il neapolitana verace (el verdad for fellow new mexicans). it’s been a couple of months since i’ve first tried the pizza from amore. from that moment i intended to write a review, but didn’t know exactly how to approach it. recently i’ve been inspired by reviews i read on urbanspoon and yelp. i was happy to see the majority of reviews were positive, but it seems that there’s a minority of people who don’t understand the pizza artisanship that occurs at amore. i think the versions of artisan pizzas that we’ve been use to in the duke city has tainted the palette, and created a false standard that artisan pizza are measure by. i think we’ve also been habituated by american pizza, making us think that all pizzas must be gooey with cheese, mounded with toppings, giving some a myopic view of what pizza is.
as a foodie, pizza happens to be one of my favorite foods. i have tried it in many parts of the country and sampled many styles. i’ve learned that pizza is very diverse and every expression is valid. however, upon discovering neapolitan pizza i became obsessed. the reason why is because it’s beautiful and flavorful in its simplicity. it’s pizza stripped to its essentials such that each individual ingredient shines. the best neapolitan pizzas i had were by pizzaiuoli who were from italy or trained by an italian. when i tried the pizza at amore it became immediately apparent that none of the ones i tried prior were as good as amore.
neapolitan pizza is unique. to understand what comes out of the oven at amore one has to understand what a neapolitan pizza is, and what it’s not. as an american, and native new mexican, i know preferences forfoodare shaped by what we’re use to. so i’ll use an analogy that any new mexican can relate to. for us green chile is a staple. it’s a vegetable, a condiment, a side, and a main dish. it’s ingrained into our being, and it’s a work of art. there are particular ways to make green chile, with very little variation, which has changed little over centuries. suppose someone who’s never had green chile says that it was ok, but it wasn’t like the chilli they were use to. that doesn’t mean that it wasn’t the best green chile. it doesn’t mean that it deserved a bad review. it means that it didn’t fit the tastes of the one who tried it. go a little further and suppose that this person proposed that green chile would taste better if poblano, or green bell peppers were used, instead of new mexico chiles. if that were done it wouldn’t be green chile. it would be poblano chile or bell pepper chile. the same is true for neapolitan pizza. if it’s changed too much it ceases to be what was intended and becomes some thing else entirely. neapolitan pizza is a work of art. it’s remained relatively unchanged for over a century. the toppings are meant to be in balance with the sauce and the dough so that the flavors remain in perfect harmony. it’s not meant to be covered with toppings, nor have loads of low moisture mozzarella, it doesn’t have “pizza sauce” - it has crushed san marzano tomatoes, and it sure as hell doesn’t have pepperoni (pepperoni is an american variety of salami, but i digress). oh, i forgot to mention neapolitan pizzas aren’t supposed to come with red pepper and parmesan to sprinkle on it. if you aren’t able to wrap your head around what neapolitan pizza is, or if it doesn’t float your boat that’s fine, everyone is entitled to his or her own taste. just don’t give it a bad review because it’s not what you’re use to, and don’t compare it to dion’s, saggios, mario’s, etc. doing so is like comparing apples and oranges. neapolitan pizza and american pizza are both good and valid but very different. you could try to compare amore to farina and il vicino, but it’s still like comparing an apple to a pear. they all are artisan, but amore stands alone as nm’s only neapolitan pizzeria and it obliterates any competition. it accomplishes superiority by using fresher, better, and more authentic ingredients that are expertly prepared and traditionally cooked in a custom built oven from naples (yes the oven really was built in naples). many people who try amore might have traveled to or lived in italy. so some americans may say it doesn’t taste like the pizza they had in italy. that’s probably because they didn’t have neapolitan pizza. there are several styles of pizza in italy besides neapolitan including: lazio, tuscan, sicilian, etc, and not every pizzeria in italy serves neapolitan.
chef roberto caporuscio a native of italy, trained in naples, and us president of the association of neapolitan pizzaiuoli (apn), trained and certified the owners of amore. in writing this review i hope to provide readers with a true view of the distinction being served at amore and a clear understanding of what that distinction means. restaurants should be rated for how well they execute their variety of food, in this case neapolitan pizza. in that respect amore is the best in nm, and is a true contender on a national scale. amore epitomizes neapolitan pizza.