Gluten-free pizza crust a big draw
Gluten-free crust holds up well after quick stay in wood-burning oven from Naples
Well, there goes my hunch that Italians would be the last to succumb to gluten intolerance.
Enrico Fratoni, chef at the new-ish Soppa Sotto Pizzeria, is Italian; he loves pizza and he loves pasta and bread. But as he puts it, “I’ve got a gluten problem. I notice, if I overdo it, I get eczema — but I’m still eating small quantities of pizza and pasta. It’s so sad.”
He faults over-processed and over-refined wheat.
“It’s completely dead,” said the chef from Piedmont in northern Italy. (He’s so much a Piedmont native, he went truffle hunting). “If you put flour on the counter now, flies won’t approach it. At one time, in Italy, fruit flies would go to eat it.”
Processed yeast might also be a contributor, he believes.
“Before it used to be natural sourdough. Now, you have to pay over $7 a loaf for that.”
He says his gluten-free pizza crust is “a big, big seller.”
Well, touch wood, I’m not in the exodus from wheat and went to this Commercial Drive pizzeria eager to try his pizza and pasta. The restaurant’s website claims, “Like his ancestors, chef Enrico feels that food should be simple and made farmer style with fresh, seasonal ingredients.”
Sopra Sotto opened in May, a modern, light-filled, cheerful, family-friendly neighbourhood spot. One of the owners, Billy Kerasiotis, is acting GM and son to the owner of Olympic Pizza in Kitsilano.
On one side of the room, a long bar; on another, a serious-asheck Stefano Ferrara handmade wood-burning oven from Naples. With this fire-eating dragon, Fratoni turns out very good pizza. The crust is almost Neapolitan but sturdier and with more chew, which I liked. (Fratoni worked at the popular Neapolitan pizzeria Nicli Antica previously.) The base is firm enough not to require the al libretto move (folding around a soft middle) and has just enough charred leopard spots.
He uses double zero flour, the best for dough fermentation, stretch and baking. The dough sits for two days and the pie goes into a 400 C oven for 90 seconds. There’s a dozen pizza toppings on offer. I ordered the Amalfi ($18) in memory of a magical visit to the Amalfi Coast of Italy. San Marzano tomatoes, anchovy filets, Sicilian oregano, capers, olives, leeks, parsley and garlic were lightly strewn about. Very good. The Margherita, Capricciosa and Porchetta with broccoli rabe and mozzarella are the top sellers.
There are three pastas and usually another offered as a special, like the popular truffles with mixed mushrooms or tomato with burrata. The chitarrine al ragu sounded inviting. The square spaghetti was sauced with Bolognese, drunk from red wine because where Fratoni comes from, red wine aces tomato sauce.
I opted for macceroni al forno ($17), better understood as mac and cheese. This one riffed on a cousin of pizzoccheri pasta from Italy’s alpine region with cabbage and potatoes and cheese, Fontina in this instance. He bakes it in the wood-fired oven. He makes his pasta with a dough extruder
(from Italy, natch) that pumps out rough surface pasta, the better to capture the sauce.
The verdict is yes, it’s good pasta, a little bit chewy and cooked al dente.
We shared an antipasto misto platter ($22) with cured meats, peppers with anchovies, pepperonata, pear with shavings of Parmigiano and balsamic vinegar. The quality was consistently very good. This dish changes up, but his meats are from La Grotta or Valoroso Foods. An order of focaccia went well with the antipasto.
For dessert, we shared a lemon tart ($8), which I liked because it wasn’t too sweet; it had a pine nut and almond top crust.
Wines are mostly Italian and the pours are generous. It’s backed up with some local draft beers and bottled imports as well as a handful of cocktails.
And here’s the noise report: There are a lot of hard surfaces and it does get loud when the place fills up, but not to the point where you have the urge to tell people to stop shouting already!