Murray W.
Yelp
When in Naples on the second stop of our honeymoon, it was a must that we have pizza. I heard about Starita on a favourite food website of mine, Serious Eats. I mapped it out before coming to Naples, and luckily it was only a few blocks from the National Archaeological Museum, and easy to find if you know what street you're looking for. The neighbourhood is well outside the nice downtown area, and even the area immediately next to the Museum is fairly grungy looking, but it never felt dangerous, just kinda dirty.
We got there right at 7pm; I'm not sure if that's when they open, but it very well might have been because it was pretty much dead, with a good 10 staff members standing around the front counters, and it was almost a rush to seat us.
The resto itself is very newly renovated - shiny new wall tiles adorn the walls and there was just a very clean, modern vibe, which was a nice compliment to the history of the building itself and makes it stand out from probably all the surrounding restaurants within a radius of several city blocks. Old movie art and pictures from Starita's storied past decorate the walls.
Having read about the ricotta-stuffed, fried zucchini blossoms, I checked to make sure they were available and ordered one each for my wife and I. For pizzas I chose their VPN margherita, of course, and the porcini mushroom pizza to mix it up a bit.
The blossoms came very quickly, with parts of the orange-yellow blossom still visible through the light, golden brown breading. Cutting the crunchy tip off, ultra-light ricotta spilled out. I definitely noticed and enjoyed the quality of ricotta that I'd come across in our first week in Italy, and this was another winner. The blossom itself had a very mild flavour, although its lightly floral taste was mostly lost in the salty breading and the ricotta. It was a very good appetizer though, and left we wishing I had ordered more.
Our pizzas came shortly after and were a sight to behold. The margherita was generously dotted with one inch hunks of buffalo mozzarella, while equally randomly placed charred leaves of fresh basil contrasted with the red of the sauce. The crust had a perfect char on both the cornicionne and the bottom, and cutting into it revealed an airy crumb. Actually taking a bite was even better than looking at this pizza beauty, with the soft, lightly charred crust playing well with the wonderful balance of the sweetness and acidity of the sauce. I must say that I'm definitely a fan of an even distribution of shredded cheese, rather than the haphazard distribution of blobs of mozza, but it was lightly salty and delicious nonetheless. The basil added its herby funk, and while I'm not a huge fan of it, it still added to the layers of simple flavours on this very well executed pie.
The porcini pizza was equally well done, and was actually preferred by my mushroom-loving wife. It had gotten just a bit more charring than the margherita, just enough to make the crust even better. The cheese coverage was much better, with the whole thing covered except for the wide cornicionne. Thick slices of sauteed mushrooms were all over the pizza and added to the richness. There was no tomato sauce, just a little oil.
A German Weiss beer paired well both, not too strongly flavoured and a bit floral.
We finished our meal off with my first ever shot of limoncello. It was super sweet, like a liquid version of lemon pie, but with a noticeably strong amount of liquor in it; more than your various 20% liqueurs, but less than a spirit.
Starita was a fantastic example of Neopolitan pizza, and is worth seeking out if you're visiting the city.