Napoli Food Tour : 10 + Degustazioni dalla Pizza al Limoncello

Last year (2025) we met Giovanni for a private food tour in Sorrento. During the tour he talked about his hometown of Napoli, and suggested we visit it if we came back to Italy. When we planned our trip for this year (2026) he was our first contact to scedul0e a private food tour for Napoli. We met Giovanni in the Piazza del Gèzu Nuova. In the middle of the square is an ornate Baroque obelisk dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It was built in the 18th century and is one of Naples’ famous “plague columns” or devotional spires, alongside others in the historic center. Also in the Piazza is a dark diamond-patterned church known as Church of Gesù Nuovo. The church is unique because it was built originally as a Renaissance palace. It was beautiful. Giovanni began the tour with a tasting of fresh mozzarella made only a few hours earlier. It tasted rich, creamy and slightly tangy. In the Campania region of Italy, where Naples is located, mozzarella is made with buffalo milk, as opposed to other areas like Tuscany where cow's milk is used to make the cheese. Look at how the balls look inside. Mmmmm! Stop #2 was at a local fish market for a Cuoppo de Mare, one of the classic street foods of Naples. A cuoppo is a paper cone filled with fried seafood, lightly salted, calamari, shrimp, small fish like anchovies, octopus and small vegetables. Note: The small shrimp are fried whole, shell and head on. I thought that would be weird, but it was delicious. We grabbed a small bottle of wine to have with it. Check out all the fresh fish - Everything was in the water three hours earlier. Stop #3 was a small food purveyor in an alcove off the main street. We tried two wines, a Aglianico Beneventano IGP (Red wine) and Falanghina Benventana IGP ( White wine ) local to Naples and a small meat and cheese plate. Giovanni reminded us we had tried several.of the items before in Sorrento. More fresh buffalo mozzarella, along with provolone del monaco, capocollo, Neapolitan Salami and prosciutto. We also trued a rosè balsamic vinegar spray and a black truffle spread. We like both so much we took a jar home along with some Limoncello candy. Everything to this point was an appetizer. We stopped playing around for our tasting #4 which was to sample Neapolitan Ragù. Neapolitan ragù (ragù alla napoletana) is a rich, slow-cooked Italian meat sauce from Naples, distinct from Bolognese as it uses large cuts of meat (braciole, pork ribs, sausage) instead of minced meat, braised for hours in tomato purée, onions, basil and wine until tender. It's traditionally served in two courses: first as a pasta sauce, with the tender meat served separately as a second course, often with bread for dipping. We tried it on some ziti pasta. A group of teenagers near us had it served in bread rolls. I will get it that way when I go back. I love Bolognese, but damn, I think ragù alla napoletana is my new "go-to" favorite. Giovanni got me some bread to sop up all the sauce left in the bowl. That is known as "fare la scarpetta." Giovanni kept his foot on the pedal taking us to stop #5 for a Neapolitan Margherita Pizza and a something called a Pizza Fritta. The latter is specifically, a folded and deep-fried Neapolitan pizza, somewhat between a calzone, a panzerotto and classic Neapolitan pizza dough. It was filled with ricotta, fior de latte, cicoli (pork cracklings), tomato sauce and black pepper. It was my second life-changing food I tasted in the last 20 minutes. I did not know this existed. Now, apparently I have a new addiction. WTF! I felt bad for the Margherita Pizza. It was also very good, extremely thin dough covered simply in frsh tomato sauce, buffalo mozzarella and basil. I'm sure I would have eaten the whole pie...but Pizza Fritta. Thankfully, Giovanni eased back the culinary throttle and took us on a walk through the famous Via San Gregorio Armeno. It is also known as Centro Storico. This area is known for handcrafted nativity figures, miniature food displays, funny/pop-culture figurines (you can see Diego Maradona, politicians, musicians, etc.) and red lucky horns called Cornicello. The red horn is a traditional Neapolitan symbol meant to protect against bad luck and the “evil eye.” The white-costumed figures playing instruments are Pulcinella figures — the classic masked character of Naples: Pulcinella. Stop #6 was stop for a taste of Limoncello, but more importantly, Liquor Strega, a famous bright yellow, 40% alcohol drink made in nearby Benevento. Strega means witch in Italian, and legend has it witches gathered in the town many years ago. There are dozens of herbs and spices in the beverage, with saffron giving it the yellow hue, The exact recipe is a more closely-guarded secret than the Coke formula. The taste is slightly minty and a little spicy. People say it tastes like Chartreuse. We say it tasted like heaven. We finished our food tour with a wonderful Sfogliatella Frolla at a local Pasticceria that has been in business for 139 years. The Sfogliatella Frolla is filled with sweet ricotta flavored with semolina, candied citrus, vanilla and cinnamon before being dusted with powdered sugar. Staggering back to Piazza del Gèzu Nuova, we bid Giovanni goodbye. We're coming back in 2027, we look forward to his next plan for us. If you want to experience the best food tours in Italy, contact Giovanni. I promise you won't be disappointed.