Born and raised in the heart of Naples, Italy, Ciro Iovine is a Vesuvius of enthusiasm. A man of 39 years with a shiny dome and shining eyes, he began the craft of a pizzaiolo at the age of 13 after his father gave him two choices: school or work. After mastering the trade in the cradle of pizza civilization, young Ciro traveled around Europe making pies and Neapolitan cuisine and eventually to the Cayman Islands. While on a vacation from the Caribbean in New York, he fell in love with the city and decided to stay. While making pizzas in Westchester, he fell in love with Austria Maldonado and decided, with her encouragement, to pursue his dream of opening his own pizzeria.
“When I met my wife, I said, ‘Oh my god, she is the woman for me.’ My life changed that day and every day after. I’m such a lucky guy,” Ciro recalls. “She also told me if I wanted to have my own pizzeria, I have to stop spending money and save. So that’s what I did, with her help, of course.”
Song' E Napule was born in 2015, and the name has no relation to music, as can be easily misinterpreted, but is rather a Neapolitan dialect for “I am from Naples.”
The Song' E Napule pizza.
That ethos is on full display in the sky-blue confines on W. Houston Street, a cozy grotto adorned with Neapolitan bric-a-brac and oversized tribute to Diego Maradona (the Argentinian soccer legend who played seven seasons for the Napoli Serie A team) that radiates with the warmth and charisma of the owner and projected through his loyal and international staff through convivium and laughter, actual song, and occasional dance. None are absolved and all are engaged, from the kitchen to the waiters on parade through the front room to the sidewalk space that sprawls over three storefronts. But this is no Mulberry Street schtick for tourists. The authentic ambiance is accompanied by genuine goodwill and what’s considered by many to be the best Neapolitan food in the city.
The passion of Ciro Iovine manifests most significantly in his approach to food. All of his ingredients, except select vegetables and aromatics, are imported from boutique purveyors in Italy. He’s particularly fond of datterini tomatoes from Azienda Carbone and the cheeses — burrata, buffalo mozzarella, smoked mozzarella, ricotta, stracciatella — from Latteria Sorrentina in Campania that he believes simply can’t be rivaled by domestic U.S. production. These cheeses, of course, top the heralded Song' E Napule pies (and panuozzi) delivered from a roaring pizza oven that faces the front room, but the cuisine from the tiny kitchen in back is transcendental trattoria fare featuring pastas, seafood, vegetables, and meat with classic contorni and a curated wine list from the peninsula. The prices are ridiculously reasonable for anywhere near New York City, and absurd for a Greenwich Village location that comes with camaraderie and goodwill.
“I’m really happy. I take care of my customers very well. I’m a really authentic Neapolitan, and people love it. We make a great time here. At night time, it’s a little bit crazy, like me,” Ciro says. “I want to make a simple restaurant, nice and comfortable. A good place for my staff, my guys, and our customers.”
The “song” of Ciro is ready to expand beyond the cozy auspices of lower Manhattan with new (and larger!) locations opening later this year and early in 2022 in Rutherford, NJ and the Upper West Side of Manhattan, respectively.
“My hope is that you like the food. I invest a lot of money for quality. The quality makes you different. I don’t care about money too much. I’m really enjoying my life.”
Ciro Iovine photo by Daniel Paterna.