by Nino d'Antonio

What happens since 1901 is not just a piece of history. There you can find the ancient taste of Marotta's pages: the imaginative memory of the making of L'Oro di Napoli; Sophia Loren's powerful beauty at twenty years old, but most of all there is pizza. As it was at that time: a fried pizza stuffed with ricotta cheese and pork rinds. The big pan boiling with oil on the fire. And as at that time there is always a Staritas.

It is located in one of the most densely populated areas of the city in Materdei narrow streets and little squares. A pizzeria started more than a century ago and always managed by the Staritas. People love coming to this tiny but tasteful place first for its nice atmosphere and for his great courtesy staff smiling to everybody.

Q. “Well Mr Starita what pizzerias for the future?”

R. “No doubts. Traditional Neapolitan pizzerias. The proof is in their bicentennial history. If, despite the super-technological age we live in, they are still up-to-date that means the values they convey are so strong, deeply rooted and well-known they can keep going on for two hundred years more.”

by Giuseppe Rotolo

So let's have a close look to a historical Neapolitan pizzeria, the glorious Starita a Materdei aged a century – it started in 1901 by Alfonso Starita – which is one of liveliest and most authentic witnesses of how the tradition of Neapolitan pizza is carried on. At the beginning it was a cellar where Alfonso Starita used to pour his guests a genuine wine. During the '40s some traditional dishes were served together with wine tasting. But the real turning point came when the place changed into a Neapolitan classical pizzeria friggitoria. More and more customers came and hence the legend of the place.

by Santa di Salvo

First do not go there if you love comforts. No booking in advance, and the accommodation is rather basic in the long aisle seating 47 people. Second its picturesque location does not match with loud dresses. Third you'd better going by tube rather than by car, in the latter case you'd better parking at  the pizzeria's parking. Let's come to the point now. Here you can eat one of the best pizzas in Naples, it is no accident that those still remembering Marotta's Naples look at Starita a Materdei as an institution. Started in 1901 as a cellar and turned into a trattoria for local wines tasting during the 40's, today STARITA looks exactly like the movie picture that has made it immortal. The pizzeria-friggitoria where donna Sophia works, the beautiful and adulterous pizzaiola in L'ORO DI NAPOLI. And if you won't find a naughty ring in the dough anymore, never mind.