Later this month, three guys with a combined 50-plus years of serious involvement in the pizza and Italian food business – in both kitchen and ownership roles – will open the doors to a brand new pizzeria in downtown Penticton.
It'll be called "Tratto Pizzeria Napoletana," and early indications are that it'll be rather spectacular. And that's no surprise. Just look at the lineage.
Two-thirds of the ownership team are brothers Frank and Dom Morra. Together, the Morra brothers own and run four pizzerias in Vancouver – the multiple award-winning Via Tevere in the Commercial Drive neighbourhood, and a trio of "Straight Outta Brooklyns," one on Robson, one on Kingsway, and another on Main.
The third partner is Penticton's Chris Royal. Royal says he's been "involved with Italian restaurants for a couple of decades" and more recently built the kitchen at Upper Bench Winery and ran the popular Pie Face Pizza Pop Up at Naramata's JoieFarm Winery.
Dom Morra explained that it was a perfect storm of sorts that brought the three together in the first place.
"My brother Frank has owned the building for a couple of years. We'd been considering using that particular space for a pizzeria, but weren't quite ready to do it yet."
"While we were considering it, a mutual friend, a realtor, told us about Chris. He'd actually inquired with her about renting the space himself for a pizza place. So when we found out about Chris, a Penticton guy, and found we were like minded, we said okay, let's do this sooner rather than later."
"It was really organic."
Even more coincidentally, all three are aficionados of the traditional Neapolitan style of pizza that originated more than a century ago in Naples, Italy. Neapolitan pizza is the focal point at the Morra's Via Tevere, as it will be at the new Penticton restaurant.
"This is the way they'd make pizza in Naples. It's hand-stretched with high-quality ingredients and minimally topped for balance of flavour," said Morra. "It's usually one pizza per person. Typically you eat it with a fork and knife, or you fold it and eat it by hand. It's not your typical pizza."
Added Royal, "Neapolitan pizza is very specific. One of the differences between our pizza and regular pizzas is that ours isn't as busy. At most there'll be four to five ingredients per pie. It's meant to be a dinner, but not a heavy dinner."
"Another difference is that our dough is hand-stretched, so you get a nice ring around the outside. It's light and fluffy, and we use 00 flour which makes the dough even lighter and fluffier. We'll also age the dough a bit, which knocks the gluten down and makes it easier to digest."
Morra said that "although it's traditional Neapolitan pizza, we'll add some seasonal Penticton flare. We'll have some not so traditional pizza toppings."
Amongst the many parameters around Neapolitan pizza is a requirement that they be cooked in a brick oven, for no longer than 90 seconds. And that's why Tratto has just taken delivery on a cutting-edge Marra Forni pizza oven. The cost? A cool $30,000.
"It's made by an Italian family in Maryland, but all the brick comes from Naples," said Royal after taking the wraps off the beautiful beast Monday afternoon. "They build them to the original Naples style – a dome oven with a turtle front to it. But that's where it stops. Everything else on it is state of the art."
But pizza will be just one part of an extensive Tratto menu. According to Royal, who plans to work the oven himself for much of the first year at least, "We'll also have traditional basked pastas that come out of Naples, lasagna, cannelloni, and manicotti."
"We can do chickens, soups, and cioppino, which is an Italian version of bouillabaisse. And we'll do sandwiches for lunch with our pizza dough that's cooked to about eight inches and then just stuffed with grilled vegetables, salads, meats and cheese."
"We'll have appetizers like antipasto plates, house-baked bread, and fresh salads. And in the near future, we plan to experiment with braising a variety of meats 'al forno' for large parties and private events."
Judging by all the work that's going on right now at Tratto's 256 Westminster Avenue West address, you'll have a real nice environment in which to eat your meal.
There'll be 58 seats, spread out comfortably over nearly 1500 square feet of floor space. And there'll be a huge L-shaped bar where patrons can watch their meals being created before chowing down.
That sense of spaciousness extends overhead to the double-height ceiling (finished in an attractive golden fir) and to the street-facing wall, where multiple windows let in lots of light and a five-panel folding door array will open right up in good weather to fully reveal the world outside.
A prime chunk of that world will be the restaurant's patio – a licensed, roomy place that in the warm months will take advantage of Westminster Avenue's extra wide sidewalk to seat up to 16 people. Royal says, "It'll turn our dining room into a front porch."
Currently, there's still plenty of stuff to do before Tratto's ready for the public. But thankfully, most of the heavy lifting is already out of the way.
"There was no heat or air conditioning in here," said Royal. "So we put in a new HVAC. The water line was residential, so that was upgraded. All the plumbing is new, all the drainage is new. The floors will be completely redone. The ceiling is new, and so is all the electrical."
As a bonus, Royal and crew find themselves in an up and coming Penticton dining/nightlife zone. Within a two or three-minute walk are brand new venues such as Black Antler, Wayne & Freda, The Angry Vegan, and Slackwater Brewing.
"It's a nice little hub that's forming there," said Morra.
Fully licensed and with an extensive Italian wine list, craft beers on tap, and classic Italian cocktails, Tratto Pizzeria Napoletana plans to offer lunch and dinner year 'round. It'll be a seven-day-per-week operation in the big months, though the venue may close one day each week in the off-season.
The soft opening is scheduled for sometime after Thanksgiving, with a grand opening shortly thereafter.
The restaurant is already accepting (and receiving) Christmas party bookings. If you're interested, reach out to [email protected].
Stay tuned to PentictonNow for a preview of the finished space just prior to the soft opening.
