Omnivore - Antico Napoletana rules the world

Someone over in Italy said something along the lines of Antico having the best pizza in America

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  • Joeff Davis
  • Antico’s otherworldly San Gennaro pie

It was a grande giorno today at the pizzeria heralded by many as the best in our newly cutthroat pizza town.

In the VIP room at the adorably scruffy Antico Napoletana, groups of patrons and pizzaioli huddled in front of MacBooks streaming (all the way from Italy!) a live broadcast of the Festa della Pizza. Emotions ran so high, it was like one big World Cup flashback — but with melted bufula. There was much furrowing of brows and rubbing of chins, followed by the popping of Moet and spraying of champagne as the declaration was delivered that the fine folks across the pond had sainted little ol’ Antico as The Best Pizza in America! (At least that’s the translation I heard.)

Antico’s adorable, red-kerchiefed owner, Giovanni Di Palma, promptly hauled from his walk-in cooler a comically large carafe of limoncello and poured shots for the throngs of applauding pizza eaters.

“From now on,” Di Palma said, “when you eat other pizza, you have my permission to pay with fake money.”

Two questions though: What is Festa della Pizza, exactly? And how high are the stakes?