North Beach’s latest pizzeria opened quietly last week, but there’s little chance it will stay so low profile. Pulcinella owner Luigi Pucci said the restaurant books up nightly, and will soon directly challenge nearby Tony’s Pizzeria Napoletana as a pizza school.
occupies a somewhat cursed space on Vallejo Street that has seen five restaurants go down in five years (most recently Cinque Terre). “I don’t know how this has happened. This location never worked for the past five years… We are packed every day,” Pucci said. This may have something to do with Pucci’s cousin Fabio Landmann, a pizzaiolo who moved from Naples a week before the opening to operate the imported Valoriani oven.
The family’s pizza legacy runs deep. Pucci’s family operates the Antico Molino Caputo flour company, and owns several other pizzerias in Italy and New York. Pucci told us that within about six months the restaurant will start offering training courses under Landmann. Meanwhile, you can check out the menu right here:
ANTIPASTI APPETIZER
Fritto misto (mix fried appetizer typical from Naples) 10 Tagliere Napolitano (sliced cold cuts with a truffle Italian cheese) 13
Burrata e prosciutto (fresh creamy mozzarella with 16 month Parma prosciutto) 14
Involtino di melenzane (lightly fried pastry involtino filled with cheese and eggplant) 10
Calamari fritti (lightly fried fresh calamari and zucchini) 13
Zuppa del giorno (soup of the day) 7
INSALATE SALADS
Insalata mista (mix green salad) 7
Insalata posillipo (arugula salad with seared scallops) 10
Insalata Caprese (fresh buffalo mozzarella heirloom tomato and basil) 10
PASTA
Calamarata (typical pasta from Naples with mussels, clams, bay shrimps and calamari) 18
Spaghetti alle vongole (with clams from the farmer market in white wine sauce) 16
Paccheri alla nerano ( pasta with zucchine, basil and Italian cheeses) 14
Fagottini cacio e pere (pasta filled with pears and cheese in a butter and sage sauce) 16
Tortelloni ( stuffed with porcini mushrooms in a mushrooms sauce and white truffle oil) 18
Cannelloni (choice of veal or vegetarian cannelloni in a creamy tomato sauce) 15
Gnocchi sorrentina ( potato dumplings with tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella and basil) 15
SECONDI ENTREES
Agnello alle erbe (grilled Rack of Lamb from Australia served with vegetables) 26
Filet Mignon (hormone free filet mignon in a creamy mushroom sauce) 28
Pollo alla Diavola (half grilled chicken in spicy tomato sauce) 16
Crudo di filetto (hormone free seared rare filet mignon sliced in a lemon sauce) 28
Vitello ripieno (prime cut veal filled with fresh mozzarella and Parma prosciutto) 23
Pesce del giorno (catch of the day) 25
PIZZA
Margherita (tomato, fresh mozzarella, and basil) 9.5
Marinara (tomato sauce, garlic, oregano and extra virgin olive oil) 8.5
Pulcinella (fresh cherry tomato, buffalo mozzarella, parmesan cheese) 12
Quattro stagioni (sausage, black olives, mushrooms and prosciutto) 13
Fra Diavolo (tomato, mozzarella, olives, capers, anchovies) 11
Salsiccia e friarielli (mozzarella, broccoli rabe, sausage) 11
Add : $ 2 prosciutto; $ 2 bufala mozzarella
