In Italian, the word manco derives from the verb mancare, a verb used to express when someone is missed or something is lacking.
Ti manco? That’s how you’d ask if someone misses you.
Lovers of authentic Italian pizza have been missing the flavor sensation of native Italian pies, which, for the most part, are not widely available in Florida.
Enter: Angelo Manco, the namesake of Angelo’s Wood Fired Pizza, opening soon just outside downtown Tavares on Main Street and State Road 19. Angelo, we hope, metaphorically speaking, stands for the angel delivering what’s been lacking in Lake and Sumter counties: a truly authentic pizza.
The Italian chef comes with credentials. To start, he was born in the Italian heartland of pizza, Naples.
Manco, 62, grew up in Chiaiano (kyah-yano), a borough in northwestern Napoli, a homey, hilly district with scenic antiquity and friendly character. Manco’s neighborhood hummed with the chatter of neighbors gathering to make pizza in a community wood-fired oven.
After college and two years of cooking school in Germany, where he learned English, French and German, the hardworking Neapolitan moved to the U.S. nearly 40 years ago, and for 25 of those years, he ran another restaurant in Tavares, where he served dinners of Veal Parmesan and braciole.
For his latest 2.0 Tavares/Angelo’s venture with his daughter, Adriana Manco, and son-in-law, Wyatt Smith, he is stripping down and going more for quality over quantity, and a more contemporary look; definitely not featuring those stereotypical rubber grapes, wine casks and portraits of “The Sopranos” and Frank Sinatra.
That contemporary savvy comes with the help of daughter Adriana and Wyatt, both 30. Angelo’s wife, Julie, a Clermont native, also pitches in.
“It’s always been my dream to have a true Neapolitan pizza restaurant,” Manco told the Daily Commercial.
To make that happen, he imported a wood-fired pizza oven, the Manna Forni oven, which traveled all the way from Naples. “The moment she arrived, my heart beats again!” Manco effused on Facebook. “Weighing in at 6,000 lbs and reaching temperatures of over 900 degrees, she can cook a perfect pizza in just 90 seconds.”
But what about the actual pizza? Manco won’t be missing essential ingredients such as Caputo double-zero flour to make the dough and letting it rise the requisite time.
“It actually takes at least 48 hours of fermentation for the pizza dough to be ready,” he explained.
“So, it’s a long process. You have to use the right temperature when you make your pizza. It’s not like a lot of the pizza that you eat. It’s like when you eat it, if you’re always bloated. That’s the reason we ferment for 48 hours, very slow. So all the sugar breaks up, so when you eat it, the pizza, it’s very light. It’s not heavy, you know?”
Manco says he is working with Italian food distributors to get quality imports such as real San Marzano tomatoes. Grown in volcanic soil, they’re known for their sweetness and low acidity. They also have less water and fewer seeds.
Angelo’s will also serve sandwiches and salads, a beer-and-wine bar and outdoor dog-friendly seating.
“We are using homemade sandwich bread, also fermented and digestible, just like our pizza dough,” Adriana explained, adding that instead of a spongy focaccia, it’s got an “Italian pane” texture, with “a nice crusty outside and tender crumb inside.”
The dining room will feature clean and simple decor with an open kitchen and, of course, the famous Manna Forni oven from Napoli is the heart and centerpiece of the restaurant.
Wyatt’s dad, by the way, Jackson Smith, helped Manco build his new restaurant, Angelo’s Wood Fired Pizza, bringing two patriarchs together in one big family of Italians and Floridians.
That mix is at the heart of the restaurant, which offers the authentic Margherita (Angelo’s personal favorite) with crushed tomatoes, fresh basil and mozzarella, along with more far-out Americanized updates, such as a Buffalo chicken-topped pizza (Wyatt’s favorite).
Angelo’s Wood Fired Pizza, scheduled to open in late November, is located at 916 W. Main St., Tavares. Hours will be 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday, closed on Sunday. Email angeloswoodfiredpizza@gmail.com for more info or check them out on Facebook or Instagram.
This article originally appeared on Daily Commercial: Straight outta Napoli, Angelo’s to serve traditional Italian pizza in Lake County
Reporting by Julie Garisto, Leesburg Daily Commercial / Daily Commercial
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
