You might say the Sorbillo family come from quite a long line of pizza makers. Their father has 21 siblings, and all are Pizzaioli (pizza makers).
The original Sorbillo pizza opened in 1935 in Naples and is still operating today. Gino Sorbillo opened his own “House of Pizza” in Naples and a pizza making legend was born. Gino and his brother Toto finally brought their talents stateside in November, opening their first Sorbillo Pizzeria on the Bowery.
The menu features Neapolitan-style pies done masterfully with a variety of toppings reflecting the local ingredients of various regions of Italy. The Eternal City’s region of Lazio is represented in the Vecchia Roma: topped with guanciale, pecorino gran cru, fresh mozzarella, San Marzano tomatoes, Terre Francescane, and organic EVOO. Italy’s hot pepper loving region of Calabria is celebrated in the Nduja pie, named after the spicy, Calabrian spreadable sausage. The Bolzano features speck (Alto Aldige’s smoked ham) 3 types of cheese (fresh mozzarella, robiola cheese, asiago cheese) and arugula.
Whatever pie you choose they all arrive perfectly-cooked with a nice char covering a pillowy crust. The menu includes several pastas, calzones, and various antipasti including an excellent eggplant parmigiana but the pizza is really the star of the show. If you somehow have room for dessert you probably didn’t order enough pizza, but the tiramisu was a nicely-balanced rendition without suffering from being overly sweet. Rumor has it Sorbillo Pizza is plotting a major international expansion but for the time being New Yorkers are fortunate enough to have bragging rights to be the only place to sample this legendary pizza family’s masterful pies.
