North Beach has of late become an alternative dining and entertainment destination to the craziness of South Beach. The O Cinema offers creative and art films, concerts and food truck festivals are weekly events in the North Beach Bandshell, Taquiza’s freshly made masa tacos anchor the beachside on Ocean Terrace, Sazon offers authentic Cuban food, and now, Capri New Style Italian has recently opened on Normandy Isle on the corner that used to house Gol Soccer themed restaurant.

Pre-holiday, Capri has decked the halls with colorful lights, a chalkboard Christmas tree and twinkling lights throughout. The wood burning pizza oven provides more winter ambiance in what turns out to be a large, yet still cozy restaurant.

The chef/owner is Massimiliano Stamerra, a world class pizza “acrobat” champion from Racale, a small town in Puglia, Italy. Authentic ingredients imported from Italy, house made mozzarella and burrata and a nightly pizza tossing demo are just some of the highlights at Capri on any given night.

Gluten free and Vegan pizzas and pastas are also on the menu, and on our recent visit we enjoyed, among other classic Italian dishes, gluten free pizzas, vegan pastas, and a decadent Tiramisu.

Starters are classic Italian and include an impressive Salumi platter of Prosciutto, Bresaola, and cheeses including parmesan, mozzarella and Gran Padano, diced Tuna Tartare with Avocado, Vitello Tonnato, and a Vegan option, Zucchini Soufflé with tomato sauce.

Pizzas and Pastas are the strong points here, and Capri offers over 50 different versions all prepared in the wood burning oven with optional gluten free crusts. Options include some very creative and interesting combinations of meat, cheeses, vegetables, Uni, shrimp and pumpkin, artichoke cream and pineapple. We tried a gluten free and vegan version with vegan cheese, fresh grape tomatoes and arugula. It was colorful with a bubbly crust, but we felt it could have had a bit more robust of a flavor.

Our favorite was the Truffle white pizza with fresh mozzarella, stracciatella and a fresh burrata ball as a centerpiece. Black truffles slices were shaved on top. It was delicious.

The pasta dishes were also very good, especially the Gnocchi with a creamy blue cheese and pear sauce and arugula, Orecchiette with broccoli sausage, and the Ravioli with mushroom sauce.

But the best was still to come, as the lights were lowered, the music turned up and Chef Massimiliano took center stage and performed his champion pizza tossing demonstration. One, then two pizzas were tossed high in the air, rolled across his back and thru his legs in a show that young and old will both enjoy. The spirited Pizza Tossing Demo is performed most nights around 8 pm, and around 8:30 pm on Friday and Saturday nights.

The final dolci dessert course ended the evening with a sweet note the included classics like a creamy Tiramisu, Baba au Rhum, Cannolls and a very special Dessert pizza, featuring slices of sweet crust topped with cannoli cream and powdered sugar.

Capri offers a nice menu, family friendly setting and authentic Italian cuisine at reasonable prices.

Capri New Style Italian Cuisine

940 71st St.

Miami Beach, FL

305 397 8917