If you live in Los Angeles, New York, Connecticut, or Chicago, finding great pizza parlors is relatively easy. In fact, most major cities around the U.S. have stellar options that run the gamut of styles from New York slices and Chicago deep dish to authentic versions of Neapolitan, Roman, and Sicilian pies.
Still, there are parts of the country where great pizzas are a little harder to come by. That’s why it’s so refreshing to see something new and different happening in Savannah, Georgia, the small coastal city known for its design school and charming architecture, though perhaps not for its elevated Italian cuisine.
Anyone who has been to the bustling Starland Yard, an indoor/outdoor food park constructed from shipping containers, can tell you that the leopard-spotted pizzas that are being fired up at Pizzeria Vittoria are something Savannah has never seen. And when you realize that chef Kyle Jacovino is selling 400 of these extraordinary pies a day, it’s worth taking note.
Pizzeria Vittoria at Starland Yard. Credit: Andrew Thomas Lee
Jacovino, an Italian-American chef who grew up in Connecticut, cut his teeth at famous kitchens in the Northeast. But it wasn’t until a six-month journey through Italy that he found his true calling as a pizzaiolo.
“When I was in Naples it was purely emotional inspiration. I went to Pizzeria Brandi and ate in an alleyway. I had their Margherita pizza and the whole vibe of that place, how it made me feel, I realized that this is what I want to do. I want to make pizza and I want to make really simple and solid Italian food,” Jacovino says.
Even though pizza was now coursing through his veins, it wasn’t until a stint in Venice where he learned to mass-produce dough balls with two hands, and a trip to Puglia where he learned about the Slow Food Movement, did Jacovino’s philosophy on pizza truly take shape.
Credit: Andrew Thomas Lee
“I was blown away by the farm-to-table elements in Puglia," Jacovino says. "And I did everything there from harvesting grapes and making cheese to picking vegetables. And it’s one thing to read about this stuff, but when you go and do it, you realize this isn’t bullshit. This is how they live. And everything on that trip was connected in a weird way and ties into everything I’m doing now in Savannah.”
Roughly defined, the Slow Food movement, which started in Italy in the 1980s, is an alternative to fast food. It’s about supporting local producers, respecting traditions, promoting sustainability, and providing diners with a holistic eating experience.
“For me, I saw the Italians as inspiration with the way they were living off their land," Jacovino says. "I wanted to see how I could do the same thing with pizza in Savannah. We have great millers, we have great wheat, we have great dairy, we have great everything. So, how can we use all of that?”
Pizzas at Pizzeria Vittoria. Credit: Andrew Thomas Lee
The Slow Food ethos made a lasting impression on Jacovino, and it’s how he operates his 500-square-foot pizzeria today. His dough is made from regional wheat by millers like Anson Mills and Lindley Mills. His fior di latte comes from a cheesemaker in North Carolina, and all the vegetables are from local farmers.
As for the pizza itself, Jacovino cringes at the word neo-Neapolitan, but his starter-based dough, 48-hour fermentation process, 800-825° cooking temperatures, and his 90-second cooking time is a tweaked version of Neapolitan pizza that produces poufy, charred crusts topped with innovative ideas.
Even his oven is from the legendary Gianni Acunto, whose family has been making ovens in Naples since the late 1800s.
Jacovino and his Acunto Oven. Credit: Andrew Thomas Lee
So, the next time you’re in the South and think there’s no way you’ll find great Italian food, head to Savannah, find the food park built out of steel containers, and ask Kyle Jacovino to fire up one of his Neapolitan-ish pies at Pizzeria Vittoria. Not only will you be pleasantly surprised, but you might start to re-think the entire idea of bringing the best of Italy to your plate through all locally produced products.