Stracci Pizza

I stumbled across Stracci Pizza in a Facebook group I’m a member of that began at the beginning of COVID with the goal of highlighting local restaurants that needed help staying open. I scrolled their Instagram page and what really caught my eye besides marketing themselves as a Roman-style pizzeria was that they have special pizzas that are only sold for a week or less. Having been to Rome four times, I was intrigued.

For my appetizer, I had the meatballs. They were delectable! I mean just look at how Stracci describes them:

“Four 3-oz meatballs made with 100% grass-fed beef from Joyce Farms, a panade of 72-hour pizza dough soaked in Clover Farms cream and milk, red onion, white wine sofrito, confit garlic, 24-month Parmigiano-Reggiano and pecorino. Finished with Bianco DiNapoli tomatoes, salsa verde, shaved parmesan and a dollop of stracciatella!”

The sauce is fantastic. It’s not overly sweet or salty which I liked. I ended up dipping my pizza into it as well as the bread that came with my friend’s dish. But the meatballs weren’t dry or dense like you sometimes get. Again, complex flavors that work in harmony with the main attraction is what you want. The meatballs are a must-try dish at Stracci.

For my main dish I decided to get their pizza special “A Love Letter to Rome.” The pizza is topped with guanciale (pork cheek), pecorino black pepper fonduta, charred puntarella, and egg yolk. I felt almost compelled to try it because the waiter described it as the pizza version of carbonara (my favorite Italian pasta dish) and cacio e pepe (another popular roman dish). I loved the toppings, especially the guanciale, but the real star for me was the crust. It had the perfect combination of crispiness and airy lightness, and really made me ponder the importance of the crust in elevating a pizza. Indeed, it was so perfect that I wish every pizza crust was like Stracci’s.

For dessert, I got tiramisu which, like crème brulee, is a go-to dessert for me. What I liked about it was that the layers were defined, the mascarpone was creamy and light, and the dish itself wasn’t suffering from oversaturated ladyfingers. That being said, it lacked a strong coffee flavor which I tend to prefer.

Overall, I really enjoyed my experience at Stracci’s. I don’t typically eat pizza at restaurants here in America, but Stracci’s transported me back to Italy and the time-honored tradition of getting your own pizza. For the crust alone, I have to come back and I hope you give them a chance as well.