Dining Review: Mother Pizzeria in Newport

Garlic knots cacio e pepe and meatballs. Photography by Angel Tucker

Looking out over America’s Cup Avenue, Mother Pizzeria is half trattoria, half cafeteria — both sides doling out thin-crust to those sitting for a meal or traveling with their food. The restaurant and takeout window are connected at the center by a domed pizza oven and a philosophy that puts simplicity at center stage. 

Owned by Lauren Schaefer, Kyle Stamps and chef Kevin O’Donnell, whose day job is running Giusto down the road, Mother isn’t looking to modernize Italian food as much as elicit nostalgia. Decor is minimalist though sleek: A tin-style ceiling sits over small marble-topped tables and wooden-backed chairs. There are kids everywhere under the watchful eyes of parents who refuse to forfeit panache for parenthood. The approach is in full bloom at the table: Toddlers gnaw on fried garlic knots rolled in Parmesan cheese ($8) while their elders sip on cocktails served in cider cans punctuated with paper parasols. Spritzes have a section all their own, bringing a sip of summer into Newport’s off-season and infusing each meal with celebratory bubbles.

Cured and aged board. Photography by Angel Tucker

Think of your most resourceful friend — the one who can throw together dinner for unexpected guests without an ounce of anxiety — and you’ll get a sense of Mother’s strengths. The kitchen uses its dough in as many ways as possible, including on charcuterie boards that pull as much from the pantry as the fridge. There’s a surprisingly domestic selection of cheese and meat: mortadella, prosciutto and coppa all hail from the United States while cheeses are sourced from New England farms. There are also tins of Fishwife fish, doctored with a squeeze of lemon and some fresh herbs. If there’s a warning to be had, it’s this: Charcuterie does not come cheap. Smoked salmon will set you back $17, and a full board (on which even the candied apricots are extra) will reach $50 with ease. 

The sunny side pizza. Photography by Angel Tucker

The backbone of the menu, however, is modest. Nothing is over $24 (and that’s for a pizza shouldering four different types of meat). Caesar salad is showered in Parmesan and the bright, pickled chopped salad has all the best parts of an Italian grinder, but served as a salad. Pizza is thin with a chewy crust and — while Mother’s version is loaded with everything from figs to roasted chicken and ranch — it’s hard not to love the RI Party Pie, which mimics the thick salty sauce of pizza strips. 

Olive oil gelato. Photography by Angel Tucker

Mother is, at its core, the slim spot where childhood lives on forever. If anything rivals the pizza, it’s the gelato bar set up on the takeout side. Even in winter, there’s an irresistible old-school ice cream parlor vibe, though the flavors ($4.50) and toppings ($3) are twenty-first century. Stracciatella (chocolate chip), pistachio and milk chocolate are all familiar, but the olive oil gelato heightens vanilla to the ethereal. Top the dense creamy custard with fennel-citrus honey, chocolate tahini sauce or a thick forest fruit jam that evokes sundaes of yesteryear if they had reached their full potential. Seasonal sorbet — like peach or poached pear — only gets better with a hefty dose of crushed amaretti cookies. 

Mother offers nothing that will make you rethink the way you approach food, but everything on the menu will have you reconsidering how to keep one foot in childhood no matter how old you are. 

Mother Pizzeria interior. Photography by Angel Tucker

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Mother Pizzeria

49 Long Wharf Mall, Newport, 324-5500, motherpizzeria.com

Sun.–Thurs., noon–9 p.m.
Fri.–Sat., noon–10 p.m.
Paid lot parking.

Must Get: Garlic knots, salad, pizza, gelato.