Subscribe
A fried calzone filled with broccoli rabe, sausage, and mozzarella cheese, from DoDo's in Sacile, Italy, served in the pizzeria in pre-coronavirus lockdown days. The restaurant serves pizza, calzones and other traditional foods from Naples.

A fried calzone filled with broccoli rabe, sausage, and mozzarella cheese, from DoDo's in Sacile, Italy, served in the pizzeria in pre-coronavirus lockdown days. The restaurant serves pizza, calzones and other traditional foods from Naples. (Norman Llamas/Stars and Stripes)

A fried calzone filled with broccoli rabe, sausage, and mozzarella cheese, from DoDo's in Sacile, Italy, served in the pizzeria in pre-coronavirus lockdown days. The restaurant serves pizza, calzones and other traditional foods from Naples.

A fried calzone filled with broccoli rabe, sausage, and mozzarella cheese, from DoDo's in Sacile, Italy, served in the pizzeria in pre-coronavirus lockdown days. The restaurant serves pizza, calzones and other traditional foods from Naples. (Norman Llamas/Stars and Stripes)

A cut-open fried calzone shows its contents of broccoli rabe, sausage, and mozzarella cheese, at DoDo's Verace Pizza Napoletana in Sacile, Italy. The restaurant, which was open only for take-out or home delivery at the height of the coronavirus in Italy, serves pizza, calzones, and other traditional foods from Naples.

A cut-open fried calzone shows its contents of broccoli rabe, sausage, and mozzarella cheese, at DoDo's Verace Pizza Napoletana in Sacile, Italy. The restaurant, which was open only for take-out or home delivery at the height of the coronavirus in Italy, serves pizza, calzones, and other traditional foods from Naples. (Norman Llamas/Stars and Stripes)

A chocolate tartufo from DoDo, Verace Pizza Napoletana in Sacile, Italy.  Tartufo is a traditional Italian ice cream dessert, usually made with one or more ice cream flavors.

A chocolate tartufo from DoDo, Verace Pizza Napoletana in Sacile, Italy. Tartufo is a traditional Italian ice cream dessert, usually made with one or more ice cream flavors. (Norman Llamas/Stars and Stripes)

The Bronte pizza from DoDo, Verace Pizza Napoletana in Sacile, Italy, is topped with a pistachio sauce, fresh mozzarella cheese, mortadella ham, grated pistachio, and extra virgin olive oil.

The Bronte pizza from DoDo, Verace Pizza Napoletana in Sacile, Italy, is topped with a pistachio sauce, fresh mozzarella cheese, mortadella ham, grated pistachio, and extra virgin olive oil. (Norman Llamas/Stars and Stripes)

A slice of almond tart from DoDo, Verace Pizza Napoletana in Sacile, Italy. The pizzeria prides itself on its authentic Neapolitan pizzas, but also serves some excellent desserts.

A slice of almond tart from DoDo, Verace Pizza Napoletana in Sacile, Italy. The pizzeria prides itself on its authentic Neapolitan pizzas, but also serves some excellent desserts. (Norman Llamas/Stars and Stripes)

The wood-burning pizza oven at DoDo, Verace Pizza Napoletana in Sacile, Italy, is seen late last year, before the country shut down restaurants and most other businesses to fight the coronavirus. DoDo serves Neapolitan pizzas, prepared the way they have been for hundreds of years.

The wood-burning pizza oven at DoDo, Verace Pizza Napoletana in Sacile, Italy, is seen late last year, before the country shut down restaurants and most other businesses to fight the coronavirus. DoDo serves Neapolitan pizzas, prepared the way they have been for hundreds of years. (Norman Llamas/Stars and Stripes)

Finding good pizza is easy when you live in Italy. Finding great pizza is slightly harder.

But I think I may have done it.

In the town of Sacile, about nine miles southwest of Aviano Air Base, is DoDo, where the pizzas are made Neapolitan-style, following a tradition that dates back centuries.

For those unversed in the delights of pizza, Neapolitan and Roman are among the most celebrated.

Neapolitan pizza is characterized by its thick, soft crust and plump, hydrated dough. It’s cooked in a brick oven at a very high temperature, which allows the dough to remain moist and thick.

Roman pizzas, on the other hand, have a thinner, crunchier crust than Neapolitan pies. Because they’re cooked at a lower temperature, they can use more toppings than Neapolitan pies, without running the risk of the ingredients burning to a crisp.

DoDo opened in May last year and, in pre-coronavirus times, seated about 90 diners. It was closed for in-restaurant dining in mid-May, but open for pickup or home delivery service.

Orders are called in, and, if you want home delivery, you choose the time. Knowledge of Italian helps because the owner speaks very little English, although he does try very hard to understand what you’re trying to order and the language barrier has never posed a problem for me.

DoDo delivers within the town of Sacile, but like many Italian restaurants may deliver to nearby towns. Your pizza could arrive within half an hour of placing your order.

In addition to pizza, DoDo offers a small list of appetizers, including a fried vegetable mix, focaccia, French fries and fried pizza dough strips with arugula and cherry tomatoes.

For the main course, there are also panuozzi or calzones if you don’t want pizza or just want to try something else.

Panuozzi are Neapolitan sandwiches made with pizza-dough flatbread and ingredients like mozzarella cheese, sausage, tomatoes and spinach. Two slices are baked open-face until crunchy and then placed one on top of the other and eaten like a sandwich.

Calzones, meanwhile, are made by putting the ingredients of your choice on pizza dough, which is then folded over into a crescent shape. DoDo’s calzones are either baked in a wood-burning oven or deep fried.

DoDo offers 27 different pizzas, but the highlight of the menu has to be the restaurant’s namesake pie, the pizza DoDo. This masterpiece consists of stretched, fried pizza dough, smothered in tomato, buffalo mozzarella cheese, basil, parmesan cheese and extra virgin olive oil. It’s an explosion of flavor.

The drink menu is typical of most restaurants in Italy, featuring such staples as red or white wine by the bottle or glass, draft and bottled beer, juice and coffee. There’s also a limited dessert menu.

llamas.norman@stripes.com Twitter: @normanllamas

Hours: The Italian government recently authorized restaurants and bars to reopen for dine-in business starting this week. Call DoDo to see if they’re offering in-house dining again and to book a table, if you want to eat in. The restaurant has been offering home delivery and takeout from 5 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., seven days a week, during the coronavirus lockdown.

Prices: About 10 to 25 euros ($11 to $27) for most meals. Menu is in Italian and English.

Phone: +39 (0)434 160 1294

Online:facebook.com/dodoveracepizzanapoletana

Sign Up for Daily Headlines

Sign up to receive a daily email of today's top military news stories from Stars and Stripes and top news outlets from around the world.

Sign Up Now