Upscale pies

Metro Detroit has received a fair amount of attention, even national praise, for several of its pizzerias. Thick or thin, round or square, slathered in industrial cheese or dappled with heirloom tomatoes, we're infatuated with our pies. But can the area support yet another pizza shop?

If the early crowds at Antica Pizzeria Fellini are any indication, the answer is definitely yes.

A hand-laid tile entryway greets those entering from Royal Oak's Washington Avenue. Several tables look out to passersby through an all-glass facade while barstools look inward at the pizzaiolos and their massive wood-burning oven.

At the heart of what makes Fellini unique is that very oven, imported from Europe and designed to cook items quickly at temperatures around 900 degrees.

While other restaurants in town feature Neapolitan-style pizzas and wood-burning ovens, Fellini claims to be the only one recognized by the Associazione Verarace Pizza Napoletana. The organization, based in Naples, Italy, and founded in 1984, provides parameters for "real" pizza in a world of supermarket freezers stuffed with shrink-wrapped pretenders.

Certifications make interesting trivia for the backs of menus, but what of the pizza itself?

Striving for excellence, Fellini uses fresh mozzarella, San Marzano tomatoes, and Caputo 00 flour, an Italian variety with a lower-than-standard protein count and silkier, less absorptive texture. The commitment to quality shows in the heftier pricing: Each pizza is just larger than a dinner plate and ranges from $9 to $17.50.

Per traditional specifications for Neapolitan pizzas, the dough is thin and lightly charred. Given the thicker, bready outer crust, the room for toppings is somewhat minimal, but the spotty, mild char is appealing.

Among the best pizzas is the Fiocco ($15), a rich pie slathered in cream, mozzarella, and Romano cheese and dotted with ham and potato crocchè, crumbly fritter-like assemblages. The resulting slice is dense but exceedingly flavorful — and unique in the area.

Another item less than commonplace is the self-titled Fellini, a margherita pizza folded into a star shape boasting vegetable-stuffed points. Each corner contains a different filling: rapini, ricotta, mushrooms, and so forth. The corners are perhaps a bit doughy, and the $17.50 price tag is a bit much considering the pie's modest size, but deliciously bitter rapini is a welcome change of pace when compared to more ubiquitous toppings featured elsewhere.

Most of the pizza menu contains familiar ingredients — ricotta, basil, olives, artichokes — though there are still plenty of other options to explore. The Al Tonno ($14.50) is topped with sauce, cheese, basil, onions and tuna. And the Cornicione ($17.50) features a ricotta-stuffed outer crust, a far sight better than the crass imitations available at pizza chains.

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