Pomo Pizzeria

Phoenix, AZ (The Joy of Food) — By now, everyone’s heard of Franco Pepe, the pizzaiolo making the ‘best pizza in the world’ according to some of the biggest critics, a guy who eschewed the way Neapolitan pizza is supposed to be, did his own thing, and got banned by the VPN. 

The VPN

The VPN in this case is the Verace Pizza Napoletana Associazione, a trade organization that exists to promote and protect the Neapolitan pizza tradition worldwide. Yes, there’s an org for that. A business with the VPN designation agrees to use certain high-quality ingredients, cook their pizzas in approved wood-fired ovens, and adhere to traditional pizza-making methods.

Depending on your way of thinking, you either live or die by the VPN, or like Franco Pepe, you tell it to take a hike. In other words, your pizza-loving mileage may vary.

It’s impossible not to run into a life-changing pizza if you take a stroll down Via Tribunali in Naples, but without the VPN and their rule book, pizza nirvana outside of Naples would be harder to come by. As a diner, the VPN gives you a fighting chance of finding a decent Neapolitan pizza outside of Italy. With the VPN to serve as the pizza police, a proper Neapolitan pizza has a better chance of making its way to you wherever you may be. 

The practice

Taste, ingredients, and texture are all hallmarks of any great pizza and vary, usually a lot, from one type to the next, but Neapolitan pizza has the added distinction of being squarely centered around process. The way it’s made is just as important as what goes into it or how it tastes. 

When you visit Pomo, a member of the VPN, you’ll reap the benefits of this tradition, plus air-conditioning in the Arizona heat for an hour or two.

Unlike crisp New York pizza or hefty deep dish Chicago-style pies, a Neapolitan pizza will have a slightly crisp crust that leads to a thin, soft, tender, nearly soupy center where the sauce, oil, and cheese mix together. These chewy, crispy, and liquidy layers work in harmony to deliver a composite flavor that’s charred, sweet, and tangy all at once. 

The food

At Pomo, the margherita is just about as perfect as you can get outside of home base: a thin, blistered crust; a light swirl of sweet San Marzano tomato sauce perfumed with fresh basil; and hand-torn ovals of mozzarella distributed liberally on top. Something called the bufala verace subs in buffalo mozzarella for the cow’s milk stuff on the standard pizza. One of these should be on the must-order list for any visit.

Similar to the pizza, appetizers of bruschette bring the sweetness of pure chopped or cherry tomatoes, the creaminess of mozzarella, and some herby basil delight. Types with avocado and meats might be on the menu and amp up the flavor profile even more.

Pastas here skew northern Italian in sauce and southern Italian in shape. Most of it is heavy stuff, complex in ways you’ve never contemplated, and also overlaid with parsley, basil, or rosemary that seem to perfume each dish. 

The inevitable dessert is tiramisù with its almost even layers of mascarpone and savoiardi (lady fingers), which tastes more of espresso and less of the creamy custardy sweet cheese that I like in my tiramisù. Coffee lovers will appreciate this, and everyone else will probably find it to be a passable rendition. Drinks run the gamut from carefully selected red and white wines, speciality cocktails, and beer, including the all-important Peroni. 

And like any comparable restaurant in Italy, the inside of Pomo is usually bustling. In the background, a huge mural depicting everyday life in Naples hangs on one of Pomo’s walls, a not-so-subtle reminder of where this bontà originated.

Written by Joy

Thanks for reading. The Joy of Food blog celebrates eating well, traveling often, and living la dolce vita. San Diego, California is home base, but thoughts are from all over. Reviews and photos help to highlight wonderful (or not) food experiences from around the world.

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