Straight from Naples

The three have almost two decades of experience bringing a piece of Italy to the area. D’urzo and John Scarcello founded Sapore at 1447 Burlingame Ave. in 2002, with their rustic, Italian, farm-to-table dishes and traditional Italian “piazza” atmosphere quickly becoming the gathering spot for the Burlingame community and beyond.

At their latest restaurant, tradition can be found in their 5,500-pound authentic pizza oven, custom built and tiled by hand in Naples by master oven maker, Stefano Ferrara, shipped directly to the restaurant, so big it had to go through one of their storefront windows to get inside.

It can also be found in a man named Francesco, the restaurant’s very own certified pizzaiolo, who, like the oven, D’urzo joked, was also built in Naples and shipped directly to Centro to give visitors an authentic taste of Neapolitan pizza.

“He makes all the pizza, nobody else touches it,” said Elio D’urzo. “He comes in in the morning and makes the dough before anyone is here.”

As for the pizza itself, Centro offers guests 10 choices, margherita and sausage being the most popular. The flour is imported from Italy, the mozzarella is fresh but, unlike most pizza places, the toppings are intentionally light to highlight Centro Pizza’s light and airy dough, baked to perfection in that imported oven, so hot it is ready to eat in only 40 seconds.

“The dough is the star of the show. It is the flavor,” said John Scarcella. “The things you put on top accent the flavor of the dough and were designed to work together. That’s why you don’t see a lot of toppings on Neapolitan pizza.”

Aside from pizza, guests have a variety of salad, appetizers, desserts and beverages to choose from including beer and red, white and rose wines served trattoria style in a decanter instead of by the bottle.

Future menu plans include pizza by the rectangular slice, again, as it is done in Naples.

Normally that would be enough for most pizza places to earn their “tradition” cred but, for the owners, they put just as much importance, maybe even more, into revitalizing Broadway’s traditional role as the center of Burlingame.

“It’s a street that hasn’t had a lot of new development going on,” said John Scarcella. “We hope that by us coming here and doing something like this, it will spur other folks to do the same thing.”

All three partners are Burlingame residents and John Scarella has lived in the Broadway neighborhood for years. He has seen Burlingame Avenue draw businesses and the life of the town with it. With the opening of Broadway Centro Pizza, all three are on a mission to, according to its menu “contribute to the redevelopment of this historic street by providing the neighborhood with a gathering place of its own.” Even the name “Centro Pizza” they say, sounds like the Italian phrase “Centro Citta” meaning “city center.”

One step inside Broadway’s Centro, and you can see that only a few weeks since opening, Centro is accomplishing its mission to give people on Broadway a place to gather. The restaurant has a sports bar feel with a logo designed to imitate the Broadway Arch that has welcomed visitors to the area since 1927. Centro, just like Sapore before it, is family friendly. A family of four were enjoying themselves, their kids’ faces covered in Nutella Pizza. Two tables down, a group of four ladies were discussing work while John Scarcella was explaining to three students who just walked in that pepperoni pizza wasn’t on the menu but that salami might do the trick. Pizza making classes and kids’ events will be coming soon.

Centro Pizza understands the historical importance of their location. Broadway Hardware occupied Centro’s current location for over 80 years before closing. Even from the beginning, they sought to honor this history by designing Centro Pizza to have a hardware store feel to it.

And for locals who are used to seeing that “Hardware” sign hanging outside the store, it is up and to the left as you exit, sitting there, as it always has on Broadway, looking over the community who once again has a place to get together, have fun, and enjoy some traditional Neapolitan pizza.

Broadway Centro Pizza is open 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday, and 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday. Its address is 1326 Broadway, Burlingame. Go to broadwaycentro.com for more information.