Pizzeria I Genovesi

Pizzeria I Genovesi sits on a short lane in the middle of Palma's old town, between Plaça d'Espanya and Plaça Major. The name is no accident: I Genovesi means the Genoese — and the menu delivers on it. Alongside the Italian pizza there runs a second, Ligurian thread that you will hardly find on any other menu on Mallorca. The room is small, and a good part of the trade goes over the counter and out on delivery. By the house's own account, everything is made on site, from the dough to the pesto. The Genoese side of Pizzeria I Genovesi Two sections of the menu come straight from Liguria. The fugassa in the style of Recco is a paper-thin dough of wheat flour and olive oil baked with a filling; the menu names it expressly as a typical product of Genoa and its province. The classic version holds nothing but stracchino, a fresh, mild Italian cow's-milk cheese that carries a good deal of this menu. Beyond that it comes with cooked ham, as a pizzata with tomato, anchovy, olive, caper and oregano, as a pizzaccia with gorgonzola and spicy salami, and as a genovese with house-made pesto. The second section is the fainà: a flatbread of chickpea flour and olive oil, Genoese as well, and in its plain form entirely plant-based — chickpea flour and pepper, nothing more. Filled, you choose between onion, gorgonzola, stracchino and longaniza; depending on the season, fresh artichokes or small fish join it. The Ligurian thread runs on from there: a bruschetta with toasted house bread, garlic, cherry tomato and pesto, and beside the lasagne bolognese a lasagne genovese that layers pesto and béchamel instead of ragù. The pesto is made in the kitchen, with basil, pine nuts, parmesan, garlic and olive oil. From marinara to mallorquina The pizza side stays down to earth and is still broader than the small room suggests. The classics run from marinara with tomato, garlic and oregano through margherita, diavola, napoli with anchovy, olive and caper, calzone and bufala with buffalo mozzarella to a vegetariana with aubergine, courgette, pepper, artichoke and onion. The speciali are heartier: carbonara, bismark with egg and pancetta, the bomba with four kinds of ham and sausage at once, the faro with stracchino, spicy salami, garlic, longaniza and rocket. The mallorquina is the menu's nod to the island — sobrassada, goat cheese and honey. The gourmet row goes a step further. The genovese does without tomato altogether and rests on stracchino and pesto alone. The aaron brings stracchino and gorgonzola together with pear, walnut and honey; the mortadella adds burrata and pistachio; the salmone puts fresh salmon with burrata and cherry tomato. Round that out with salads, sandwiches — one of them with Italian roast-pork cold cuts, paprika, onion and stracchino — and with tiramisù, profiteroles and a sweet calzone with hazelnut cream. Small, central, and much of it to go The drinking is uncomplicated: wine from Spain and Italy by the glass and the bottle, prosecco and cava, beer on tap and in bottles, plus a handful of bar classics. Afterwards the menu offers espresso, cortado and carajillo, along with amaro, grappa, limoncello, amaretto and hierbas. Orders and tables are arranged by phone, and the house also runs its own form on its website where you choose between collection, delivery and eating in. You can pay in cash, contactless or by card, there is air conditioning and free wifi, and for larger groups the pizzeria offers catering. The house is run by Davide Perniciaro.