Summer shutter: Popular North Naples pizzeria permanently closes
When Vinny Gallagher and Davide Lubrano Lavadera opened Pizzata Pizzeria + Apertivo on Aug. 3, 2022, it soon became this reporter’s weekly go-to when work and Hurricane Ian landed her in the North Naples neighborhood.
Less than two years in, Pizzata closed June 9.
What happened?
Lubrano Lavadera said that they “made the complicated decision to sell and focus our energy up north with bigger projects.”
Another factor: “Seasonal waves are hard to navigate from far away.”
A conversation in January with Gallagher confirmed the duo had left Naples, leaving their business partner to helm the Immokalee Road location.
Gallagher had also mentioned a new project, Pizzata Pizzeria + Birreria, a sit-down restaurant and bar that opened in February.
Pizzata was among NDN’s most awarded restaurants in the past two years, earning coveted slots in a slew of “best of” lists, including:
“Best Sandwiches” for their eggplant Parm
In Collier County’s Best Pizza Challenge for 2023, it earned an Elite 8 spot, losing to Zza Baby, which closed in April.
High praise from Dave Portnoy
The name Pizzata translates to pizza party. The concept originated in 2020 in Philadelphia's Rittenhouse Square neighborhood. That original location earned raves from Barstool Sports’s Dave Portnoy, who mentioned he lived nearby and gave it an 8.1 in his One Bite Review.
Why I loved Pizzata
Though I named their eggplant Parm entree among my favorite dishes in Naples, what made Pizzata's pies different was the attention to dough, namely sourdough, which is naturally leavened, resulting in a crust that’s light as air and crispy.
“With a sourdough starter, you end up with multi-cultures: it’s the bacteria on your hands, on the flour, the room, the board, the air, temperature. It’s difficult to replicate unless the environment is strictly controlled. Different yeasts and bacteria impart different attributes to the crust,” Gallagher said in 2022.
A finance bro turned pizza pro, Gallagher is the duo's mastermind behind the dough recipe. He pays attention to where their flour is harvested, specific grains used in the milling process, and precise ratios. His dough combines four flours with filtered water that rests for three to five days. Each dough bin is marked by date.
Review: Plentiful comfort food, cocktails and good value at new restaurant in North Naples
The “pizza dorks” duo initially met in 2019 at the USA Caputo Cup, as competitors in different categories at the Atlantic City pasta and pizza trade show expo.
Before it was Pizzata, the Piper's Crossing plaza space was home to Mangino's.
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: North Naples has one less pizza joint as a critic's favorite closes
