BmoreArt

Co-owner Luke Llardo cites a couple of competing goals and philosophies regarding the perfect dough, but admits he is “pretty happy” with where Doppio’s pizza lands on that Venn diagram.

“I want somebody who is a total bread freak to come in and be like, ‘Oh, wow, there’s some interesting wheat that’s used in this,’” he says. “Also, I want somebody who’s just coming in for a quick slice to eat on their 15-minute lunch break and doesn’t give a fuck about sourdough to be like, ‘that’s really good.’” 

The Sicilian bakery that cut its teeth in the farmer’s market scene slinging fried arancini—very Sicilian fried rice balls—and a variety of Sicilian and Italian pastries, has departed from its lane with its NY pizza-centric menu in its new location in Remington. 

The dough, although not Sicilian, is distinct and intentional. It’s naturally leavened with a rye sourdough starter and a blend of several locally grown flours, including malted barley, bread wheat flour, and rye flour. It’s mixed and slow-fermented in the fridge for 48-72 hours before it’s brought out for service. The flour blend gives the crust a distinct bite, color, texture, and resistance, and you can taste that sourdough element if you focus.

The toppings are oily, and the pizza bends in true NYC fashion, dumping cheesy-pepperoni oil onto the plate, or your shorts. Slices range from $4.50-$6, depending on toppings. More toppings means more bend and more oil.

Llardo started making pizza at 12 years old in his dad’s pizzeria, Mama Llardo’s, and says he’s tapping into nostalgia and family history with his pizza recipe. His father immigrated from Sicily to the US as a child, and the Llardo family established a variety of Italian restaurants over the years.

He admits his dad’s pizza was made from easily accessible commercial flour and yeast, while he is focused on a 100% naturally leavened sourdough and a majority of locally grown wheat.

While the doughs are entirely different, like father and son, they both favor a cooked tomato sauce with onions, garlic, olive oil, and a variety of spices for their pizzas. Traditional NY style pizza sauce is minimally cooked and processed, if cooked at all, making Doppio’s an unconventional NY pie, and again, not at all Sicilian.

Sliced pizza at Doppio comes from 20” pies but grab a 16” individual pie to forgo the reheating and get a better version of the craft, but be prepared, this pizza is for grownups. Starting at $22, the complex crust paired with a deeply savory onion and garlic-forward sauce makes this one rich pizza pie. The acidic lift that usually comes from a fresh and uncooked tomato sauce is lost under the weight of cooked onions and stewed tomatoes. The rich toppings and extra savory sauce make the pizza a challenge to eat. 

I had a slice of the housemade sausage and pepperoni and had trouble finishing it. My 8-year old nephew, who’s favorite food is pizza, did not finish his slice stating it was “different.” I recommend pairing it with something refreshing to cut through the richness, but not the Caesar salad. Doppio’s Caesar salad comes drenched in an overly-fishy dressing and topped generously in fresh grated parmigiano. The crispness of the romaine is totally lost under the weight of cheese and dressing. Beware of the croutons. They are deep-fried and are so hard to bite through that you may actually crack a tooth. 

Where Doppio excels is in its roots. The pastry case and most of the sandwiches are homeruns. The Mortadella & Apricot sandwich is a simple triumph. The four-ingredient sandwich—mortadella, apricot jam, mustard, and caciocavallo cheese—is served on housemade sesame bread. The nuttiness of the sesame rounds out the sweet, tangy, and savory ingredients. Simple and delicious.

The Muffalata is another winner. After years of living and working in New Orleans, Llardo has created one of the best versions I have had of the Sicilian-style sandwich. Served on a wholegrain focaccia, Doppio’s muffaleta has tangy giardiniera paired with an unctuous umami olive tapenade to balance the richness of the bread, meat, and cheese. The fullness of the focaccia makes this a rich bite, but there is reprieve in the pickled giardiniera. Both sandwiches are much more Sicilian than the pizza. 

Grab their tried and true arancini. Soft saffron risotto is stuffed with creamy cheese, and your choice of flavorful ragu, either beef and pork or charred mushrooms. Arancini is served in their red sauce and is a better friend to the fried rice balls than to the pizza. I have eaten plenty of these, and they are always a rich, savory, and belly-warming delight. For $7-$8 each, they aren’t cheap, but they are damn good. 

If you are bold, ignore the sign posted that demands you stand in place until called and sneak a peek in the pastry case. This is Doppio Patticeria’s mecca. Co-owner Megan Cowman wields a ton of knowledge from her time traveling the Silk Road, where she learned how to make Uzbek nan, Turkish baklava, and simit from families in Uzbekistan, Turkey, and Georgia. Her pastry knowledge is outstanding, and her love of local flour and Sicilian roots made a partnership with Llardo a no-brainer.

The two met over fresh-milled flour at the farmer’s market when Llardo was working for the Mifgash Farm, a Baltimore County based wheat farm and mill. “She was buying wheat,” he recalls, “I [asked] her what she liked to make [and] she said phyllo to make chorek and burek, which are Turkish levant pastry.” The wheat-nerds hit it off immediately and within two years had become romantic partners and business partners in Doppio Patticeria. 

There are endless perfect pastries to choose from, but I highly recommend the pignoli and bombolini. The pignoli is a simple pine nut and marzipan cookie. The fragrant almond dough topped and bottomed with buttery pine nuts makes this chewy cookie an easy addiction. The bomboloni is an Italian donut, dusted in sugar and filled with vanilla pastry cream.

This light and airy donut is a soft cloud and an instant classic. There’s maritozzi, a Roman-style brioche bun split and filled with light whipped cream, tarts with pistachio frangipane and seasonal fruits, and olive oil cakes. 

Grab zeppolis or cannolis if you want to feel like you’re walking through an Italian-American street festival, or hunker down with a slice of the Sicilian cassata cake and an espresso after lunch to ease out of riposo, the Italian word for siesta. The pastry case is the star of this Sicilian bakery. 

The restaurant charges a 15% service fee as a pragmatic approach to paying a living wage in what Llardo calls an “incredibly volatile economy.” I can’t fight him on that, but the internet is on fire with opinions on the service charge for his counter-service restaurant along with many other restaurants in the state of Maryland. In 2024, lawmakers presented a bill in the House to officially ban all service charges, but it never went beyond the committee. 

This year, another attempt to ban service fees was made but the bill failed to pass before the General Assembly adjourned. Llardo defends their choice to charge the fee and says it’s not hidden, “It’s all right there.” “There” being on the door, on the counter, on the menu, and communicated at the point of sale. 

Doppio Patticeria’s hours are evolving, as is their menu. “There’s been a few things that we had said we would have on the menu pretty early on that we don’t, seafood is one, gelato is another one, and pasta,” Llardo says. 

Lllardo and Cowman are committed to sourcing locally as much as possible, a concept that Llardo says is very Italian. “The most succinct synopsis of Italian cooking, and especially southern Italian cooking, would be using fresh local ingredients,” he says.

The majority of the wheat used in their restaurant is grown in Pennsylvania and their produce and dairy is sourced from local farms. But better ingredients only make better food if the artists behind them are intentional, skilled, and relentless in their craft. Lucky for Baltimore, you’ll find both intention and quality at Doppio Pasticceria.

Visit Doppio Pasticceria at 300 West 29th Street in the Remington neighborhood of Baltimore. Hours: 8:00am-3pm on Wednesdays; 8am – 9pm Thursdays-Saturdays; and 8:00 am-8:30pm on Sundays.