Everyone’s got an opinion about pizza.
Some like a thick dough, extra cheese and pepperoni. Some prefer a thin, crispy crust and lighter toppings. There are divisive feelings about things like pineapple, anchovies or barbecued chicken. Some people don’t even like pizza (though they are likely a very small minority).
Regardless of your pizza preferences, before pizza became an American staple, its roots were formed in Italy. Bakers in the southern-central Italian city of Naples supposedly first married flatbread with tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and basil in 1889, dubbing it a Margherita in honor of the visiting Italian queen of the same name.
So when Alessandro Scelsi, a native of Italy and the co-owner of Meanwhile in Belfast, says his Neapolitan-style pizza is as authentic as you’re likely to get here in Maine, it’s hard to argue with him. He has spent the better part of two decades perfecting his traditional Italian pizza, and the wide array of pies that come out of the wood-fired brick oven at his Belfast eatery show that.
“I worked as a pizza chef all over Europe. Iceland. Spain. France. London. Australia, too. I built up a lot of experience,” said Scelsi. “[My pizza] is not like the pizza a lot of people are used to here. It’s Neapolitan. It’s different.”
In addition to pizza, the eatery also serves a selection of salads, sandwiches and other small plates.
Since opening in March 2015, Meanwhile in Belfast has become a dining destination for pizza lovers and, more generally, lovers of Italian cuisine. Nestled in the back of an 1865 building at 2 Cross St. in downtown Belfast, it’s the little eatery that Scelsi long wanted to open with his life and business partner, Clementina Senatore.
For Scelsi and Senatore, it was a chance discovery while walking through Belfast on a fall day in 2014 that led to the restaurant coming to fruition. The couple had vacationed in Maine each fall for years but hadn’t considered opening a restaurant here. But on that day they happened upon the owner of 2 Cross St., who took them on an impromptu tour of the building.
“We were looking in Europe to start a business. Not here,” said Senatore. “But then we found out this place was available. It was just right. The outdoor seating, the water view… it’s like where we come from. It fits very well for us. It’s a small community. And especially, with all the farms here and working with them, because we are used to farm-to-table in Italy. So we thought, ‘Let’s give it a try!’”
And so they have, with a special pizza crust that’s years in the making. Scelsi’s secret is his sourdough starter — the blend of wild yeast and lactobacilli that creates the tangy, unique flavor of his pizza crust. He has been cultivating this particular starter for years, and brought it with him from London to Belfast two years ago.
“It’s like a baby. You have to take care of it. You have to feed it every day,” said Scelsi.
Though the tangy thin-crust pizza at Meanwhile in Belfast is cooked in a brick oven, it’s distinctly different from other brick oven pizza you’re likely to get in Maine. When it arrives at your table, it’s not sliced. Some of the pizzas on the menu don’t have cheese. It’s crispy around the edges, but soft in the center.
“Ours is Neapolitan style, so it’s very thin, it’s soft, and it’s highly digestible. You can fold it,” said Senatore. “In Naples, they sell pizza to go, and they don’t cut it. They give you the pizza, you fold it, and you eat it. It’s almost like a crepe, in a way.”
Scelsi’s pizza takes 90 seconds to cook, but it takes days to prepare all the ingredients. Staff at the restaurant crush San Marzano tomatoes for the sauce. They smoke their own mozzarella. They import cured meats, including guanciale, speck and prosciutto de parma. And the vast majority of the produce and seafood used comes from Waldo County farmers and fishermen.
Scelsi and Senatore have been able to replicate most of what they had access to in Italy here in Maine — though a few ingredients just aren’t available here. Likewise, however, some things exist in Maine that don’t in Italy.
“Some pizzas that we eat in Italy, you can’t make it over here,” said Senatore. “The produce doesn’t really exist here. But there’s stuff here that doesn’t exist over there, too. There’s only a few varieties of squash in Italy, but there’s so, so many here. The shiitake mushrooms, too. We are always trying new combinations.”
Perennial favorites among customers include the Mountain Man, a hearty pizza topped with potatoes and mushrooms, smoked mozzarella and, optionally, speck, the dry-cured Italian ham. The Harbormaster is also popular, featuring locally caught sauteed seafood, arugula, cherry tomatoes and a liberal application of cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil. The Hot Summer is a riff on the classic Fra Diavolo sauce, combining spicy salami with crushed tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and fruity, juicy Taggiasca olives.
Other menu items include both small and large plates, such as scallop tartare, a dish spotlighting rich, flavorful bresaola (air-cured, salted beef), served in layers with cheese, tomatoes, arugula, lemon and olive oil, or the luscious, house-made burrata — a baseball-sized hunk of cream-filled fresh mozzarella, served with greens, tomato and pesto.
An extensive list of Italian and French wines rounds out the menu, as well as some specially crafted martinis and margaritas, should you want something with a little more kick to pair with your pie.
Meanwhile in Belfast is open for dinner from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursdays through Mondays, and for lunch 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Saturdays through Mondays. It is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. For information, visit meanwhile-in-belfast.com.
