Lievità – Pizzeria Gourmet

Those who know me know this: for me the only pizza is the Margherita (cheese pizza). Before ordering I always carefully read through the menu, curious about the different varieties available, but in the end my choice is always the same. Because pizza, for me, tastes like tomato, mozzarella, extravirgin olive oil and basil. Nothing else. Well, I have finally found the place that is capable of bringing some variety to my monotony: it’s called Lievità and is located at number 11 of the adorable via Ravizza.

Here there are no less than nine margherita pizzas on the menu, each one with a different variety of tomato: from the classic San Marzano to the Piennolo, all the way to black little Kumato and yellow Vesuvian, some paired with Agerola fiordilatte (a moist, fresh cheese similar to mozzarella), others with Protected Designation of Origin Campagna buffalo mozzarella, others still with smoked provolone. Because each tomato has its own level of acidity and sweetness and, to exalt it to the max, it is paramount to combine it with the right ingredients.

It is a self-proclaimed “Gourmet Pizzeria“, and there’s no doubt about it. The quality of the primary ingredients is excellent and the flavour is amazing. The real gem is the dough: specially chosen, stoneground flours, mother yeast produced in house from the maceration of figs and a 48 hour rise according to the true Neapolitan tradition. The result is a type of dough I have never eaten in Milan before, puffy but not gluey, well cooked and crunchy.

There are more than just margherite, obviously. For refined and curious palates there are “extreme Gourmet” pizzas, like the Brontese with pesto and Bronte pistacchios, Agerola mozzarella, Parmigiano Reggiano (of protected designation of origin) aged for 24 months, Sorrento lemons, and basil or the Ficardo with Cilento figs, protected designation of origin Genovese basil, fresh Agerola mozzarella and basil.

The location is small and inviting, obviously with a visible oven. A little noisy, but just enough to transmit liveliness without being annoying. The décor is modern, refined but essential, because the only protagonist here is the pizza, the rest is just a side.

Just to give you an idea of how good this pizza is, as I was leaving the restaurant I was already contemplating over which variety of margherita to taste the next time! Thanks a million to the D’Angelo family (yes, the same one from the Trita burger joint!) and to the impeccable Giorgio Caruso, master pizza man who came from Caserta for this very job, for bringing the best pizzeria in the city to Milan.