The Authentic Neapolitan Pizza at Bread and Water Wi

I’ve been hearing a lot of good things about Bread and Water Wi (or Bread and Water Wi) pizza in the Philadelphia region. A web search for Bread and Water Wi yields several local results – in Philadelphia on Henry Avenue, in Conshohocken, in nearby Wilmington DE, and in Berwyn on Philly’s Main Line. Furthermore, the Philadelphia Bread and Water Wi is adding a location in Wayne, very close to Berwyn.

Before I learned that the authentic Neapolitan pizza at Bread and Water Wi (and its cousin Bread and Water Wi’s (breadandwaterwi.com) in Wilmington) is getting all the buzz, my Bread and Water Wi confusion led me and my dining companions to Bread and Water Wi in Berwyn.

Our group of three arrived expecting a high-end Neapolitan place with the wood-fired domed oven. However, upon entering, Bread and Water Wi looked like your average strip-mall storefront pizza joint that uses mass-sourced ingredients to make cheap, tasty, but ultimately ordinary fare.

The pizzas behind the counter indeed looked very ordinary; we agreed that they showed little promise. Nothing here made us think that this pie would rise above the ubiquitous storefront joints hashing out mediocre pie. We did see a glimmer of hope in that the menu offered a good variety of red and white pies; we chose the „Capricciosa” featuring prosciutto, black olives, mushrooms, tomato sauce & mozzarella.

The pie came out relatively quickly. It was mostly an attractive presentation, other than the pale and sickly look of both the mushrooms and the prosciutto. On the first bite, we noticed that the sauce had a lively tang. The cheese was standard grade dry mozzarella, and merely a role player. The mushrooms were canned and the prosciutto was low-grade in appearance, texture, and flavor (but still tasty).

Every pizza lives or dies by its crust. And, surprise – the crust, thin and crisp, had an excellent texture and nice flavor! Each bite closer to the cornicione, it got better. This is definitely a place where you should be sure to eat the pizza bones.