Forno Rosso Pizzeria Napoletana Brings Thin Crust Pizza to the West Loop

Forno Rosso Pizzeria Napoletana, located in the West Loop, is now open daily at 11 a.m. Forno Rosso (meaning "red oven" in Italian) offers traditional Neapolitan-style thin crust pizzas served fresh from a classic, wood-burning Gianni Acunto oven imported from Italy in a contemporary, urban atmosphere. This is the second Forno Rosso location to open in Chicago with a previous location on Harlem Avenue in Dunning.

The Randolph Street location was just recently VPN (Verace Pizza Napoletana) certified, which means Forno Rosso met strict requirements demonstrating they respect the tradition of the art of Neapolitan pizza making. The VPN is the American Delegation of the Association Vera Pizza Napoletana, an international non-profit organization founded in the mid 1980's by a group of Neapolitan Pizzaiolis (pizza makers) seeking to cultivate the culinary art of making Neapolitan pizza.

Created by owner Nick Nitti, the menu features over 20 handcrafted Neapolitan pizzas as well as antipasti and salads. Pizza Napoletana is made with soft, handcrafted dough using Italian-milled flour, filtered water, sea salt and fresh yeast. Forno Rosso exclusively uses Caputo Flour from Naples Italy in all of their pizzas, creating a crisp, flavorful crust with a chewy center. Once the pizzas are placed in the one thousand degree wood-burning oven, it takes about sixty to ninety seconds to cook.

To celebrate the spring season, Forno Rosso will feature daily rotating Bianca and Rosso pizza specials during April that will range in price from $17 to $20. Highlights include a whole grain pizza with ramps, pancetta, Yukon Gold Potatoes and Fior di Latte (cow's milk cheese), and a carbone vegetale pizza featuring a charcoal powder infused dough, giving the crust a blackish color.

At lunch only, Forno Rosso features their signature Panuozzi, a type of panino baked in the oven filled with a variety of ingredients. Featured items on the Panuozzi menu include the Siciliana (Fior di Latte mozzarella, caponata, basil; $12) and the Piccante (Fior di Latte mozzarella, Forno Rosso's special local sausage, spicy Soppressata, homemade spicy oil; $13).