Napoli, in a Hurry

I am in a taxi trying my best to carry on a conversation in Italian with the driver. I just got off the train at Napoli Centrale. Rushed after a 20 minute delay, I was worried I would miss my food tour through the city. “Il mio treno era in ritardo” I explain to the driver. He hit the gas swerving through crowded streets filled with pedestrians and motorcycles. I was 15 minutes late but luckily the tour was still waiting to get started. I am not really a food tour guy. They can be kind of “basic” but all I really knew of Napoli was pizza. There had to be more to it.

Walking through the historic center or centro storico I was immersed in a land devoted to the Napoli soccer team and most notably their legendary player Diego Maradona. Flags, murals, banners, and, figurines focused on the team. Tiny pizza shops lined the streets. Laundry is laid out to dry on the terrace of nearly every apartment. Motorcycles racing by in a frenzy. Graffiti covering large portions of buildings. This scene is unlike anything I have ever experienced in Italy. Meanwhile, looming in the distance is the historic active volcano Mount Vesuvius. Depending on what street you are on, it is possible to see it.

Our first stop was fresh buffalo mozzarella from a local shop followed by some pizza. I tried pizza fritta which is basically fried pizza. The pizza is folded and sealed before it gets deep fried. A classic pizza margherita was next. I am not a wine and pizza guy. Always prefer beer. The local N’Artigiana Ambrata pale ale has the right amount of malt to handle these well cooked pies. My holy shit moment was when I tasted the frittatina. It's essentially a small, fried pasta cake. The frittatina is made with leftover pasta, often bucatini, which is mixed with a creamy béchamel sauce, peas and ham. The mixture is then shaped into small patties, breaded, and deep-fried until crispy. Extremely rich, I could not finish it. Notes were taken, I see a future menu item.

The tour guide really had it down. I needed a digestivo and a limoncello shop was our next stop. We met the producer who made several different kinds of limoncello. Wild fennel, cantaloupe, lemon cream, licorice and a few more. They were bright and not too sweet. A not particularly memorable gelato shop was the last stop. I was pleased with the tour nonetheless.

As freedom rang, I hightailed it to the coast to get a better glimpse of the beast that destroyed Pompeii almost 2,000 years ago. The coast is fairly active with locals and tourists alike. Children were playing tennis on a clay court right on the coast. Growing up playing tennis in Kansas, I cannot imagine having that view during practice.

My time was limited. I needed one more pizza to help me understand better what a pizza Neapolitan is. I opted for Isabella De Cham which was on my short list of spots to hit up. 3pm is kind of an odd time to visit a pizzeria even in Italy. I was the only person there at the time. I ordered the Diavola which is with San Marzano tomato sauce, spicy salami and fresh mozzarella. As you can tell by the photo below, it was insanely good.

Sadly, my quick time here was coming to a close. I had a train to catch. Waiting for my Uber which never showed and the Freenow taxi app which also never showed, I was able to have a conversation with some of the nice people that worked there. I explained my situation. The restaurant owner (I think), called her son who would be by shortly to pick me up. There was an order for a pizza fritta. This unexpected wait at the restaurant counter gave me the opportunity to see how it was made from start to finish. A large round fryer with no basket was used to plop the dough in. Sizzling dough came out crisp in a couple minutes. The son arrived and took me to the train station. It was a short adventure in Napoli. One that I look forward to doing again in the future.