St.Vito Focacceria

St. Vito Focacceria could survive on the sfincione alone. The sourdough Sicilian-style pie comes out airy in a way that's genuinely disorienting for a slice this thick, dough that puffs instead of sags, topped with things like cheesy potato fonduta and a scatter of crisped pepperoni. Nashville doesn't have a house style of pizza. This is the strongest argument for one.

What separates St. Vito from a good pizza shop is that it didn't stop at the pizza. The small plates and pasta hold their own against the pie rather than trailing behind it, and the wine list is deep enough to reward sitting with it rather than skimming for something familiar. The room works both ways: casual enough for a weeknight, composed enough for an occasion.

The Gulch has no shortage of places trading on the neighborhood's foot traffic. St. Vito is doing something more specific, and it got noticed for it. A Bib Gourmand and a spot on a national list both point at the same restaurant this prose is describing: one that treats a single excellent idea as a starting point, not a whole menu.