Mama Miá! Italiano times three in Destin (PHOTOS)

The choices for Italian cuisine in Destin are getting as plentiful as the toppings on a pizza pie — from the truly genuine to the mainstream variety.

Authentic Italian cooking will be a family affair when La Famiglia Ristorante Italiano & Pizza opens its doors in a couple of weeks.

“My family was born in Italy, and they know the cooking and the food,” Michela Rella, 26, said in her best English.
Michela will manage the small slice of Italy along with her sister Franchesca Rella, 23. The youngest of the three sisters, Valentina, 19, will wait on La Famiglia’s guests.

The Rella family hails from Rome, where the clan has been in the restaurant and bar business for  many years.

The tiny kitchen at La Famiglia, located on the same strip as Dippin’ Dots near the Marler Bridge, will be stuffed like a manicotti with the mama and papa of the operation cooking up family recipes. Owner Stefania Tozzi is the mastermind behind the pasta and seafood dishes on the menu, and husband Pino Rella will be rolling out the pizza and calzone creations.

Pino said the inside of the cozy ristorante looks like it is set in Rome. The small spread has classic Roman style, with a touch of contemporary at the espresso and wine bar.

While La Famiglia gets established, two other honorable mentions are vying for a slice of Destin’s pizza loving populace.

Sauce Pizza & Pasta is tucked away in the shopping plaza near Beall’s. Brothers Gerry and Al Scala “kidnapped” their Naples-born immigrant mother, Teresa, and her recipes to come to the Emerald Coast a little over a year ago.

Their arsenal of family recipes includes pizza, pasta dishes and subs made in-house daily, along with original sauces and dough.

If a more mainstream taste is your liking, the area now has its first Red Brick Pizza. The franchise, which already has a foothold in Panama City, serves up fire roasted gourmet pizza in Destin Commons, sandwiched between Cold Stone Creamery and Rave Motion Pictures.

What is it about fire roasted pizza that has these eateries rolling in the dough?

Aaron Burns, assistant manager at Red Brick, explained that the thin crust pizzas are cooked quickly on the top and bottom on cobble stone in an oven that can heat up to 1,000 degrees. Their pizzas cook at about 660 degrees.

The Red Brick Pizza franchise is one of the fastest growing in the industry, combining the centuries old baking method with new technology.

“The oven makes the difference,” he said.

Aside from those three restaurants, Panhandle Pizza Take & Bake, behind the Texaco on Gulf Shore Drive, is now offering a new way to enjoy freshly-created pies. Read about the business, click here.