FOOD & FILMS When Ricotta and Chocolate Are Oscar-worthy

By Adam Smulevich

Only hours after “The Great Beauty”, the Italian movie drama, which portrays the declining and yet sparkling life of a stunning Rome, won the Oscar for best foreign language film, the director, Paolo Sorrentino, born and raised in Naples, decided to reveal his favorite spots of his city of adoption. Among them, a legendary kosher bakery.

“Pasticceria Boccione” is located in the heart of Portico d’Ottavia, the main square of Jewish old Ghetto, and it is run by Limentani family.
Winter or summer, you will find a long line of people waiting to be served, attracted by the irresistible smell of its specialties: biscotti (the Italian version of cookies), sweet pizzas, and Sorrentino’s favorite, ricotta and chocolate pie.

“The secret of our pie? It is good” simply explains Mrs. Limentani.
The Pasticceria, already celebrated on the pages of the New York Times (“In Rome ‘s Jewish Ghetto, a Bakery Stays Sweet” reads the headline of an article of 2009), attracts many VIPs.

However, the owners have never noticed Sorrentino among their customers.
Nor did they recognize another director who once decided to pay “Boccione” a visit. “An American who was extremely offended because we did not know who he was” the Limentanis recall.
It turns out he was not completely out of place in expecting people to recognize him. After all, his name is Stephen Spielberg.