Newly opened Ribalta (48 East 12th Street) is what happens when you take two master pizzaiolos (one of which boasts a lifetime achievement award for “stick work”), seating for 90, three different ovens, a world renowned Italian pizza school, and imported Italian ingredients. This ambitious pizzeria is not your average corner pizza place. Pizzaiolos Max Bruno and Massimiliano Crocetti are seriously committed and “dedicated to bringing you the pure and complete Italian pizza experience.”

Their menu includes 25 different pizza options all of which are cooked in the proper oven to create an authentic and traditional pizza experience for diners. The three pizza styles served at Ribalta are Pizza Italiana Classica using a wood-fired oven, Napoletana cooked to perfection in a certified “Napoletana” brick oven, and Ribalta’s specialty Pizza in Pala, a pizza with double-cooked dough from a stainless-steel convection oven. Ribalta is committed to keeping the ingredients as pure Italian as possible. To do so, Ribalta uses 00 Flour imported from an Italian mill as well as Italian yeast that has been generated from an 8-year-old mother dough. Ribalta also has a full menu including antipastos, salads, and traditional first and second course Italian dishes.

Not only can you enjoy an authentic pizza experience at Ribalta, you can also learn the skills and science behind a great slice. Established in 1988, Scuola Italiana Pizzaioli has set up their first stateside pizza school within Ribalta. Students will be taught by the school’s master instructors starting on April 16th for the pizza industry only. In the future, the school’s offerings will be expanded for the general public where students will be able to eat, attend classes, seminars, and lectures all focused on the art of pizza.

For more information about Scuola Italiana Pizzaioli, click here.