Today I was in Port Moody to celebrate Spacca Napoli’s 10th anniversary, alongside their family and friends. And as I entered to the crowd of happy guests and neighbours, I wondered why I have never been before today? This is also considering that it only took me 10 minutes to drive down here, and that there was plenty of free residential parking around.
Guests entered to a display of wine and Aperol spritz on risers to partake from. And with liquid courage we were encouraged to mix and mingle with the other invite-only guests.
The evening was arranged as a seated dinner with the entirety of the restaurant accounted for. As each course came out, one of their chefs would present and speak to it.
Our time began with welcoming speeches from the general manager and owners. They thanked and acknowledged the locals that got them to where they were today: celebrating 10 years in the community that loves them. They joked that the secret to their success is to be crazy and surround themselves with crazy people. Praising food, family, and God.
We started with Antipasto. This was a charcuterie selection of imported meat and cheeses. We were all impressed by the hand carved “10” to symbolize their anniversary. These were all Italian products. The cheese was from Campania, a region in southern Italian; and the cold cuts came from all over Italy. Their focus is on authentic products from their cities of origins.
The board was accompanied by their housemade bruschetta. One with tomatoes, the other with coloured peppers. Both smashed and seasoned, sitting on crusty bread. This was a lovely start, and an easy way to set the stage to showcase the quality ingredients they enlist. The hard part was not filling up on the above knowing we had 5 more courses to come.
Our next course was Suppli, which stands for “street food surprise”. These were essentially arinchini balls, but instead of rice the filling was a tomato spaghetti and/or a truffle mushroom risotto. Some even got breadcrumb coated, deep fried mozzarella. We didn’t know what each was until we bit in. But each a warm and crispy ball that did its job to surprise and delight.
Our next course was pasta, a taster of two severed at opposite ends of a plate. The Ziti alla Genovese was how our chef’s grandmother makes it. No short cuts, just beef slowly cooked for 10 hours. The result, a tender meat sauce that we all loved, coupled with the perfectly cooked rigatoni. Both together atelike a saucy and light stew.
The Gnocchi alla Sorrentina was pillowy rounds that melt in your mouth. So gummy and soft that it stuck to the roof of your mouth. Each coated in a gentle tangy tomato essence, this was my favourite pasta between the two.
Before dessert our palate cleanser was a lemon sorbetto with Prosecco and a limoncello topper. This was tart, bright and refreshingly creamy. It cleansed with tannins that made your mouth water.
And the highlight of our meal, and what everyone was waiting for all night was their curated pizza experience. On top of serving their popular and classic margherita pizza with high quality DOP ingredients, they also created a specialty pizza specifically meant to commemorate this evening.
Both with a thin crust that is equal parts crusty and soft and chewy. Their dough is fermented for 24 hours; made with only flour, yeast, and water. A simple recipe to allow the ingredients to speak for themselves.
As for the aforementioned creation, it features two flavours of Napoli brought together for this one pizza. It was described as resembling the pope’s peaked hat, where its brim, was the crust stuffed with ricotta. The pizza was dressed with a cream sauce, similar to that of a famous zucchini pasta. It is topped with salami, black pepper, smoked cheese, basil, and a little bit of mint. Brought together for their unique flavours, with a mild yet flavourful presence. It was like two dishes in one. They cut and serve the crust and pizza separate for double the eating and double the enjoyment.
And for dessert they set the bar with self serve individual-portion Pistachio Tiramisu. Served in a cup it was like whipped pudding with crunchy nuts and soaked bread for texture.
There was also espresso available, and The Woods’ limoncello as a digestif, or in my case, dessert shot.
They also invited the Cannoli King to attend this evening, and he brought his portable cannoli tray. With it he piped to order, marscapone into cannoli tubes, then dipped each end into white chocolate curls. This was delicious, I have never had a cannoli more fresh.
In short, I loved everything I tried and appreciate being able to taste their food for the first time, like this today. I will be back and will definitely recommend them for pizza, pasta, and all things authenticity Italian. Looking forward to seeing them around for another 10 years.
Pizzeria Spacca Napoli
2801 St Johns St, Port Moody, BC V3H 2C1
pizzeriaspaccanapoli.com
