CUORE – Luca Brancati

Should You Book CUORE?

CUORE is a Neapolitan-style pizzeria in Marano Vicentino, a small town in the Vicenza foothills, run by Luca Brancati with a clear point of view: traditional Neapolitan technique, carefully sourced flours, a format that goes beyond the standard round pie. If you have already eaten here once and are wondering whether to return, the answer is yes — specifically to try the Fa Crock if you have not already, or to compare it against the pala on a second visit. Booking is easy, prices are accessible even by pizzeria standards, there is no reason to overthink this one.

What CUORE Does Well

The venue makes three distinct pizza formats: classic Neapolitan rounds, pala pizza (the elongated, Roman-influenced tray style), and the Fa Crock, a double-baked round that comes out crunchy on the exterior and soft within. That range is the main reason to come back more than once. Most pizzerias at this level commit to one format; CUORE gives you a reason to revisit and compare. The emphasis on flour sourcing and raw material quality is not marketing language here — it is the thing that separates this kind of operation from the average neighbourhood pizzeria, where dough is often an afterthought.

Spatially, CUORE reads as a focused, local operation rather than a destination dining room. Expect a room scaled to the neighbourhood: not cavernous, not intimate in the way a tasting-menu counter is intimate, but appropriately sized for a pizzeria that takes its product seriously without performing it. If you are coming from Vicenza or further afield, set expectations accordingly, this is not a showpiece space, but the setting does not need to be when the pizza is the point.

Lunch vs Dinner at CUORE

This is worth thinking through before you book. Neapolitan pizzerias in Italy often run a shorter, quieter lunch service and a fuller, more social dinner. At CUORE, if lunch service is available, it is likely the better slot for anyone who wants to focus on the pizza itself: quieter room, more attentive service, easier to have a conversation with whoever is working the counter about the different formats. Dinner fills faster, the atmosphere is more animated, the Fa Crock, which requires a double-bake, may be worth pre-ordering or confirming availability when you book, regardless of which service you choose. For a group of four or more, dinner is the natural fit. For two people who want to eat carefully and compare formats, lunch is the more useful experience.

There is no specific pricing data in the record, but Neapolitan pizzerias of this type in northern Italy typically sit in a range that makes ordering widely across the menu a reasonable proposition. Do not come expecting to spend fine-dining money, do not come expecting canteen prices either. This is a serious-product pizzeria, the pricing reflects that without being aggressive about it.

Booking and Getting There

Booking difficulty is rated easy. Marano Vicentino is not a tourist destination in the way that Verona or Vicenza is, which works in your favour: you are unlikely to face the same lead times you would at a well-reviewed pizzeria in a major city. That said, weekend evenings at a well-regarded local spot fill up, so booking a few days ahead is sensible rather than strictly necessary. The address is Via Monte Pasubio, 9, accessible by car from Vicenza in under 20 minutes. Public transport options to Marano Vicentino are limited, so driving or a taxi is the practical choice if you are coming from the city. For more on what else to do in the area, see our full Marano Vicentino restaurants guide, our full Marano Vicentino hotels guide, our full Marano Vicentino bars guide, our full Marano Vicentino wineries guide, and our full Marano Vicentino experiences guide.

How It Compares

CUORE occupies a completely different tier from the fine-dining Italian operations that make up most of Pearl's comparison set in Italy. Osteria Francescana in Modena, Dal Pescatore in Runate, and Atelier Moessmer Norbert Niederkofler in Brunico are all €€€€ operations with long booking windows, tasting menus, very different expectations. CUORE is none of those things, that is not a criticism. If your trip is built around a fine-dining anchor and you want something relaxed around it, CUORE is a strong candidate for the casual meal in the schedule. Closer to home in the Veneto, Le Calandre in Rubano and Casa Perbellini 12 Apostoli in Verona are the reference points if you want serious Italian cooking with a formal framework. CUORE is the answer when you want serious pizza without any of that apparatus.

Pearl Picks Nearby

• Le Calandre in Rubano, the closest three-Michelin-star option to the Vicenza area
• Casa Perbellini 12 Apostoli in Verona, refined Italian cooking, 40 minutes from Marano Vicentino
• Quattro Passi in Marina del Cantone, for a southern Italian coastal contrast
• Reale in Castel di Sangro, if progressive Italian is what you are planning next
• Piazza Duomo in Alba, northern Italian fine dining at its most considered
• Uliassi in Senigallia, for a seafood-led Italian meal of comparable seriousness
• Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence, if the wine list matters as much as the food
• Enrico Bartolini in Milan, contemporary Italian with a broader menu format