Mercato Roman Pizza Brings Rome to Rockland

If there is one thing New Yorkers can agree upon, it’s that good pizza is king. With a preponderance of pizza places in and around Rockland County, Rocklanders have their pick of where to grab a Friday (or any day ending in “y”) pie. Mercato Roman Pizza in Tappan is serving up a different kind of pizza, and one that is worth a divergence from the usual routine. 

In early 2020, owners and self-confessed pizza obsessives Agata and Steve flew to Naples and Rome to unlock the secrets of Roman pizza. While there, they discovered the origins of Roman pizza had come from the Roman bakeries. Like most good things, the creation of the dough was a happy accident, where the bakers needed to find something to do with their leftover dough. “We got completely crazy about the idea”, says Agata, “So we decided to bring the Roman pizza idea to Mercato and to Rockland”. 

This Roman style pizza incorporates flour imported from Italy, a special recipe made of 85% water, and a 72 hour fermentation period to create a perfectly crisp and thin sourdough crust. This sourdough style dough is calorically lower than regular dough, and also easier to digest for those sensitive to gluten. After being crafted in house, the dough, along with the hand-picked ingredients piled on top, is placed inside their authentic Italian pizza oven. This stalwart fixture is a true focal point of the restaurant, and its imported nature exemplifies Mercato’s dedication to Roman pizza. 

Agata has been living in Rockland for twenty years, hailing originally from Poland. She states that she hopes to bring her Polish hospitality to Mercato. She passes this on to her staff, encouraging them to “treat the customer like you [would] treat a guest at home”. Agata motivates this hospitality through her own attitude, ensuring that her staff and customers feel listened to. Part of this comes from her Polish background, the other from her work as a journalist. “It’s very important to listen, very important to try to help, [and] very important to not criticize,” she says as she turns to thank the server for checking if she needs anything. 

Agata has also inherited a devotion to high quality ingredients. She recounts a story of her grandmother, who she used to go to the market with as a child. Her grandmother would take a teaspoon and place it on the sour cream that was presented in jars at the market and “If the spoon was going down, it means it’s not right… if the spoon was standing, it means that it’s a good sour cream”. Growing up without access to mass supermarkets, the farmer’s markets were the obvious go-to. While Agata applauds the American attitude surrounding growth and dynamism for restaurants, this European tradition of markets and fresh ingredients have stuck with her. It’s no surprise at all that with these memories as a background that the name Mercato directly translates to “market” in Italian. 

Mercato is open daily from 12 p.m. – 9 p.m., and until 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Pizza lovers ready to have a true Roman experience can learn more at mercatopizza.com. Foodies of all culinary preferences can check out the 9W Market on the Palisades and The Filling Station in West Haverstraw, both of which share ownership with Mercato Roman Pizza.