Look out Joe's. Santa Monica just got itself another pizza joint. Hostaria del Piccolo — the more rustic, casual sibling to Piccolo Venice's upscale Italian cuisine — opened its doors yesterday at 6th and Broadway. Run by General Manager Christian Bertoini and chefs/brothers Germano and Samuelo Minin, the minimalist yet modern pizzeria's focus is — you guessed it — pizza, pizza and more pizza, with more than 20 varieties on the menu.

The menu has two full pages dedicated to Piccolo's homemade, egg-less pizzas, or “Le Pizze;” one for sauced versions and the other for “Le Pizze Bianche,” or pizzas without tomato sauce. Of course there is the traditional Margherita pizza with its tomato, mozzarella and basil toppings, but the menu gets much more interesting with options like the Mezzanota (tomato sauce, mozzarella, ham, roasted potato, onion and egg), Tonno (tomato sauce, pizzaiola cruda, Ahi tuna and caramelized cipollini), and Treviso (Mozzarella, radicchio trevisano, lard and Fontina fondue). Pizzas aside, there are smaller selections of antipasti (crispy fried pigs' ears and salsa verde; seared fresh ricotta with seasonal mushrooms and vincotto) salads (white beans, shallots, parsley and heirloom tomato served over pizza crust), pastas (Tagliatelle with slow braised ground beef ragu and parmesan), Carne e Pesce (meat and fish), and dessert.

Hostaria del Piccolo is open for lunch and dinner Monday through thursday from 11:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., and for brunch on weekends from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Hostaria del Piccolo: 606 Broadway St., Santa Monica. (310) 393-6633.

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