Impressive Gourmet Pizzeria Lievito Opens Near the Liangma River

There are creative pizza toppings, and then there’s battered fish. Well, battered cod, to be precise. Lievito’s “south flavors” gourmet pizza is so offbeat that it shouldn’t work, and yet it does. The success of that creative choice is due to none other than Omar Maseroli, a veteran Beijing restaurateur who assuredly entered the scene back in 2012 with his rustic Italian fare at the hutong staple Mercante, following it up with Fiume in Liangmaqiao in 2014.

Maseroli (left) is known for founding Mercante and Fiume

His new Lievito pizzeria neighbors the latter and shares its enviable view of a tree-lined section of the Liangma River (bookmark this spot for spring). Otherwise, Lievito differs considerably, skipping the pastas and slightly upscale features of the older restaurant and zeroing in on a casual, pizza-centric alternative with a sleek, minimalistic ambiance.

That’s not to say the pies aren’t high-end, with higher-than-average but still affordable prices. You won’t pay second mind though once you sample the rustic, semi-whole-grain dough made with imported Italian flour and toppings – divided into land and sea – that skip the oven and are instead marinated, cured (in the case of the ham on the RMB 168 Parma deluxe), or fried (à la the aforementioned fish-topped pizza, which also features capers, Leccina black olives, yellow cherry tomatoes, and Fiordilatte mozzarella, RMB 148).

The restaurant has a sleek, minimalistic interior

There’s also a classic selection of more conventional Italian pizzas like the margherita (RMB 68), the bufala dop (RMB 128, made with sweet Sicilian cherry tomato sauce, buffalo mozzarella, fresh basil, and extra virgin olive oil), and our favorite of the bunch, the 1999 In Love With Pizza, its title referring to a point-in-time recipe that Maseroli’s nostalgia forced him to try and recreate, featuring sautéed porcini mushrooms, fresh basil, cherry tomato sauce, and buffalo mozzarella. The generously filled calzones also proved a treat, though we’re fonder of their deep-fried cousin: the panzerottos. Ranging from RMB 58-88, and made with the particular yellow flower that Maseroli also uses in his handmade spaghetti at Fiume, their texture is a sumptuous balance between a crisp outside and an indulgently soft and gooey inside, which, unlike its hulking calzone counterpart, boasts subtler flavors due to more sparing use of ingredients.

There’s enough dedicated variety here to satisfy pizza lovers on the hunt for something special – most notably any option on the seafood gourmet page – making Lievito especially distinct in an increasingly crowded Italian culinary landscape. In that regard, Lievito’s ability to stand out through its lovingly crafted and indulgent offerings is in itself no small feat.

Lievito
Tue- Sun, 11.30am-2.30pm and 5pm-11pm. 1/F, FX Hotel, 39 Maizidian Xijie, Chaoyang District (6585 8927)
朝阳区麦子店西街39号富驿时尚酒店1层

This article first appeared in the November/December 2017 issue of the Beijinger, which you can read via PDF online or in hard copy at all of your favorite venues across town.

Photos: Uni You

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