Giovanni Santarpia in Florence, review: the best fried pizza

The environment

Just outside the city center, or rather, a few hundred meters from Porta Romana, Giovanni Santarpia's pizzeria is a small haven of peace, halfway between city and countryside. You're welcomed not just by a name written on a sign, but by a one-man showman, his colorful aprons and engaging smile making you feel right at home. After a three-year stint in Florence, in 2020 the pizza chef from Castellammare di Stabia decided to open his own pizzeria, literally putting his face to it. How? With respect for Neapolitan tradition, both in terms of pizza and the typically Southern Italian service, but also through welcoming, contemporary spaces, complete with a newly renovated terrace for al fresco dining during the summer.

The menu

"To tease." It begins precisely like this, with a selection of nine appetizers to break the ice and open your stomach, leveraging the driving force of this pizzeria: conviviality. It's impossible not to order a fried dish, starting with the classic and gourmet Montanarine—two per plate—with tomato, salted ricotta, or ingredients of the day (like the one—pictured—with prosciutto, burrata, and mandarin marmalade, in which the almost pungent acidity of the mandarin and the creaminess of the burrata blend beautifully with the savory charcuterie and, more generally, with the montanarine dough). Soft on the inside and crispy on the outside, they melt in your mouth, just like Luca Cai's fried pasta rolls with Lampredotto and salsa verde: an interregional dish, originating from Giovanni's Campania and then celebrating the specialty of the city that adopted it (lampredotto is a Florentine dish made from one of the four sections of the bovine stomach, the abomasum).

The pizza menu continues this generous trend, offering 16 options plus at least one pizza of the day. There's significantly less choice when it comes to beverages (wine and beer), though knowing Santarpia and having tried it several times has already made the list more extensive. On tap, however, you'll have to make do with industrial beers.

The pizza

While Giovanni Santarpia's signature fried pizza is truly unparalleled, at least in the Tuscan capital, his more traditional pizzas are no exception. The menu is based on seasonality, ensuring you'll always find some great classics, as well as many temporary pizzas, the result of Giovanni's ongoing research and therefore tied to the cycles of nature. The unmistakable hallmark is that of Neapolitan pizza with a distinctive crust, whose dough, left to rise slowly and generously hydrated, never weighs you down, remaining soft and delicate even as it begins to cool.

If I had to choose a signature pizza from Santarpia, I'd instantly mention his yellow Marinara and Margherita, with Piennolo yellow cherry tomatoes, Casolare smoked provola, salted ricotta, basil, and extra virgin olive oil, respectively, and with Piennolo yellow cherry tomatoes, Cetara anchovies, Salina capers, garlic, Pantelleria oregano, Taggiasca olives, basil, and extra virgin olive oil. A tribute to the Piennolo yellow cherry tomatoes, their freshness, sweetness, and total lack of acidity, a twist on two pizza legends without disrespecting them. The Parmigiana, with grilled eggplant cream, Piennolo cherry tomatoes, Casolare fior di latte, basil pesto, and a crispy parmesan and extra virgin olive oil wafer, is even more appreciable. In this case, the interplay of flavors, textures, and temperatures between the delicate eggplant velouté—creamy rather than chunky—and the savory/crunchy touch provided by the crispy parmesan wafer (also present and convincing in the La Scarola pizza with curly endive, Casolare fior di latte, dried tomatoes, Cetara anchovies, and lime-flavored bread crumble) is undoubtedly a mix that helps explain, even on a technical level, why Giovanni has been considered one of the faces par excellence of Neapolitan pizza in Florence for years.

The sweets

Like the beverage menu and, more generally, the entire venue, the dessert selection has also grown over time, now comprising six different options that strive to please every taste, whim, and need. To please even the most international palates, we find, for example, the cold cheesecake, crème brûlée with pears in vin santo, and chocolate tart (49% cocoa), while for Campania purists and those seeking a lighter option, the Babà or Tiramisu with Bronte pistachios and the vegan tart with seasonal jam are good choices. To finish on a high note, a sip of Pistacchiello, a alcoholic pistachio cream that Santarpia has shipped directly from his hometown of Castellammare, leaving a final piece of home in the memories (and stomachs) of those who visit.

Opinion

Giovanni Santarpia's is the pizzeria I go to when I want to relax and enjoy an excellent pizza in the company of someone I care about. In fact, I already know that as soon as I walk through the door at Via Senese 155r, I'll find the ever-smiling Giovanni, his young and welcoming staff, his inviting fried pizza, and perhaps a pizza of the day—it always turns out that way—capable of striking me with its intrinsic connection to the excellent local produce that particular season offers us. Even better, if it's summer and we can sit, in complete privacy, on the festively lit terrace. Conviviality and hospitality are the key words of this small but comfortable establishment, which definitely deserves its place among the best pizzerias in Florence.

PRO

• Mouth-watering fried pizza, a family-friendly welcome, and a focus on seasonal produce with a variety of daily specials.

AGAINST

• The beer and wine list isn't (yet) up to the level of the food menu, but this is certainly nothing new for Giovanni.