Bites: Restaurant Report: Lievito Madre al Mare in Naples, Italy

Lievito Madre

One of the pizzas at the restaurant.

Pizza-making runs deep in the Sorbillo family DNA: dozens of members of this Neapolitan clan have become renowned pizzaioli in their home city and beyond. Perhaps the best known is Gino Sorbillo, a 39-year-old business school graduate whose father was one of 21 pizza-baking siblings.

He built his reputation as a world-class pizzaiolo at his own Pizzeria Gino Sorbillo, on Via dei Tribunali in Naples's compact historic center, the epicenter of Neapolitan pizza production, where microclimate and microbial terroir (the unique outcome yeast produces in a specific place) are credited — along with passed-down skill and quality ingredients — for creating the finest examples of the city's thick-rimmed wood-fired pizzas.

At his newest venture, Lievito Madre al Mare, which opened in June, Mr. Sorbillo brings his skills to the cusp of the posh Chiaia district and just yards from the Bay of Naples. The location offers pleasant breezes and sprawling views across the bay to Capri.

Lievito Madre is an experiment of sorts. "After nearly a century of the Sorbillo family making traditional pizza in the center of Naples, I wanted to try out a new model," he said, "one that was more modern and more forward looking and business driven."

The menu is divided into lists of seven — starters, pizzas, craft beers and desserts. The pies are each made with sourdough starter — lievito madre — then leavened for at least eight hours at room temperature, which can reach 95 degrees in the summer.

During a visit in August, I paired the Casa Sorbillo, a beer made exclusively for the restaurant by the Campanian beermaker Karma, with potato croquettes, fried pasta fritters and a "Cetara" pizza topped with tomatoes, black olives, capers, smoked buffalo's milk provolone, oregano and anchovies. It had a thick, spongy rim and overly thin, nearly transparent center. Mr. Sorbillo later explained that the meager center was caused by a faulty oven. To correct such cooking irregularities, a new oven was built and inaugurated in late September.

Lievito Madre may still be working out the kinks, but its location and spectacular views have already positioned it as one of the city's busiest pizzerias. Mr. Sorbillo hopes the new oven will propel Lievito Madre's pizza to the list of Naples's best.

Lievito Madre al Mare, Via Partenope, 1; (39-81) 1933-1280. Average meal for two, without drinks or tip, is about 25 euros, or $33 at $1.33 to the euro.

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Bites: Restaurant Report: Lievito Madre al Mare in Naples, Italy

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