On the Yahara A-Z

U.

Uncut pie, Pizza Brutta.  Wood-fired Neapolitan pizza, for those obsessed, is a traditional art form.  To the degree that at this quaint little Monroe Street Jewel (nearly within eyeshot, thankfully, of Edgewood school), the owner has installed strict rules as to how the art form is created by the

'pizzaiolo,' or certified Verace Pizza maker.  Some of the stuff they're keeping track of? First, let's make sure we're staying within the confines of the centuries-old art form: a dough that is made only by flour, water, sea salt, yeast and tomatoes grown on the volcanic soils of Mt. Visuvio, extra virgin

olive oil, and fresh mozzarella.  Brutta ensures these strict guidelines by using a fresh Wisconsin mozzarella substitute for what is known as "fior di latte" or "the flower of milk." The tomato sauce, like the original, comes only from the volcanic soils, believe it or not, of Mt. Visuvio just outside Naples in Italy's Campania region. The crust, sometimes the most important for many pizza eaters, is made simply with organic flour, yeast, water and salt and is "opened and stretched entirely by hand.

The result is a crust that is thin on the inside and thick and airy on the ends creating what the Neapolitans call the "cornicone....Neapolitan pizza is best eaten uncut and with a fork and a serrated knife." Within 10 minutes of the front counter order, the famous Brutta pizza is steaming at your table side and needless to say the simplest elegance possible to the point where, if you closed your eyes and continued to bite the perfectly thin and sweet pizza you might think you were eating dessert not the main mid afternoon meal.