CHESTERFIELD, Mo. — For Anthony Gitto, food is more than a simple meal.
"That's the thing about food, and I tell this to a lot of people, it's like art," he says.
Gitto is the Executive Chef and General Manager of Napoli Bros. Pizza and Pasta.
The latest venture from the Napoli Group opened last month.
"It was really Kye and Andy Pietoso that wanted to do something different," Gitto says.
The Pietoso family knows restaurants. When Kye and Andy approached their family friend, Gitto, with the concept, the Bros. got to work.
Napoli Bros., the fifth restaurant from the team, specializes in casual Italian fare. You’ll find familiar favorites from other Napoli restaurants on the menu, but it is the New Haven-style Neapolitan pizza, spearheaded by Gitto, that sets the Bros. apart.
New Haven-style pizza is a style of slightly thin-crust, coal-fired Neapolitan pizza common in and around New Haven, Connecticut.
The exposed kitchen’s centerpiece is the coal-fired 600-degree oven. And it’s the only one you will find in St. Louis.
Their signature pizza, The Napoli Bros., is topped with sausage, pepperoni, pancetta, and caramelized onion. Gitto's favorite is the Arugula pizza. A coal-fired pie topped with buffalo mozzarella, lemon, olive oil, prosciutto, and shaved parmesan.
And you can’t go wrong with the Bros. lineup of appetizers. The Cheese Arancini puts a fresh spin on the Sicilian street food. The fried risotto is served on top of a red and green pesto sauce. In the words of Chef Gitto, this one is art.
The Coal-Fired Meatballs? Art.
Because after all, for Gitto and the Pietoso's, food is more than just a simple meal.
"I've been in restaurants the majority of my life. It's all I know, and I just love making people happy. When I sit down and I think to myself what drives me in the restaurant business, it's making people happy," Gitto says.
Whether it’s pizza, pasta, or a cocktail, at Napoli Bros., it is a work of art.
Napoli Bros. Pizza and Pasta is located at 17084 N. Outer Rd. Suite 205, Chesterfield, MO 63005. For more information, visit their website or follow along on social media.
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