Tucked inside the Old World Wisconsin-like Stonewood Village in Brookfield is a cozy Italian restaurant serving Neapolitan-style pizzas. Still the most common style of pizza in Italy, Neopolitan pies are the godfather of American pizza as we know it today. Everything from national chains to Maria’s and Ian’s are descendants of Neapolitan pizzas.
To truly be considered Neapolitan, one thing is paramount: a wood-fired oven. Mozzaluna moved into a space that had previously housed a pizzeria with a wood pizza oven, so carrying on the pizza making was an easy decision. Also in classic style, all their pizzas are about 12 inches in diameter and designed to serve one or two people. In Italy, you often are served a pizza on a plate, uncut, with a fork and knife. That’s a little bit strange for some American diners, so Mozzaluna cuts their pizza into slices, making it easier to share and try other toppings.
The crust is hand stretched with a shapely outer rim around a thin, but not crisp, center. Italian 00 flour—that’s Italian-style flour characterized by how finely it’s ground—is used to achieve a tender crumb and good char in the immensely hot wood oven. That char is key to a good pie: the slight bitterness offsets the sweetness of the tomatoes and adds a crisp texture.
Mozzaluna offers a classic Margherita pizza ($9.99) simply topped with tomato sauce, mozzarella, olive oil, basil and oregano. If this pizza differs from the classic in any way, it’s that there’s much more cheese, but most American diners will appreciate that diversion from the original. The cheese used is a high-quality Wisconsin brand Grande known in the pizza-making world as the gold standard mozzarella. For $2 more, you can also upgrade your cheese further and get fresh fior di latte mozzarella. Instead of a low-moisture shredded cheese, fior di latte is what we consider “fresh” mozzarella that comes in balls in a water solution. It will add moisture to your pie, but the creaminess of fresh mozzarella is impossible to match.
For those that prefer some meat on their pizza, the Diavola ($14.99) is a good choice. It tops the standard Margherita with Italian sausage, red pepper flakes and soppressata, a cured Italian salami similar to pepperoni. There’s quite a bit of meat on this one and placing the soppresatta under the cheese ensures it doesn’t dry out in the oven. Instead, it helps to flavor the tomato sauce, which traditionally is plainer than American pizza sauces. The sauce here is made from high-quality canned tomatoes and not much else, letting diners taste tomato and not dried herbs or garlic. It’s a refreshing change of pace if you’re used to American-style sauces. Other pies feature toppings including artichoke hearts, anchovies, prosciutto and fresh arugula leaves.
If you’re not in a pizza mood (I always am), there’s a small assortment of pastas, sandwiches and appetizers to choose from. Both pizza crusts and pasta can be made gluten free for a $3.50 upcharge. Bruschetta ($6.99) with roasted tomatoes, garlic and basil is an ever-popular appetizer choice, and lasagne ($15.99) with meat and creamy béchamel sauce will always please. Whatever you order, it’ll be easy to enjoy it in the warm, casual maze of dining rooms or at the wood-topped bar.
Mozzaluna
17700 W. Capitol Drive, Brookfield
262-790-1077
$$-$$$
Handicap access: Yes
