Pizzeria Naples Street Food opens in Franklin Square
Like all the pies, the Margherita pizza at Naples Street Food in Franklin Square is baked in a wood-fired oven. Credit: Newsday / Erica Marcus
You wouldn’t expect to find authentic Neapolitan pizza in a tiny storefront on Hempstead Turnpike in Franklin Square, but Naples Street Food seems to specialize in confounding expectations.
Gianluca Chiarolanza and Aurora Pagnozzi opened the pizzeria two weeks ago in a space vacated by Lucky B & W Deli. Chiarolanza, born and trained as a pizzaiolo in Italy, actually managed to ship his wood-burning oven from Naples to Franklin Square, and it assumes pride of place at the front of the store.
Formerly the pizzaiolo at Sotto Casa, a respected pizzeria in Brooklyn, Chiarolanza said he set up shop in Franklin Square because Pagnozzi, his wife, is from East Rockaway.
Don’t expect mac ’n’ cheese pizza or other Yankee inventions here; the menu is strictly Napoletan and the pies have the puffy edge and floppy crust that distinguish them from classic New York pizzas.
Chiarolanza makes 23 varieties, from classic marinara, Margherita, sausage and prosciutto-mushroom to more fanciful creations such as the Don Fa (with tomatoes, mozzarella, mascarpone, speck and rosemary) and the Aurora (buffalo mozzarella, arugula, prosciutto, shaved Parmesan and truffle oil). Pizzas come in two sizes, 12-inch ($9 to $18) and 17-inch ($14 to $32).
There are two salads ($8), three calzones ($14 to $15) and the Neapolitan specialty called “panuozzo,” a warm sandwich whose bread is a freshly baked length of pizza dough. Chiarolanza splits it and fills it with your choice of sausage or porchetta (a highly seasoned pork roast that he imports from Ariccia, near Rome).
Naples Street Food doesn’t seat many more than a dozen diners, but takeout is available.
970 Hempstead Tpke., Franklin Square, 516-673-4630.
