Review: Inspired by Rome, Coronato brings laser-sharp focus to irresistible pizza
Teddy Diggs was on the classic career path for an aspiring young chef. After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America in 2004, Diggs worked in highly rated restaurants in Washington, D.C., and hotels in Martha’s Vineyard, where he cooked for President Obama and other notables.
In 2014, he came to Chapel Hill to take over food and beverage at the Siena Hotel and became executive chef of the hotel’s Italian restaurant, Il Palio.
Then he went to Rome. Tasked with the mission of updating the restaurant’s menu, the chef went on a research trip to Italy. After the obligatory visit to Tuscany, home of the regional cuisine that had been the foundation for Il Palio’s reputation, he headed south for Rome.
It didn’t take Diggs long to discover that the ancient city was undergoing a culinary renaissance, as chefs were breaking loose from hidebound tradition and developing a new modern Roman cuisine. He was particularly struck by the pizzas, which historically in Rome were a commodity sold by the kilo in bakeries. Now, dedicated pizzerias were taking an artisanal approach to the thin-crusted pies, and exploring inventive new ways to top them.
Diggs returned to Chapel Hill and proceeded to burnish Il Palio’s fine dining reputation with a contemporary Italian menu built around a wood oven. But the seed of an idea was was planted.
That seed — which Diggs has nurtured for the past five years with annual trips to Rome — finally bore fruit this summer, when he opened Coronato in the spanking new South Green shopping center in Carrboro. Don’t be misled by the minimalist decor, whose highlights are pretty much limited to an aerial map of Rome, a potted snake plant in one corner, and chalkboards listing the daily specials. The focus here is unapologetically on the food.
At the laser-sharp center of that focus is the pizza. For the uninitiated, Roman-style pizza dough includes a splash of extra virgin olive oil and is rolled very thin, yielding a crust that’s blistered and cracker-crisp at the edges, and just pliable enough at the center to be folded. Like its Neapolitan cousin, Roman-style pizza is an individual pie, ample as a main course for one (or for sharing, provided your dining companion is willing to reciprocate).
Toppings, also inspired by those trips to Rome, range from classic Marinara (tomato, garlic, sea salt, no cheese) to contemporary combinations such as Il Verde (besciamella, charred broccoli, smoked mozzarella, black pepper).
It pays to check the specials board, too, where you’ll find the likes of pizza al’ Amatriciana (Benton’s bacon, red onions, dried hot pepper, sheep’s milk ricotta and fresh mozzarella on a tomato base) and Puttanesca (Marinara, amped up with anchovies, olives, sweet and hot peppers, capers and Sicilian oregano).
The Capricciosa pizza is the chef’s irresistible take on a traditional quattro stagione pizza, divided into four sections, with a different topping in each: marinated long-stem artichokes, sautéed mushrooms and olives, a fried egg, and petals of prosciutto added post-baking.
But the potato pizza is a pleasant surprise that you’ll be telling your friends about for weeks: potatoes crushed with olive oil and baked to earthy fragrant tenderness on a bed of fontina cheese spangled with roasted garlic cloves, fresh rosemary and a spritz of lemon. Consider the splurge on an optional topping of shaved truffle (when available) or white sturgeon caviar.
I haven’t found a pizza yet that isn’t worth the 40-minute drive to Carrboro. But I sure wouldn’t drive all that way and limit my order to just pizza. Diggs is far too talented a chef, and all those trips to Rome have yielded too many other temptations for that.
I’d have to start off with at least a couple of items from the Snacks & Salads section of the menu. Tomato-braised lamb meatballs, say, polka-dotted with dollops of whipped ricotta. Or a simple plate of prosciutto di Parma and dates drizzled with wild honey.
Something fried is a must, too. Maybe cacio e pepe fries, liberally dusted with black pepper and pecorino Romano, and charmingly served in a paper bag. Or, if I’ve got a few people to share with, a create-your-own fritti misti platter that might include fried stuffed olives, suppli Romana (rice and cheese balls), bucatini with pesto and mozzarellini (fried mozzarella like you’ve never had before). We would definitely want an order of mixed house pickles to go with it.
And I certainly wouldn’t set out for home before treating my sweet tooth to an order of bomboloni, sugar-crusted doughnut holes with a creamy lemon ricotta center. Or maybe I’d go for an encore performance of the most unusual — and delightful — take on tiramisu I’ve had in recent memory: no ladyfingers, just layers of mascarpone zabaglione and a salted cocoa and coffee “soil” (ground espresso, cocoa, butter and sugar, baked and then crushed).
Who am I kidding? I’d have to have both.
Coronato
101 Two Hills Road, Suite 140, Carrboro
919-240-4804
Cuisine: Italian
Rating: 4 stars
Prices: $
Atmosphere: casual, minimalist
Noise level: low to moderate
Service: welcoming and attentive
Recommended: pizzas, fritti Romana, cacio e pepe fries, lamb meatballs, bomboloni, tiramisu
Open: Lunch Wednesday-Sunday, dinner Tuesday-Sunday.
Reservations: not accepted (parties of 6 or more advised to call ahead; upstairs room available for larger parties)
Other: full bar; accommodates children; excellent vegetarian selection; wheelchair accessible; parking in lot.
The N&O’s critic dines anonymously; the newspaper pays for all meals. We rank restaurants in five categories: 5 stars: Extraordinary. 4 stars: Excellent. 3 stars: Above average. 2 stars: Average. 1 star: Fair.
The dollar signs defined: $ Entrees average less than $10. $ Entrees $11 to $20. $$ Entrees $21 to $30. $$ Entrees more than $30.
This story was originally published December 9, 2019 at 5:30 AM.