Short of hopping a plane to Naples -- Italy, that is, not Florida's sleepy west-coast town -- it's not always easy to find authentic Neapolitan pizza. But at the new Coral Gables eatery Pummarola, they're all about Italian tradition.
The lunch-and-dinner outpost opens today at 141 Aragon Ave., and its "pizza bar" will serve options such as rustica pie -- rosemary potatoes, Italian pancetta, and buffalo mozzarella -- along with homemade pasta and other eats.
See also: Miami's Ten Best Pizzas
"Our store is more like a pizza bar where people can sit in front of the chef and order the pizza directly with him," says general manager Stefano Righi. "We have a few homemade pastas on the menu which people can order, or they can create their own homemade pasta and choose the sauce."
The family-owned eatery was started by four siblings. This is their second location -- the first is in Boca Raton. The name and the traditions come from their nonna, a talented cook who owned a pizzeria in Naples, Italy, for two decades.
It was dubbed Pummarola (Italian for "tomato") thanks to nonna's tomato-red Fiat 500. In honor of gram's sweet little ride, the locations each have half a Fiat nailed to the wall. Couldn't do that with an SUV, now could you?
Their food is superquick to cook, too, says Righi, and perfect for an abbreviated lunch break. Also, their ingredients are all imported from Italy, so this is the real deal. "Prosciutto di parma, spicy salami, pizza flour -- everything is imported from Italy," he says.
Pummarola is open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily except Sundays, when the restaurant is closed.
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