonesia while running a seasonal restaurant in his native Puglia, the southern region that makes up the heel of Italy's boot. After falling in love with Miami during a summer vacation, he took a job as a consultant at Spris in midtown before deciding on the space in Normandy Isle as the ideal location for his second restaurant.

"Because of its casual vibe and high concentration of Latinos, this is the perfect area to showcase simple, straightforward Italian food with a dose of fun," says Stamerra, who also designs the menu for Blue Beer Garden, a gastropub located inside the New Hotel in Miami Beach.
While showing off his gravity-defying tricks to diners, Stamerra turns out a specialty menu of more than 50 pizza options featuring a crunchy, charred crust. His creations include the Norcia with mozzarella, sea urchin pulp, truffle burrata, and shaved truffle ($28); and Vianello topped with salmon, ricotta, pistachio cream, and balsamic oil ($23).

At the 4,000-square-foot eatery, located in the corner space that used to house the soccer-themed Gol eatery, Sicilian chef Giovanni Orifici also turns out familiar trattoria dishes, along with gluten-free and vegan options. Highlights among the main courses are chicken rolled in bacon crust with mushroom cream ($30) and Roman pork with mashed potatoes ($30). There are also pasta options like meat ravioli with mushroom sauce ($22) and gnocchi with blue cheese, served with pear chunks and arugula ($20).

The list of sweet endings at Capri New Style includes cestino alle mandorle con frutta fresca ($13), classic cannolo Siciliano served with pistachio ice cream ($8), and affogato al cafe, a scoop of vanilla ice cream topped with a shot of hot espresso, also known as the Italian adult milkshake ($8). A variety of Italian wines are offered, including Montepulciano D'Abruzzo ($28), Barolo ($80), and the Tuscan Petra I$120).

Lunch is offered daily from 11 a.m to 4 p.m. and wine happy hour from noon to 7 p.m. Stamerra performs his pizza acrobatic shows every evening around 8. On Thursdays, the eatery serves an assorted food buffet priced at $29.99 per person.

Capri New Style. 940 71st St., Miami Beach; 305-397-8917; caprinewstylemiami.com. Daily 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.