Cafe Porta Alba

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Revision as of 03:36, 22 October 2026 by Jacques (talk | contribs) (Add the 2005–2009 years from the newspaper research recorded in the database; earlier text kept)

Cafe Porta Alba was Madison's first Neapolitan pizzeria, open from 2006 at 15 N. Butler St. and from 2009 at Hilldale, until October 19, 2019[1].

History

Butler Street, 2006 to 2009

Vincenzo Pugliese, from Alife, an ancient town near Naples, had spent 22 years in New York restaurants and at the Italian consulate, where he put on some 250 events a year; his wife's job at Lands' End brought him to Madison[2]. With an English partner, Dave Bryant, whose wife also worked at Lands' End, he opened Cafe Porta Alba at 15 N. Butler St. in Butler Plaza, the former Sal's Pizzeria, in the late summer of 2006: the licence was applied for in May and granted in August[3][4], and the State Journal reviewed "the new Cafe Porta Alba" in December[5]. The name is that of the first pizzeria in Naples, opened in the 1830s on Porta Alba square. The centrepiece was a 3,000-pound wood-fired oven at 1,000 degrees that cooked a pizza in 90 seconds; the sauce came from tomatoes grown below Vesuvius, the flour from the Caputo mill in Naples, and the mozzarella from Wisconsin. Thirteen pizzas cost $7.50 to $13[5].

By 2007 the restaurant belonged to the Vera Pizza Napoletana association, whose rules the Capital Times' reviewer found "too correct for its own good": "in 2007 Wisconsin, I'll take a Glass Nickel Cheesasaurus any day"[6]. Michael Muckian gave it three stars of four[7]. "When Cafe Porta Alba opened almost one year ago," Mary Bergin wrote in July 2007, "Pugliese began producing a pizza that was new to Madison"[8]. On December 3, 2007, Mario Rizzotti, a judge on "Iron Chef America", came to a packed five-course dinner; Porta Alba was then one of 17 pizzerias in the country sanctioned to call themselves Neapolitan[2][9]. The 2008 pizza history in the State Journal credited Pugliese as "the first to offer traditional Neapolitan pizza" in Madison[10].

The Butler Street lease ran out and the restaurant closed in March 2009[11][12]. Old Market Bistro took the space in June 2009 and lasted two months[13][14]; Naples 15 opened there in 2012[15].

Hilldale, 2009 to 2019

In July 2009 Pugliese announced a reopening at Hilldale, across from the Sundance cinema[12]. The new restaurant, with 58 seats, opened in November 2009 around a $12,000 brick oven built in Italy with an arched terra-cotta ceiling in the design of the oven found at Pompeii; the old oven had been cemented to the Butler Street floor. The pizza menu was unchanged, with pasta, gnocchi and panini added, and one-hour waits were common on weekends[16]. Pugliese closed the restaurant after ten years at Hilldale, with the last day October 19, 2019, to move to Baltimore[1].

In 2013 Pugliese partnered with his head chef, Nick Mattioli, to open Novanta on Old Sauk Road[17]. Porta Alba's Alpina pizza, with arugula, was one of the Capital Times' candidates for the area's best pizza that November[18].

The closing was felt in Madison's Neapolitan pizza world: Novanta's Nick Mattioli, whose first professional kitchen was at Porta Alba, said he had to pull over to the side of the road when he heard the news[19].

Pizza

  • The 2006 menu: Margherita (fresh mozzarella, tomato, basil), Funghi, Capricciosa (mushrooms, olives, fresh mozzarella, tomato, Parmacotto ham, artichokes) and ten others, all one size of about 10 to 12 inches[5][6].
  • At Hilldale the Alpina, with walnut purée, fontina and mushrooms, was a signature; there was also a Nutella pizza[16].

Former Locations

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Kalk Derby, S. (2019, October 1). "Cafe Porta Alba closing after 10 years at Hilldale, owner moving to Baltimore." madison.com.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Conklin, M. (2007, December 5). "Cafe Porta Alba gets an authentic taste of fame." madison.com.
  3. ↑ (2006, May 10). Notice of public hearing on new licence applications: Cafe Porta Alba, LLC, agent Vincent Pugliese, 15 N. Butler Street. The Capital Times. p. 4. Newspapers.com image 526001360.
  4. ↑ (2006, August 14). Council proceedings: public hearing closed and licence granted to Cafe Porta Alba, 15 N. Butler Street, capacity 40. The Capital Times. p. 22. Newspapers.com image 522523182.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Martell, C. (2006, December 10). "Cafe Porta Alba makes pizza the old-fashioned way." madison.com.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Kalk Derby, S. (2007, August 2). "Cafe Porta Alba may be too correct for its own good." madison.com.
  7. ↑ Muckian, M. (2007, April 14). "Porta Alba fare authentic." The Capital Times. p. 26. Newspapers.com image 522524205.
  8. ↑ Bergin, M. (2007, July 20). "Neapolitan pizza the real McCoy." The Capital Times. p. 15. Newspapers.com image 522437350.
  9. ↑ Bergin, M. (2007, November 30). "'Iron Chef' judge will visit Porta Alba here." The Capital Times. p. 26. Newspapers.com image 522429053.
  10. ↑ Wegner, A. N. (2008, May 28). "Through thick and thin: Madison's pizzerias have come a long way from their humble start on Spaghetti Corner." madison.com.
  11. ↑ Troller, S. (2009, April 3). "Cafe Porta Alba closes; may re-open elsewhere." madison.com.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 (2009, July 17). "Cafe Porta Alba to re-open at Hilldale." madison.com.
  13. ↑ Troller, S. (2009, June 4). "Kipp's owner opens new bistro." The Capital Times. p. 7. Newspapers.com image 522555744.
  14. ↑ Martell, C. (2009, December 27). "Restaurant graveyards: Nature of the 'feast'." madison.com.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Kalk Derby, S. (2012, November 15). "Review: Italian kitchen Naples 15 holds promise." madison.com.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Martell, C. (2009, November 29). "New location, but same glorious oven-fired pizza at Cafe Porta Alba." madison.com.
  17. ↑ Kalk Derby, S. (2013, July 5). "Restaurant News: New Far West Side pizzeria Novanta has shades of Porta Alba." madison.com.
  18. ↑ (2013, November 20). Best-pizza poll photo page: Porta Alba's Alpina, Greenbush Bar, Glass Nickel's Fetalicious, Grampa's Barberini, Paisan's Super Hot and Salvatore's Fig and Bacon. The Capital Times. p. 13. Newspapers.com image 520984544.
  19. ↑ Haase, N. (2019, November 6). "New Novanta pizzeria is twice as nice." The Capital Times. p. O25. Newspapers.com image 613239955.
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