Page 46 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL SPRING 2025 GRAND VOYAGE
P. 46

Vespa, a stray pedestrian, and a careening        a waiter to look at my emails. He studied
                     bus.                                              them, then disappeared into the kitchen
                         My nerves were jangling by the time we        Moments later, he returned with a stocky
                     reached the red-framed entrance of Pel-           man, his white T-shirt and apron dusted
                     lone and joined a queue waited for their          with flour. Without a word, he gestured for
                     taste of pizza history. Inside, the air was       us to follow.
                     thick with the intoxicating aromas of bak-            A wave of unease washed over me.
                     ing dough, wood smoke, and anticipation.          Naples has a reputation for scams. Warily
                     We had confirmed our                                                  we followed him out the
                     reservation but when                                                  front door, around the
                     we approached the                                                     corner, to a large, unas-
                     counter, the waiters,                                                 suming green door. With
                     with their thick ac-                                                  a dramatic flourish, he
                     cents and stern ex-                                                   opened it and we
                     pressions, seemed to                                                  stepped into another
                     know nothing about                                                    world. A hidden dining
                     us. My heart sank.                                                    room, larger than the one
                         Finally I convinced                                               we'd left behind, buzzed





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