Almost every time I think of Il Lazzarone, I mistakenly call it Il Larrazone. Seriously, every freaking time. I have been to the place numerous times now, since moving to Kansas City. I have fallen in love with it’s pizza, marveled at it’s authentic wood fire oven, shipped directly from Naples, and have been thoroughly impressed by its wide selection of beers. Dang it, though, if I don’t keep calling it Il Larrazone. To break myself of this, I decided to look up each word and see what they mean. The first thing I found was that Lazzarone is pronounced, “lazzaˈroni.” Do you know what that means? Even when I was getting it right, I was still getting it wrong because I was leaving the “e” at the end silent. What does it mean, though? According to the restaurant’s about section, “The lazzaroni were the street folk of Naples” (illazzarone.org 2021). It goes on to say that they essentially invented pizza and that Neapolitan pizza was their reward for a hard day’s work. That’s a good place to get a restaurant name from. What does Larrazone mean? It doesn’t mean anything. Nothing. I looked it up. The closest I could find was a newspaper in Madrid called “La Razon” which has the sixth highest circulation of any daily in Madrid. Sixth highest? Maybe if it had the second highest circulation I would consider still getting the two mixed up. As is, though, I would never name a restaurant after it; especially not a Neapolitan pizza place. Maybe now I will call the pizzeria by its actual name.
I first heard of Il Lazzarone Pizzeria before I moved to Kansas City. My family and I were planning a trip here to look at neighborhoods. Well, they were planning to look at neighborhoods. I just wanted to get a jump start on trying out the food, because I know what’s important. So, to prepare I looked up articles on the best pizza places in Kansas City. One restaurant that showed up on every list was Il Lazzarone Pizzeria. It was not just that it was featured on every list that caught my attention, though. It was a genuine Neapolitan pizza joint. It is actually one of less than a hundred restaurants in the U.S. that is officially certified as such. I had never tried Neapolitan pizza before; in fact, I did not really know what made it Neapolitan. However, the idea that there was a board of pizza eaters in Naples that could give an official certification in making it, intrigued me. I knew that would be the pizza place we tried while in town.
So, when we came to town, we went to try it out. We almost did not get to go, though, as we had to flee town early to avoid a freak snowstorm, which was exactly the type of thing I thought I was leaving behind in South Dakota. But, I guess it snows here in Missouri, too. Anyway, I made sure we hit up Il Lazzarone before leaving town and I am glad we did. Why is it so good? Let’s start with what exactly is a Neapolitan pizza. To be a real Neapolitan pizza, the dough has to be made from only four ingredients, the tomatoes have to have been grown in a specific area in Italy and the cheese has to come from water buffalo. If you are thinking this all sounds a little pretentious, I would not argue with you. However, the end result that is achieved by sticking to these traditional guidelines is pretty dang fantastic.
The pizza is cooked in a wood fired oven at very high temperatures. As such, each pizza only cooks for about 50-90 seconds (illazzarone.com 2021). This causes two things that would typically turn me off of a pizza. It creates charring on the crust and a soupy puddle in the middle of the pizza. I know that does not sound great, but hear me out. The charring is actually the best part of the crust. I realized recently that being “burnt” can actually make food better, as long as it’s good food to start with. Think of burnt ends for barbeque or a nice toasted marshmallow. Of course, you don’t want to take it too far as eventually burnt just means burnt, but charring can add a lot of woodsy flavor to the crust, reminding you your food was cooked over or near wood. The soupy nature of the pizza also turns out to be a main draw. The crust is not soggy, since it is thin. So, you can take the slice, fold it, thus creating a nice funnel for the soup as you eat it. This creates almost a gusher situation as every byte explodes with the oil and herbs that top each slice. If you’re feeling adventurous, you can also top it with spicy honey adding a nice sweet kick to the soup. It is not quite like any other pizza I have tasted and I think that really does come down to Il Lazzarone making every effort to stick to the traditions of Naples and its street people.
There is more to Il Lazzarone Pizzeria that makes it special, though. It starts with the ambience. It is a brick building with a fire escape on the side. It feels very New York (from what I know of New York; I have never actually been there). It has a minimalist look inside with very few decorations to distract from the beautiful red brick. There are strings of light that wrap around the wall, though, to add a little warmth to the main dining room. The main draw, though, is the oven. It is in an open kitchen right off of the dining area, so you can see the pizza slingers making dough and throwing it into the oven to give it that char. It gives the place a real community feel.
If you decide to eat outside, you lose the oven from the ambience, but the community feeling is only bolstered due to the restaurant’s location. It sits squarely in the river market district, so there are people everywhere going from shop to shop. On the same block is a wonderful little local clothing store simply called “Kate” and a local, family run ice cream shop all the locals know: Betty Rae’s. The last time we went, there was an excellent local Vietnamese coffee shop, called Cafe Cà Phê, that popped up in Kate. It was a wonderful morning of my wife and daughter perusing the selections of clothing, while I had a nice iced coffee out on the street, before we made our way next door for some wood fired pizza. On the street directly in front of Il Lazzarone and the outside eating area is a track for a streetcar that ferries people around the district. It is perhaps my favorite place in town, along with the City Market only a few blocks away. So, whether you opt to eat inside or out, the ambience of Il Lazzarone Pizzeria is welcoming and communal.
The starters are another thing that make Il Lazzarone fantastic. In fact, for my wife, it is the excellent cheese and meat board that is the main draw. We had this on several visits and it is one of the better boards I have had. The meat is the same meat that comes on various pizzas, all thinly sliced and perfectly chewy. It is always accompanied by a good selection of cheeses and other adornments you would expect from a good board. Sadly, they have not had it on the menu the last few times we have gone. I do hope for its speedy return, as does my wife.
Fortunately, for everyone else in my family, it is the pizza that is the main draw. My favorite is the Margarita Mascarpone which, as the name implies, is a take on the original Neapolitan pizza that adds some mascarpone cheese to the mix. This does wonders for the texture of the soup in the middle of this one. What the name does not imply is that it also adds one of my favorite meats: prosciutto. Beyond the meat and cheese, there is the basil,sea salt, and olive oil and that is it. These pies do not have a ton of toppings, but that all goes back to the essence of true Neapolitan pizza. It is about simplicity.
That does not mean that there aren’t some pizzas here with less traditional toppings. There is one with an egg. This is something I have seen before, but here it is combined with some fresh black pepper that cuts through the yolk with its sharp bite. It works amazingly well with the style of pizza as well, since the runny yolk just mixes in with the soup when you fold the slice and funnel it into your mouth. There is another pizza that comes with brussel sprouts on top. I have not tried this one yet, which surprises me. Brussel sprouts are my favorite vegetable and I am interested to see what it adds to pizza. I am sure I will have plenty of opportunities to try it in the future, though.
My son likes the Margarita, as it is the closest thing to a straight cheese pizza that they have. He has simple taste, even when compared to the sparse sensibilities of the Neapolitan style. My daughter, who has always had a repulsion to all red sauces, can always find a bianche pie, which forgoes the traditional tomatoes. Her most recent find was the Crepa which is a nice combo of bacon and balsamic glaze. I assume it is a good combo, anyway; she did not share. My wife is a self-proclaimed lover of all mushrooms, so you know she will go for the Funghi or La Roccia every time. There is a pizza for everyone here, unless one is just dead set on the “more is more” philosophy a lot of modern pizzerias have. Don’t get me wrong, I will take and thoroughly enjoy a pie with 99 toppings, but I have really come to appreciate the reserved simplicity of the Neapolitan style.
It is that style that Il Lazzarone Pizzeria exemplifies so well, too. I was drawn to the place because of the sheer audacity of some board in Naples saying that a place thousands of miles away needs their seal of approval to be “true Neapolitan pizza.” It’s pretentious to be sure, but I was drawn by that pretense. What I found, though, was that the strict adherence this age old tradition of simplicity and specificity is exactly what makes the pizza at Il Larrazone….dang it, you know what I meant to say….so appealing.
The “B”eer side.
Il Lazzarone literally has a “B”eer side. In the next room over from the dining hall is a tap house with what is, thus far in my experience, the best selection of craft beers in Kansas City. I walked in on a Sunday morning one time, just as they were opening (you know to get my uh…church beer) and if they had not run out of most things from the busy Saturday night before, it would have taken me all day to decide on one. There are so many options from breweries I know and love and always a few I have never heard of. There are plenty of local options, as well. Also, this reminds me. There are two locations of Il Lazzarone. One is in St. Jo and one is in KC. I have only been to the KC location, though I think St. Jo may be the original. I bring this up only because a quick glance at the beer lists on their website suggests the KC location has significantly more options, so take that into consideration here. Fortunately, while the tap house is in a separate room, all beers are available to patrons of the dining hall and all pizzas are available to patrons of the tap house. The distinction between Il Lazzarone’s two sides is in location only. This means that there is always going to be several good beers to pair with whichever pizza you end up going with.
Eatin' to Know You, KC 