Fottocini

Chef Roberto in the dining room of the newly opened Leoci's Trattoria in Savannah

Friends of mine, Chef Roberto Leoci and his wife Lacie just opened a new restaurant in Savannah, Leoci’s Trattoria. The restaurant features hand made pastas, brick oven pizzas, paninis, and fresh local ingredients. Leoci’s opened last week and I had the opportunity to help prepare most of the dishes and take some photos for the article. Roberto and I worked together at Cioppino, the signature Italian restaurant at the Ritz-Carlton, Key Biscayne. This time around I was kneeding dough for the brick oven pizza and reducing lobster broth for the risotto.

Rucola e prosciutto

Working a brick oven pizza is definitely an art form, there are hot spots, limited space, and nuances that play a major role in the success of your pizza. I spent a couple hours burning and damaging my pizzas until I got the hang of it. The photo above was one of my successful attempts and the arugala and prosciutto pizzas. We make a basic dough recipe with flour, water, and yeast, let it rise, portion it, and let it rise again.

Every 45 minutes or so, you should add another log to the fire

If you want a more thick crust pizza, we can roll the dough, top it, and place the raw dough in the oven. This is a more chewy crust, or if you like it thin we bake the dough without toppings and then top it and bake it again for a nice crunchy texture.

550 degrees of heat in the middle of the oven, can get up to 800 near the roof

The pizza at Leoci’s is delicious, I am sure the locals will discover this quickly and have a new favorite pizza and beer joint. But there is much more than just pizza to indulge on. Try the paninis, Roberto has several to choose from that are served on a fresh foccacia roll. The grilled chicken caesar panini is my favorite, it has house made caesar dressing, buffalo mozzarella, romaine, and sliced roma tomatoes. Another option is the fresh local seafood that Roberto uses in the pasta dishes and specials. The other night he used fresh local Georgia shrimp in his saffron risotto. One of the biggest hits at the bar was the brick oven roasted mussels, served with crostini and a lobster saffron based seafood sauce.

At the bar with fresh mussels roasted in the brick oven

Working as a photographer and chef/writer allows me access to behind the scenes that typical food writers might not have. At Leoci’s I not only did prep work, make pizzas, pastas, and dessert, but I also sat down as a guest and tried the food. Its a unique perspective from the view of all angles, and I must say that so far Roberto is off to a great start and if you are in the mood for some wine, pizza, and homemade tiramisu, then stop on by and have a slice or two.

Now for some photos. Cheers to Roberto and Lacie!

Tuscan wines at Leoci's

Lacie and Roberto on opening night

Fusilli Verde

Tiramisu, the most heavenly Italian dessert

Framed photos of Leoci's family and culinary travels can be found at the entrance to the dining room

Brick oven pizza with sausage and arugala

Caprese salad

Almost forgot, there is a Bocce ball court in the back of Leoci’s near the parking lot. There is a large deck overlooking the courts for al fresco dining in the spring and summer. Should be alot of fun.

Leoci’s Trattoria – 606 Abercorn Street – Savannah

www.leocis.com