Photos by David Moore Parma pizza

With closer attention to detail, this Scottsdale hot spot could deliver what Naples does best – perfect pizza.

Thanks to the agony and ecstasy of air travel, in less than a week I went from chomping on pizza in a restaurant on an ancient street in Naples to ripping into a very similar pie at Pomo Pizzeria Napoletana in Scottsdale’s Borgata.

Pomo is the only local pizza certified to be “authentic” (made the Napoli way) by the Verace Pizza Napoletana Association, the Italian government and the European Union. It involves a process that starts with imported ingredients, includes a rigidly defined method of assembly and one to one-and-a-half minutes in a wood-burning oven handmade in Naples for the roughly 12-inch pies.

The setting is strictly Scottsdale. It’s done in cream and slate brown, punctuated with graceful arched windows and a wall-sized mural of a Neapolitan street scene. Except for a bar and busy open kitchen, it’s a bit stark. There’s a lot going on, though: Numerous staff members, cheerful and mostly efficient, are in constant motion, and at peak hours the tiny tables are full.

Pizza is the main event, and the foundation crust is buttery soft with a fat, blistered rim. There are almost 20 varieties, which include red-sauced and sauceless, simple or loaded. Meats and cheeses are top-of-the-line, but every one of the half dozen pies I tried was carelessly assembled with the toppings unevenly distributed and/or skimpily applied. Our server extolled the “fresh pesto” on the Donna Rosa ($15.95) made with shrimp and cherry tomatoes. It was so thinly spread as to be barely discernable, with the shrimp all huddled on one side of the pie. The Santa Lucia ($14.95) had a thin layer of cooked-to-mush rapini, and the rounds of sausage were encircled with blackened skin. Potentially a winner, the Sopranos ($14.95) topped with chicken, gorgonzola and pine nuts was missing the promised pancetta.

prosciutto panini

The same lack of precision affected other dishes as well. Carpaccio ($13.95) made with bresaola (air-dried beef) was big-flavored and satisfying but marred by yellow, wilted arugula. The mango salad ($9.95) included brown iceberg and hard, under-ripened fruit. Equally under-ripened tomatoes formed the foundation of the Caprese salad ($9.95), which was topped with exactly six shreds of basil (our server brought more upon request). An exceptional panini was huge, crackly crusted and stuffed with silky prosciutto and creamy mozzarella ($10.95). Resembling a calzone, a limp and greasy “fried pizza” ($16.95) came eerily close to Arizona State Fair fry bread.

Unlike many Italian eateries, dessert (all $7.95) isn’t downplayed at Pomo. The pineapple “carpaccio,” thinly sliced, marinated in Grand Marnier and topped with shreds of orange rind and a plop of lemon sorbet, is simply genius. Cool, vanilla-rich panna cotta (gelatin-based custard) with berries is also deliciously refreshing.

The pizza I ate in Naples looked as good as it tasted. Excellent product and authentic methods of preparation are only half the story. Careful workmanship is the other half.

inside Pomo

DETAILS
Pomo Pizzeria Napoletana
Cuisine: Pizza
Address: 6166 N. Scottsdale Road (The Borgata), Scottsdale
Phone: 480-998-1366
Website: pomopizzeria.com
Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday
Highlights: Carpaccio ($13.95), Sopranos pizza ($14.95), prosciutto panini ($10.95), pineapple carpaccio ($7.95), panna cotta ($7.95)