a-Ma-Re Capri Reopens with Pizzaingrammi: What the New Collaboration Means for the Island's Dining Scene
Capri's dining scene has long traded on its setting, cliffside terraces, Tyrrhenian light, the kind of backdrop that makes anything taste better. What it has sometimes lacked is a reason to eat somewhere specific rather than somewhere scenic. The a-Ma-Re Capri and Pizzaingrammi collaboration changes that calculus, at least for one address.
Pizzaingrammi is not a casual import. Its roots trace back to the historic Puntonave, established in 1985, and since 2018 the concept has developed a philosophy built around lightness, craftsmanship and conviviality, highly hydrated doughs, extended natural fermentation, and ingredients chosen to preserve rather than obscure the base.
That approach is the opposite of the thick, doughy hotel-restaurant pizza that tends to appear when luxury properties decide to add pizza to the menu.
Bringing Pizzaingrammi to a-Ma-Re Capri is a signal that Executive Chef Salvatore Elefante and Resident Chef Nicola Giovanni Maiello are taking the pizza program seriously, not treating it as a crowd-pleasing afterthought.
For visitors planning a Capri itinerary, the practical implication is this: a-Ma-Re Capri now has a specific culinary identity that goes beyond its address. The Pizzaingrammi collaboration gives the restaurant a reason to visit on its own terms, not just as the most convenient table at Jumeirah Capri Palace.
Capri is accessible only by ferry or hydrofoil from Naples or Sorrento, which means every dining decision on the island carries a certain commitment. The summer season is finite, the island fills quickly in July and August, and the best tables at the island's top hotel restaurants book out weeks in advance. If a-Ma-Re Capri is on your list for this season, the time to reserve is now.
Signature Pizzas, New Pasta, and the Neapolitan Craft Behind the a-Ma-Re Capri Pizzaingrammi Menu
The headline dish is the Grotta Azzurra, created specifically for a-Ma-Re Capri and named after Capri's Blue Grotto. The technique is double-cooking: first fried, then baked. The toppings, red prawn tartare, Apulian buffalo stracciata, mullet bottarga, lemon zest and crystallised basil, are a considered map of southern Italian coastal ingredients. The stracciata brings richness and a slight tang; the bottarga and prawn tartare push the whole thing toward the sea. Lemon zest and crystallised basil cut through. It is, on paper, a pizza that earns its place on a menu at this level.
The double-cooking method is worth understanding. Frying the dough first creates a crust with a different structural character than a straightforward bake, crispier at the exterior, with a layered texture that holds up under the weight of raw and cured toppings that would otherwise make a thinner base soggy. It is a technique with deep roots in Neapolitan street food tradition, adapted here for a fine-dining context. Pizzaingrammi's use of highly hydrated doughs and extended natural fermentation means the base itself is doing real work: the flavour of the crust is part of the dish, not just a vehicle for what goes on top.
Beyond pizza, the new menu introduces a pasta dish: Mafalda with tomato passata, ricotta and Parmigiano. The format is participatory, guests complete the final preparation tableside. Mafalda is a wide, ruffled pasta shape from the Campania region, and its ridged edges hold sauce differently than a smooth pasta would. The combination of passata, ricotta and Parmigiano is classically southern Italian: bright acidity from the tomato, creaminess from the ricotta, depth from the aged cheese. The tableside element is not gimmickry here; it fits the broader Neapolitan dining culture that the collaboration is drawing on, where food is communal and the act of eating is itself a ritual.
That ritual dimension extends to the seasonal experiences Elefante and Maiello have built around the new menu. The reinterpretation of the classic Neapolitan 'o per e 'o muss, a traditional street food ritual involving offal and vinegar, historically eaten standing up in Naples, arrives at a-Ma-Re Capri alongside a Seafood Salad with yellow lupins. The pairing is a deliberate nod to the convivial, informal register of Neapolitan eating culture, translated into a seaside restaurant setting without losing the reference point. Whether you know the original ritual or encounter it fresh, the dish functions as an introduction to a strand of southern Italian food culture that rarely appears on hotel menus.
The Chefs Behind the Menu: Maiello and Elefante at Jumeirah Capri Palace
Resident Chef Nicola Giovanni Maiello leads the day-to-day culinary operation at a-Ma-Re Capri, with Executive Chef Salvatore Elefante providing the overarching direction for Jumeirah Capri Palace's food program. The collaboration with Pizzaingrammi sits within that structure: Elefante and Maiello are not stepping back to let an outside brand run the kitchen, but integrating Pizzaingrammi's techniques and philosophy into a menu that also carries their own regional and Mediterranean sensibility.
That balance matters for the diner. A hotel restaurant that hands its menu entirely to a guest collaborator can feel disjointed, two identities competing rather than one coherent offer. At a-Ma-Re Capri, the Pizzaingrammi pizzas sit alongside seasonal Neapolitan experiences and pasta dishes that reflect the broader kitchen's voice. The Grotta Azzurra is a Pizzaingrammi creation, but it is also a Capri dish: its ingredients are the island's coastline rendered in pizza form. That specificity of place is what makes the collaboration feel integrated rather than imported.
Campania's culinary tradition is one of the most internally diverse in Italy. Naples alone contains multitudes: the street food culture of the Quartieri Spagnoli, the formal dining rooms of the Posillipo waterfront, the pizza counters of Spaccanapoli. Pizzaingrammi, with its roots in the Puntonave and its current locations spread across the Naples metropolitan area, draws on that full range. Bringing that depth to Capri, an island that can sometimes feel culinarily isolated from the mainland traditions it nominally belongs to, is the most interesting thing about this collaboration.
Planning Your Visit: Location, Atmosphere, and What to Expect at Jumeirah Capri Palace
Jumeirah Capri Palace sits in Anacapri, the quieter, higher-altitude commune on the western side of the island, away from the main piazzetta crowds. The hotel's position gives a-Ma-Re Capri a different character from the restaurants clustered around Capri town: less foot traffic, more considered guests, a pace that suits a longer meal. The seaside setting means the restaurant faces the water, which in practical terms means you want an evening reservation for the light.
Capri operates on a compressed summer calendar. The island's high season runs from late May through September, with August the most congested. For a-Ma-Re Capri specifically, the combination of a new menu and a named collaboration will draw attention from food-focused travelers who plan trips around restaurant reservations. Booking early in the season, June or early July, gives you the best chance at a table and the benefit of a kitchen still in the focused early weeks of a new menu.
Reservations are handled through Jumeirah's central booking system at jumeirah.com. If you are staying at Jumeirah Capri Palace, in-hotel reservations are straightforward; if you are visiting from elsewhere on the island, call ahead rather than relying on walk-in availability. The hotel's position in Anacapri means a taxi or scooter from Capri town, so factor that into your evening logistics.
For travelers who track where serious Neapolitan culinary craft is traveling beyond Naples, the a-Ma-Re Capri and Pizzaingrammi collaboration is the most specific answer Capri has offered in some time. The season is short, the menu is new, and the Grotta Azzurra is the kind of dish that will be referenced when people talk about what was worth eating on the island this summer.
