Looking for a little pizzazz with your pizza? Look no further than Orta, Pembroke's posh new ristorante that has the best pizza this side of Naples, and the atmosphere to boot.

Upon entering Orta the first thing you'll drink in (before hitting the bar) is the wave of lights cascading off a soaring ceiling. Your gaze will quickly move toward the open kitchen and hulking brick oven baking the pizza pies of people's dreams: Ortolana (mozzarella, peppers, roasted eggplant, zucchini, radicchio and parmesan) or Funghi Misti (sautéed mushrooms with mozzarella, fontina and sage), to name just a few of the eclectic menu items.

This is no ordinary pizza and Orta is no ordinary restaurant. It is the creative construct of Jimmy Burke, who opened Orta with his wife, Joanie, earlier this month.

Burke-- a renowned local chef and previous owner of Riva Restaurant in Scituate-takes his work seriously. Prior to revealing the upscale pizzeria, he spent a month in Italy studying under the great Neapolitan pizza-makers. He then took to Vermont to build his expertise for creating cheese, and he toiled over the texture of the perfect dough.

Well worth the effort say Orta customers who have been filling every table nightly to dine on pizza, pasta and risotto, and favorite entrees that include Tuscan-style veal meatloaf, pork-chop Milanese, and pistachio and panko-crusted salmon.

The food is as tasteful as the décor, both of which show traces of the people and faraway places that served as the inspiration behind the restaurant. (Orta, by the way, is the name of a lake in northern Italy).

If you haven't experienced Orta yet, it's a must! And, perhaps you'll be lucky enough to land a seat at the 'brick oven bar' where you'll get a front row view into the art of pizza-making.

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