Frank Nattle has had a pizza shop of his own on his mind for a while now.
Formerly an employee of Phoenixville’s Brick Oven Bread and Cheese Shoppe, Nattle commandeered the shop’s wood-fired oven—used solely for bread—to introduce Neopolitan pizza on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. It became a hit with customers who enjoyed the simple ingredients of straightforward Neopolitan pizza, flour imported from Italy, San Marzano tomatoes and good mozzarella. The bread and cheese outlet has since closed, but Nattle is riding the success of Neopolitan pies to open his own pizza shoppe, Vecchia Pizzeria.
A 24-seat BYOB with butcher-block tables made at his uncle’s mill, Vecchia is as close to Naples as you can get. His pizza oven is made of volcanic brick and stone from Mount Vesuvius and was constructed by two stone masons he had flown over from Italy to construct it exactly to the dimensions required by law in Naples. In fact, there are only eight of these ovens elsewhere in the United States. His pizza recipe also conforms to Naples law (yes, law), which is required to be considered a true Neopolitan pizza: Italian flour, San Marzano tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella.
Vecchia should be opening any day now and we’ll be sure to keep you posted!
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