Norwood pizza place offers authentic Neapolitan style pizza
CHICAGO (WLS) -- There are dozens, if not hundreds of pizza places in Chicagoland, but only a handful claiming to make authentic Neapolitan style pizza.
The Hungry Hound said he's found a new spot in Norwood Park, on the city's Northwest Side. And the owner's birthplace alone, tells you he was born to make this pizza.
Antonio Vitiello has 00 flour, San Marzano tomatoes and fresh mozzarella in his veins. A native of Naples, pizza's birthplace, he custom-built his own pizza oven at Sapori Napoletani in a Norwood Park strip mall, and has recruited both his 12-year-old daughter, Anna, as well as his wife.
"His grandmother, and mother and father they had pizzeria and restaurant for generations," Ewelina Olbrycht, Vitiello's wife, said.
You can of course try a Margherita, the classic, with just tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, some basil leaves and a drizzle of olive oil or add mushrooms, artichokes, black olives and prosciutto for a heartier pie. He also bakes his own bread here, and it's not a pizza you want to take to-go, since the eating experience will change drastically.
These days, you can find those ingredients with ease. But it's the oven and the baking technique that takes real skill.
"He didn't buy, he didn't transport anything, he just built because he used to build ovens in Naples," she said.
So some skills you learn, and others you are just born with and in the case of this family here at Sapori, it's a little bit of both.
In this week's Extra Course, ABC 7's Steve Dolinsky talks about the authentic gelato they're selling, including an outstanding salted caramel and a pistachio flavor.
Sapori Napoletani
6050 N Northwest Hwy
(773) 628-7894
