Good pizza in Philadelphia is – deceptively – not so easy to find. The two current champions of the market are Lorenzo’s and Osteria, but both have their drawbacks. The former is take-out only, whilst the latter prices most students out of the game. Enter Pizzeria Stella: The new player in town that’s all (olive) oiled up to fill the gaping void in pizzaland.
Stella is the latest addition to the Stephen Starr juggernaut. It fits in perfectly with its Old City surroundings as the local, laid-back pizzeria. In fact they’re so laid-back they don’t even take reservations, which is certainly a first for Starr. We were ten people on a Friday night and we were seated in minutes. Great for us, perhaps worrysome for them?
The menu is divided up between a variety of authentic-sounding appetizers, followed by a choice of twelve pizzas. There is an affordable wine selection (none more than $10 a glass) and a concise beer list — very simple. With ten hungry diners at the table, we could practically order the entire menu. And so we did.
The arancini ($8), octopus and calamari salad ($9) and asparagus with fried egg ($7) are solid starters, but they’re not the dishes propelling your excursion down to Old City. It is, of course, all about the pizza. No “buffalo chicken” or “meat fiesta” will ever be found on this menu. Stella serves up the high-brow stuff. Pizzas like the Tartufo — black truffles, fontina cheese, egg, parmesan — ($17) and the Piccante — capicola, aged provolone, crushed red pepper, tomato — ($14) are so delicious that they could be mistaken for offerings to a Roman deity. The margherita, which is the universal marker of a pizzeria’s prowess, marries a wonderfully rich tomato sauce with genuinely fresh buffalo mozzarella, atop a paper-thin base. The base is in fact one of Stella’s great achievements, for it has a remarkable ability to hold all these rich toppings whilst maintaining its structure.
Other creative crowd pleasers include the Pistachio— red onion, pistachio, fontina cheese and extra virgin olive oil — ($14) and the Spinach — baby spinach, sundried tomatoes, mozzarella, pine nuts — ($14). The meal was rounded off with an assortment of gelato ($4), where unique flavors like “olive oil” added to the impressive meal.
It’s a crying shame that Stella is on 2nd street. It really does seem like a long way to go for a pizza. But if you get the urge for a truly unique pie and a refreshingly understated Stephen Starr experience, it is most definitely worth the trip.
Pizzeria Stella
420 S. 2nd Street
(215) 320-8000
Don’t Miss: The piccante pizza
Skip: Ordering too many appetizers...
