High and Low: A Taste of Two Napolis

Naples is a city of striking contrasts, where opulence and working-class street life combine into an urban identity that is unique in Italy, if not the world. Here palaces and rooftop shanties share the same skyline, street performers and opera singers appear on the same squares, and exclusive fine-dining bastions on the hilltop overlook working-class quarters teeming with pizza ovens and buzzing with motor scooters. The physical differences between the breezy lookouts of Vomero Hill and the tight alleys of the historic Spanish Quarter are so dramatic it’s hard to believe they are both a part of the same city, separated only by a short funicular ride. However, as we will see on this day of eating and exploring, despite their differences, the people of this city are united around good old-fashioned Neapolitan cooking. From posh cafes to street food stands, Naples locals like a meal hot, quick, loud and delicious, just like their grandmothers and grandfathers before them.

We’ll begin our day the Neapolitan way, with a cup of thick, piping hot espresso and the city’s signature pastry, sfogliatelle, in a Neapolitan cafe up in Vomero
Down in Montesanto, the working-class belly of Naples, we’ll get a feel for the beautiful chaos that characterizes local life. At a neighborhood fishmonger we will have a taste of marinated anchovies and freshly-fried fish and seafood, while at a friggitoria with more than a century’s experience we’ll get a bite of fried macaroni, a favorite local specialty. We’ll go behind the scenes at a producer of taralli, the simple yet bewitching crispy snack seasoned with black pepper, and then sit down to soak up some neighborhood life with a glass of crisp white wine from a vineyard near Mount Vesuvius, readying our appetite for a course or two at a classic backstreet trattoria.

We’ll continue into the narrow streets of the Spanish Quarter, shaded by laundry flapping in the breeze, to visit one of the neighborhood’s classic pizzerias on our way square dedicated to the legendary soccer player Diego Maradona, revered here like a saint after he helped bring a championship to the city. As we wind our day down with a limoncello spritz, we’ll decide if we should go for an artisanal gelato made from buffalo’s milk, or a final bracing coffee – or, better yet, both. After all, this day is all about doing and seeing things both ways.