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New Neapolitan-style pizza restaurant opens in Dana Point

June 27, 2023

Brooklyn-born John Arena and award-winning pizzaiolo Chris Decker entered Dana Point’s slice scene with a less-ubiquitous option: crispy, airy Neapolitan-inspired pizzas. Truly Pizza offers hearth-baked pizzas with simple toppings and blistered crusts that could hold their own with East Coast versions of the style.

The pizzeria made its debut Thursday, June 22 with a packed house continuing over the weekend.

Menu highlights include a crispy pepperoni pie studded with cup-and-char pepperoni; an umami-rich mushroom pizza topped with smoked mozzarella, roasted mushrooms, toasted sesame oil, and bonito flakes; and a smoky vodka pie made with house-made vodka sauce, fresh and aged whole milk mozzarella, pistachio lemon pesto, and torn basil.

Guests can also look forward to purchasing either whole pies or pizza by the slice (ideal for grab-and-go convenience) along with salads, panini sandwiches, charcuterie and cheese boards. Pies cost between $17 and $30. (Yes, gluten-free and vegan options are available.)

Courtesy of Truly Pizza

Desserts include soft serve ice cream. (Courtesy of Truly Pizza)

Starters include Harissa-honey chicken wings with Point Reyes blue cheese ($16), butter-topped garlic pull-apart bread served in a cast iron pan ($12), and skinny-cut french fries ($11). The pared-down dessert menu features a root beer float with Straus Creamery organic vanilla ice cream ($9) or soft-serve ice cream ($8) with toppings like extra virgin olive oil and sea salt, chocolate sauce, or a texture-perfecting sprinkling of Grape Nuts.

While reliable post-soccer-game pizza is in no short supply in the coastal enclave, Arena and Decker have aimed for something different — individual, thoughtfully composed pies just as good for a romantic date night as for takeout on a Friday night. Truly Pizza’s ethos are all about keeping it simple and showing restraint. As Arena explained to the Orange County Register in 2022, “It’s like Coco Chanel said, ‘Look in the mirror, take one item off before you go out of the house.’ I think it’s like that with pizza too. Show a little restraint, show a little respect for the ingredients and let each one speak for itself in its own unique voice.”

When asked how Truly Pizza’s first few days went, Arena said, “We’ve worked hard to make the space and menu perfect. It’s nice to see our friends and community enjoying Truly Pizza as much as we do.”

Courtesy of Truly Pizza

Truly Pizza’s modern new building designed by Powerstrip Studio. (Courtesy of Truly Pizza)

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In lieu of taking over a former restaurant spot, Arena and Decker decided to build a new space from the studs up. The duo enlisted the help of Emmy Award-nominated designers Ted Berner and Dayna Lee of Los Angeles-based Powerstrip Studio, whose previous work includes the W Hotel in Los Angeles and Bankside Hotel in London, to create a clearly contemporary and ultra-modern space. The sleek new construction features a white brick facade, a fauna-strewn exterior with lemon trees, and a sweeping staircase that leads diners to an open-air rooftop deck.

Open for lunch and dinner seven days a week, Truly Pizza’s regular hours are from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. Reservations and walk-ins are welcome.

Truly Pizza joins a handful of other new dining options in Dana Point’s burgeoning and pedestrian-friendly downtown Lantern Village area — don’t miss out on French bistro Maison Cafe, Dana Point Ale House, wine and cheese shop Avec Moi, and Bear Coast Coffee – located across the street from the Prado West mixed-use apartment complex that has helped boost the city’s prominence as a dining destination.

Find it: Truly Pizza, 24402 Del Prado (at Ruby Lantern), Dana Point

Orange County Register

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New Neapolitan-style pizza restaurant opens in Dana Point

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