L'Antica Pizzeria da Michele
The Naples pizzeria's first American room runs an AVPN-trained pizzaiolo and flour shipped from Italy. Order the Margherita and the Marinara, then stop.
Why go
Michele Rubini runs the oven and the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana trained him. The flour, the fiordilatte and the canned tomatoes come from Italy, and the opening list was five pies: Margherita, Marinara, Pizza Fritta, Cosacca, Bianca.2
The operator's own claim is a transfer, not an adaptation. We have meticulously brought the same standards, recipes, ingredients, and respect for Neapolitan pizza to Los Angeles,
Zimone told the trade press.2
The room does not match the food. Sylvio Martins describes a brick courtyard with the oven in it, valet-only parking, and a place that carries itself like an upscale restaurant when the reason to come is a pizza.1
Order this / avoid
- Order: the Margherita. Tomato, fiordilatte, pecorino, basil.2
- Order: the Marinara, if you want the version without cheese. Tomato, oregano, garlic.2
- Avoid: the rest of it. Martins names an underseasoned alla norma and heavily dredged zucchini flowers, and calls the non-pizza menu
forgettable filler
.1
What locals & experts say
- The Infatuation LA, Sylvio Martins, 7 September 2023:
Its bubbly pies are some of the city's best, but the rest of the menu is forgettable filler.
1 The Infatuation is owned by JPMorgan Chase. - FSR Magazine, on the kitchen: Antonio Giordano, previously at Gjusta and Terroni, runs the coastal Italian side of the menu.2
Good to know
- Booking: worth making. The courtyard fills.
- Getting there: North McCadden Place, Hollywood. Valet is the only parking.1
Verdict
could-visit — Michele Rubini trained under the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana and works imported flour, fiordilatte and Italian tomatoes in a Hollywood courtyard, which is as close to the Naples original as the recipe travels. Sylvio Martins rates the pies among the best in the city and then takes the rest of the menu apart, naming an underseasoned alla norma and heavily dredged zucchini flowers. That split is what holds the rung down: a room where you order two things and ignore the other twenty is a good pizzeria wearing a restaurant's clothes. Come for the Margherita and the Marinara, sit outside, and stop there.