Plywood Report: Antica Pizzeria Opening Soon

We swung by Antica Pizzeria the other day and the paper is down from the windows. Curious, we stopped in and met owner Mario, a very enthusiastic guy from Sicily who can't wait to open his Neapolitan pizza joint on the Far North Side -- they're hoping it's going to happen in the next couple of weeks. This is actually something Andersonville can use. The closest place like this is Ravenswood's Spacca Napoli, and hopefully Antica, with its wood-burning oven, will deliver the same freshness and flavor as Spacca. The menu shows great promise with eight pizzas (including mostly simple, fresh ingredients), five pastas and a few salads and starters. Nothing fussy here -- even the wine list is easy to navigate: five reds, five whites, all from Italy, nothing over $27 a bottle (but the place will be BYO to start while they await their liquor license). The space is cozy and will hopefully show a little more authenticity once it's cleaned up and open. And speaking of authentic, even the pizza maker is the real deal; he's from Puglia.