Pizzeria Italiana · Remuera
The melody of the oven — slow-risen sourdough, sung over wood fire at four hundred and fifty degrees, to a soundtrack of old Napoli.
371 Remuera Road · Auckland · New Zealand
Second Movement
Our Story
Naples and Auckland are both cities built on volcanoes. We simply put the fire back to work.
Melodia del Forno means “the melody of the oven.” It’s the sound this kitchen makes: the crackle of mānuka wood, the scrape of the peel on stone, the soft sigh of dough as it blisters in the flame — and, somewhere underneath it all, Caruso or Pino Daniele on the speakers. In Naples, food and song have never been separate things. They aren’t here either.
We keep the cooking deliberately simple. A short menu of sourdough pizzas from a starter we feed daily and dough we prove slowly for 48 hours. Fewer choices, done properly, at a fair price — so great pizza is something you have on a Tuesday, not just an occasion.
Sourdough
Wild-yeast starter, 48-hour cold prove. Light, digestible, beautifully charred.
Short menu
Eight pizzas — our repertoire — plus whatever the season is singing.
Fair prices
Honest food at honest prices, every day of the week.
Forno Acunto · hand-built in Napoli
Mosaic dome, Carrara bench, Vesuvian stone floor — drawn from the very oven that now stands in our kitchen, 18,000 km from where it was born.
The Acunto Oven
At the heart of our room stands an oven hand-built in Naples by the Acunto family — artisans who have made ovens for the city’s great pizzerias for nearly a century.
It crossed the world in pieces and was assembled here brick by brick, its floor laid with volcanic stone from the slopes of Vesuvius. It now burns above Auckland’s own volcanic field — one fire country talking to another.
At 450°C a pizza cooks in around ninety seconds: long enough for the crust to leopard-spot and puff, short enough for the tomato to stay bright and the fior di latte to barely melt. That balance is the whole song.
Second Movement
From Campania
La farina
The Flour
Soft “00” flour milled in Campania, the home of pizza. Blended with our wild sourdough starter and left to ferment slowly – flavour you can’t rush.
il formaggio
The Cheese
Fior di latte, stracciatella and buffalo mozzarella from Campanian dairies, cut fresh each morning and added with restraint so the crust can sing.
il pomodoro
The Tomato
San Marzano tomatoes grown in volcanic soil beneath Vesuvius, crushed by hand with sea salt and nothing else. Sweet, low in acid, unmistakably Italian.
la legna
The Wood
Aotearoa meets Napoli — sustainably sourced New Zealand hardwoods, led by mānuka, burned hot and clean for that whisper of smoke in every crust.
l'olio
The Oil
Cold-pressed extra-virgin olive oil from small southern-Italian groves, finished over every pizza as it leaves the oven, never before.
il mercato
The Market
Basil, pumpkin, greens and seasonal vegetables from Auckland growers we know by name. What’s good this week decides the encore.
The score
menu
Played in three movements. Our pizzas are numbered like tracks, not named after nonnas — and each one is paired with the Italian song we reach for when it slides into the oven.
I. Antipasti
andante
Wood-Oven Garlic Bread
$12
Sourdough base, confit garlic, rosemary, sea salt
Burrata di Campania
$19
Creamy burrata, slow-roasted tomatoes, basil oil, charred sourdough
Salumi Misti
$24
Prosciutto, finocchiona and spianata with marinated olives and grissini
Polpette al Forno
$18
Beef and pork meatballs baked in San Marzano sugo, pecorino
II. Le Pizze — The Records
allegro con fuoco
Played in three movements. Our pizzas are numbered like tracks, not named after nonnas — and each one is paired with the Italian song we reach for when it slides into the oven.
Marinara
$18
‘Santa Lucia’ — trad. italiana
San Marzano tomato, garlic, oregano, basil, olive oil. No cheese, no photo — the a cappella: just the voice, unaccompanied.
Margherita
$22
”O Sole Mio’ — Enrico Caruso
San Marzano tomato, fior di latte, fresh basil, extra-virgin olive oil. The standard every voice is measured against.
Pesto E Stracciatella
$26
‘Volare’ — Domenico Modugno
Basil pesto, stracciatella, semi-dried tomatoes, shaved parmigiano. Light, green, and gone before the chorus.
Diavola Gialla
$26
‘Funiculì Funiculà’ — written for Vesuvius
Yellow datterino tomato, stracciatella, Calabrian chilli, crusco peppers, wild oregano. Our devil wears gold — paired with the song they wrote for a volcano.
Salsiccia E Noci
$27
‘Napule è’ — Pino Daniele
San Marzano, fennel sausage, stracciatella, toasted walnuts, basil. Deep and soulful, like the song Naples claims as its anthem.
Crudo E Crema
$28
‘Torna a Surriento’ — E. De Curtis
White base, prosciutto crudo, whipped buffalo cream, shaved parmigiano, basil. A love letter home, draped in silk.
Zucca e Salsiccia
$27
‘Caruso’ — Lucio Dalla
Roast pumpkin cream from Auckland growers, fennel sausage, pecorino, saffron threads. Where Campania’s oven meets Aotearoa’s garden.
L'Improvvisata
$MP
the encore — improvised nightly
The blackboard pizza. This week: capocollo, roast agria potato, smoked provola, hazelnut. Changes with the season and the mood of the room.
III. Dolci
adagio
Tiramisù della Casa
$15
Made daily — savoiardi, mascarpone, espresso, cocoa
Nutella Calzoncino
$14
Wood-fired sourdough pocket, Nutella, mascarpone, hazelnut
Affogato
$12
Vanilla bean gelato drowned in double espresso, amaretti crumb
Gluten-free bases and vegan fior di latte available on every pizza · Please tell us about allergies — our kitchen handles flour, dairy and nuts
Second Movement
Vino & Birra
Our list leans hard toward Campania — volcanic wines that grew up alongside this style of pizza and belong on the same table. Bright whites from ancient grapes, structured reds from the slopes of Vesuvius and the hills of Irpinia.
Alongside them, a short verse of New Zealand favourites, Italian beers on tap, and proper espresso to finish.
Falanghina Del Sannio
14 / 64
Campania — crisp, citrus and white flowers; the house pour
Greco di Tufo DOCG
16 / 74
Irpinia, Campania — mineral, saline, born of volcanic tuff
Fiano di Avellino DOCG
16 / 76
Campania — honeyed hazelnut and orchard fruit
Lacryma Christi Rosso
15 / 70
Vesuvio — “the tears of Christ,” grown in the volcano’s shadow
Aglianico Taurasi DOCG
19 / 92
Irpinia — the “Barolo of the South”; dark, structured, built for the Diavola
Kumeu River Chardonnay
17 / 82
Auckland — our home verse; twenty minutes from the front door
Peroni Nastro Azzurro · Birra del Borgo
On Tap
Plus rotating Auckland craft guests
Final
Find Us
For Reservation
You’ll find us at 371 Remuera Road, in the heart of Remuera village — follow the smell of wood smoke and the sound of old Napoli. Counter seats face the Acunto if you’d like dinner with a show; the long table at the back is made for families and birthdays.
Walk-ins are always welcome at the bar. For groups of five or more, we recommend booking ahead.
Address
371 Remuera Road, Remuera
Auckland 1050, New Zealand
Hours
Tue – Sun · 11.30am – late
Closed Mondays — the oven rests, the starter doesn’t
Contact
Takeaway
Order at the counter or by phone — boxed straight from the oven