If you thought a whole swathe of places were missing from our recent piece on eating Italian in Frankfurt, don’t worry. Now’s the time to focus on hot, crispy and delicious Italian food! This second piece on the city’s Italian highlights is entirely devoted to the most important culinary export from the home of Michaelangelo: pizza.
Perfect pizza design
What makes design in Italy so special? The recipe for this year’s Ambiente partner country is best summed up as: take a love of craft and tradition, add a desire for innovation, and you’ll create a timeless ‘made in Italy’ style. The same is true of the perfect pizza: the best ingredients are combined in special recipes, whether from centuries-old family tradition or new, time-saving preparation techniques. A tasty tour of Frankfurt’s pizzerias shows that good dough and a few well-chosen toppings can conjure up pleasure that leaves many a steak Chateaubriand in the shade.
Small, sweet and Sardinian
Our first restaurant has won countless awards and top rankings for its cuisine over the past thirty years. The pizza at Olbia is reputed to be the best in Frankfurt. No wonder that this unassuming pizzeria with a cafeteria charm, based in Frankfurt’s Nordend since 1979, sees long queues of pizza-loving students and bankers forming outside night and day. Their pizzas are comparatively small, with thin, crispy bases – and certainly worth the wait. It’s worth trying the special toppings imported from Sardinia, homeland of owner Giuseppe Sanna: how about sheep’s milk cheese or salsiccia?
Pizzerias are the place to be
If you’d rather sit for longer and enjoy lively Italian ambience alongside your Neapolitan pizza, why not visit the Bistro Salvatore at 16, Schöne Aussicht. Salvatore Rimonti has been welcoming diners, including many famous Frankfurt faces, since 1968. Known as ‘Salva’ to regulars, he’s always upbeat, and occasionally does some dancing off the cuff: he’s one of a kind. Another Frankfurt institution that’s been satisfying clientele for over 25 years with delicious pizza and pasta is Da Scialpi on Hochstraße, near the Alte Oper. It serves mainly bankers, brokers and shoppers from the Goethestraße und Fressgass’ areas. Hosts Patricia and Eustacchio Scialpi keep it simple, with no tablecloths or frills, and focus on product quality and service. Very tasty the food is too, from antipasti to wine and of course pizza. Our insider tip: the truffle pizza specialities are a real treat!
Hot news
We’ve mentioned the stalwarts of the pizza business, so now it’s time to look at some exciting newcomers with creative modern recipes and a fresh look. For instance the pizzerias Terranova and Pappanova on Eckenheimer Landstraße: both go back to basics for straightforward, unpretentious Italian cuisine. These two Nordend locations are making their mark with simple dishes and a modern, low-key atmosphere. The pizza is as it should be: crispy, succulent and ‘deliziosa’. Another new hot spot for pizza has emerged on Berger Straße in Bornheim. The Little Italy, which devotes itself to recipes from Italian immigrants to America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, makes thin crispy discs with toppings such as Philly cheese or steak: like you get in Little Italy, Manhattan. The restaurant’s also kitted out in kitsch and souvenirs on colourful walls, transforming Frankfurt on the Main into ‘Mainhattan’. And finally, the city’s gourmets and trendsetters are flocking to the very latest cult restaurant – Montana in the sought-after Bahnhofsviertel. Chef Sam Kamran wanted to serve ‘the best pizzas in town’, so he had a special oven custom built and shipped from the home of pizza. This bright yellow monster from Naples, an oven shaped like a giant smiley, produces pure pizza pleasure in a very short cooking time. Our top tip: you must try the Funghi White, with cream, Fontina cheese, fresh mushrooms and mint.
