Pomo Pizzeria Napoletana: Rustic Pie Based on a Pizza Standard? We’ll Bite

By Michele Laudig Thursday, Nov 4 2010

Say the word “pizza,” and it’s easy to start a controversy.
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Howard Seftel said:

So it’s fair to say there’s an element of poetry at delightful new Pomo Pizzeria Napoletana. It’s what Moore would call a real toad, showcasing authentic Neapolitan-style pizza certified by Verace Pizza Napoletana, a Naples-based trade association dedicated to promoting the city’s traditional pizza standards. (Pomo is the only VPN-approved pizzeria in the Valley.)

The imaginary garden? That’s the Borgata, the faux-Italian shopping complex where Pomo opened about three months ago. I can only imagine what a profoundly disorienting experience it must have been for Italy’s VPN representatives to wander through it on their way to Pomo.
How much does the VPN seal of approval mean? That depends. It’s a mistake to make a fetish of authenticity. Do you really want to see a performance of “Romeo and Juliet” with Juliet played by a man? That’s how it was “authentically” done in Shakespeare’s time. It’s no different with food. I still shudder over some authentic foreign meals I couldn’t face, like the breakfast of sheep’s head bobbing in a bubbling cauldron.
Sometimes, authentic experiences can be authentically bad.
Happily, that’s not how dinner plays out at Pomo, where owner Stefano Fabbri, the kitchen crew and waitstaff have everything under control, from appetizers to dessert, and everything in between.
Of course, the heart of this operation is the pizza. According to VPN guidelines (thoughtfully posted on the wall in English and Italian), the basic ingredients - flour, olive oil, cheese, tomatoes - must hail from Italy. The pizzas must be ultra-thin, about 12 inches in diameter, and baked in a super-hot wood-burning oven - Pomo’s is 950 degrees - for 60 to 90 seconds. The regulations even require dressing each pizza in a clockwise direction. The result: a blistered outer crust and a softer center, gilded with primo toppings. Unlike American-style pizza, this pizza is meant to be eaten with a knife and fork. Folks with a taste for big flavors should opt for the quattro stagioni ($14.95). Along with fresh mozzarella and a dab of superb sauce made from San Marzano tomatoes, this pizza gets a vigorous boost from sausage, salami, mushrooms and olives. The sweet, salty and spicy notes combine to produce a very powerful chord. A vegetable pizza like the Ortolana ($14.95) may not sound nearly as intriguing. But when those vegetables - eggplant, zucchini, red pepper - are fragrantly roasted in a wood-burning oven, the skepticism disappears. And if you are into simplicity, it doesn’t get much simpler, or more elegant, than the pizza made with creamy, dreamy buffalo mozzarella, San Marzano tomato sauce and dash of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese ($16.95). The pizzas go great with a cold draft Nastro Azzurro ($4.50), a lager brewed by Peroni.

Pomo gives you an opportunity to stray a bit from tradition with its white (sauceless) pizzas. And the Donna Rosa ($15.95) makes it easy to stray, with its coating of fresh mozzarella and cherry tomatoes, brightened with a light brushing of pesto. What makes it distinctive, however, is the addition of some very tasty roasted shrimp, an inspired touch.

If you prefer not merely to stray from tradition but to ignore it entirely, consider one of the fried pizzas. The Vesuvio ($16.95) features two cheeses, tomato sauce and spicy salami stuffed inside a fried pizza-dough pocket. It’s nothing like a calzone, which is baked. The texture here reminds me more of a sopaipilla. Although it’s certainly good enough, it’s no match for the regular pizzas.

Appetizers - ample for two or three diners - make it worth your while to delay pizza gratification. The bresaola (dried, salted beef, $13.95) is terrific, handsomely teamed with arugula and Parmigiano-Reggiano, all coated with a delightful lemon vinaigrette. The summery caprese ($9.95) is all it should be. And the cold-cut platter called affettati misti ($14.95) is a real meat fest, spotlighting bresaola, prosciutto, ham and salami, as well as pecorino Romano cheese and olives. Considering the outstanding appetizers and pizza, it may not seem to make much gastronomic sense to leave room for dessert. But restraint is rewarded in the form of the cleverly conceived carpaccio d’ananas ($7.95), thin slices of pineapple sprinkled with candied citrus peel, drizzled with Grand Marnier and topped with a tart lemon sorbet. It’s every bit as light and refreshing as it sounds. The molten chocolate cake ($7.95), meanwhile, is one of the Valley’s better versions. It’s not only the food that’s stylish. So is the room, dominated by a gigantic black-and-white photo blowup of a Neapolitan street scene. The motif is echoed in the black tables, chairs and cloth napkins, and white walls and ceiling. In the background, complying with Scottsdale’s strict Italian-restaurant music ordinance, waft the greatest hits of Luciano Pavarotti and Andrea Bocelli.

Still, it’s no wonder they’re crooning. At Pomo, there’s plenty to sing about.