Ian McNulty: Algiers Point gets a new pizzeria you'll wish was in your neighborhood, too

From a seat at the dining counter, you can look directly into the glowing maw of the domed pizza oven and the little bonfire of oak logs within. You can also look through the window just next to it for a view up the levee slope to the Algiers Point ferry landing.

This camera one/camera two view together shows key elements of this new restaurant.

Nighthawk Napoletana makes pizza that’s worth traveling for in a neighborhood that makes a particularly rewarding destination.

Nighthawk marked its soft opening Saturday (Dec. 9), starting with a short menu of its sourdough Neapolitan-style pizzas and salad, with plans to expand both the menu and its hours as it gets rolling.

I’ve tasted the highly impressive pizza during a trial run and am already planning the next outing to include cocktails, more pizza and a levee-top stroll to take in the big ships and riverfront view, and, likely, a dropoff at another neighborhood bar.

Nighthawk, though, was built for its Algiers neighborhood, and it’s a lovely addition.

Pizzeria, transformed

It has transformed the space that was previously Tavolino, a different pizzeria and lounge that closed over the summer after six years.

Walk in and immediately you see the wood-burning pizza oven with a dining counter before it. The room stretches back with a run of tables topped with red and white checkered tablecloths (which signal pizzeria as surely as the aromas from the oven), leading to a bar and a covered back patio.

Nighthawk co-owner and pizza maestro Adrian Chelette arrives with bona fides. He was once a co-owner of Ancora, the Freret Street pizzeria, and most recently ran the kitchen at Margot’s on Frenchmen Street.

He developed Nighthawk Napoletana with Brett Jones and Bryson Aust, two partners in Barracuda Taco Stand, which has a location a few blocks away.

It's the crust

Nighthawk’s pizza is marked by dark, char-edged bubbles, formed around its crust in the blazing hot, wood-fired oven.

Lots of pizza prepared in this way will look like this. Not all such pizza tastes like Nighthawk’s, though.

There is a very pleasing soft pliancy to the crust, which gives a crisp crackle to the bite but then seems to vanish, with a light and airy texture against the outer edge for a wonderful contrast. The sourdough gives a slight fermented tang against the cheese and sauce.

The key is in the preparation that happens beforehand for the sourdough crust.

“That’s it really; it’s just really good bread,” Chelette said. “It’s all sourdough, so it’s as good for you as pizza can be.”

As the menu grows, there will be dishes like arancini, meatballs, bruschetta and budino, the pudding-like Italian dessert.

At the full bar, look for martinis and Italian cocktails like the Negroni and Aperol spritz.

More to come

Separately, though under the same roof, the sake bar Rice Vice also continues to take shape here. This will be the New Orleans offshoot of a sake brand and bar that has become popular in its hometown of Nashville, Tennessee, where it made Esquire magazine’s list of the best bars in the U.S. this year.

Occupying a former barber shop in the space next to Nighthawk, this will be a tiny bar with a focus on its own sakes (made in Nashville) and a wide range of imported sakes. It will also serve cocktails, with some made from sake, and others from a full range of spirits.

Aust is a partner in the forthcoming bar with Rice Vice founder Bryon Stithem. It’s slated to open in the first few months of 2024.

Nighthawk Napoletana

141 Delaronde St.

Initial hours: Thu.-Mon. 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. (closed Tue., Wed.)

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