Neapolitan pizza is the focus at this new Pearl River eatery

Get ready pizza lovers: A new Italian restaurant with an emphasis on Neapolitan pies opens Sept. 1 in Pearl River.

Daniel Nizzardini, who most recently was the lead pizzaiolo at L'Antica Pizzeria Da Michele in New York's West Village, and before that the catering manager for acclaimed Westchester Chef David DiBari's woodfired pizza truck DoughNation, is behind Pizzetiéllo (pronounced Pizza-TEA-ello), a 35-seat spot on E. Central Ave where River Lounge (and before that Bin 41) had been.

Nizzardini, who also worked in Manhattan's fine dining establishments as well as a host of red sauce spots throughout the tristate area, grew up in New City. But he has family from Napoli, meaning he was able to spend time there at different points of his youth and early adulthood. He was also, over the years, able to learn from a lot of talented and accomplished third-generation pizza makers. It's these experiences, he said, that have shaped his personal and professional life.

What about the menu?

Long story short: He loves the pizzerias, rustic trattorias and spritz bars in Italy and has based his new eatery around that concept. He thinks of it more as an Italian wine bar/gastropub than a traditional Italian restaurant (there's no pasta here!). That means sharable plates like Arugula salad, Gambas (domestic garlic shrimp, Spanish-smoked paprika, Italian olive oil, organic lemon and house bread crostini), "Bud Spencer," (white bean, pancetta, vegetable and parm broth soup), and "Bertola," ragu and house bread — he makes his own bread — with Sunday sauce featuring beef and pork or white wine braised bone marrow Genovese ragu.

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As for the pizzas, they're made using a 15-year-old Italian-style mother dough, which is fed by house milled flour made with New York state grown organic ancient grains. Sourcing from the Hudson Valley, as well as from Italy, is a big part of Nizzardini's mission. "Obviously being an Italian restaurant we plan to import some things but our focus first is getting the best we can from our area first," he said.

There are 11 personal pies, each large enough to feed two. Among the choices: "#Free Ariel Lee," with mozzarella, broccoli rabe vellutata, sausage and shaved parm; "D-A-M" (Diego Armando Maradona), with organic lemon, mozzarella, basil, whipped ricotta, pecornio, shaved parm and garlic breadcrumbs; the classic Margherita, which can be made with double cheese and Zesto, zucchini pesto, mozzarella, cherry tomatoes and shaved parmesan.

Each pie comes with the option of a dollop of burrata on top.

There are no gluten-free pizzas (that may change down the road) but the non-GMO and organic flours Nizzardini blends along with his naturally leavened starter create a light and digestible product that even he, who has Crohn's disease, can easily digest.

The menu also carries unique calzones, which come in all the flavor combinations the pizzas do, and are dressed on the top with the ingredients they're stuffed with. "Ripieno Napoletano is the technical name," explained Nizzardini. "So it's like a double stuffed pizza."

Wine and beer are to come — he'll have a liquor license in a few months. When he does, diners can expect a focus on New York State and Italian biodynamic wines.

What's in a name?

The Clarkstown native said he chose the interesting menu names because he wanted to use the proper Italian and Neapolitan descriptors. But he thought they'd be too difficult or intimidating for his customers, so he looked for simple ways to describe each item with humor. Free Ariel Lee, for example, is how you phonetically pronounce the way broccoli rabe is pronounced in Neapolitan — it's friarielli — and it's one of the most essential and traditional ingredients in the Southern Italian diet.

D-A-M is named after Diego Armando Maradona, who played for the Napoli soccer team in the '80s and, he said, "is venerated, without exaggeration, as a saint to many of us."

Pasolini is what he calls the restaurant's pink sauce, named for Pier Paolo Pasolini, a famous poet, writer, and filmmaker who was known for his Communist views.

Passion for Italy

Along with having fun playing with the menu, Nizzardini is enjoying using his background in pastry as well as his experience making pizza to take things up a notch and be creative (and seasonal). Talk to him for a few minutes — the open kitchen makes it easy to converse if you're at the bar — and you'll soon find he's big into Italian history. Ask him a question, including about his Neapolitan style blue oven (assembled on site,) and you'll get a lively conversation worthy of a history class.

He chose to add "Partenopei," the ancient name for the city of Naples and one of the sirens in Homer's Odyssey, for the oven's moniker. "This name conjures the essence of Neapolitan history and cultural identity," he said.

The oven, located behind the bar, matches the airy ocean-blue decor, giving the place a minimalist Amalfi Coast feel. Diners will find white tiled walls on one side, wood on the other, along with an airy dining room with assorted stools and blue and gray chairs. The bar and oven in the back are a focus. A garland of greenery hangs on clear panels by the bar so you can watch the pizza action while also feeling like you're in someone's backyard garden.

Nizzardini's love for Italy shines through in every aspect of the contemporary spot, including in the name. "Pizzetiéllo translates in the Neapolitan language to a small nook corner or niche 'hole in the wall' type location," he said. "Which I think fits us perfectly."

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If you go

Address: 41 E Central Ave., Pearl River, 845-735-3176

Hours: 4 to 10 p.m. Wednesday to Sunday to start. Expect hours to change in late fall when brunch may be added.

Good to know: There's no liquor license yet — that's to come later this year — but once it does, he'll serve beer and wines, with a focus on vintages from Italy and the Hudson Valley.

Jeanne Muchnick covers food and dining. Click here for her most recent articles and follow her latest dining adventures on Instagram @lohud_food or via the lohudfood newsletter. 

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Pearl River Italian eatery with a Neapolitan pizza focus opening