A glow flickers across the honeycomb surface, theatrically hitting high and low reliefs along the coffered expanse. Sunken hexagonal crevices are encased in firm moulding—the tension between geometric and organic forms is palpable. Each pendentive decorates the foundation, stretching shapes into something spherical. The sections are coaxed to their highest potential and circulate up toward a divine focal point. This Roman-style pizza looks as good as it tastes.

Each ambitious bite of Bonci’s baked constructions reveals strata of ingredients and colors. A cross section of their fior di latte | acciughe mar cantabrico | capperi would make Bernini, Borromini, and Maderno proud. The base of each scissor-cut square slice is built from cold-fermented dough that yields an airy, bubbled texture—echoing the domed ceilings of Baroque churches throughout Rome. The pizza’s top crust is gilt with thin red tomato sauce and laid with supple strips of fresh cheese, evocative of dramatically rippled figures ascending to heaven on billowing marble clouds.

Anchovies curl like Solomonic columns and provide another bold feature: umami. Basil leaves trim hard lines with an asymmetrical wave. Capers stud the surface, floral in shape and taste. Olive oil bathes the dish as serendipitously as light falls over its competing components. Every ornate flavor presents this way at Pizzarium, from pink undulations of speck or cured salmon that mirror the swoops of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane’s facade, to mounds of caramelized onions and hazelnuts heaped like the six mountains on the arms of Alexander VII, ever-present in Roman cathedral decor.

The decadence of Bonci’s food reflects that of its neighbor, St. Peter’s Basilica. Pizzarium is only a few blocks from the Vatican’s northern entrance, half-hidden on Via della Meloria in the ground level of a nondescript beige building. Choose a few sculptural slices from the counter, where they shimmer like saints’ jewels under glass, and join the crowds of students snacking on the sidewalk outside, before visiting the Pope. From basil to basilica, we promise transcendence.

5/2/2019