Marcello Campanella
With its Neapolitan oven, creamy burrata and slow fermentation dough, it could be any old pizzeria. But all you have to do is step through the door of Santa Chiara to realise that things are done a little different round here. More than a restaurant, it is a project with soul, where each pizza bears the name of a saint and the heat of the oven comes from a family history born from chaos. In the midst of the pandemic, the Calabria-born Marcello Campanella decided to open the pizzeria together with his sons, Fede and Dami. Crazy some might say, but for them it was a declaration of faith. “I always said to my sons that if we opened a pizzeria, it didn’t have to be ‘a pizzeria’. It had to be something that we identified with, something us”, says Campanella.
A project “born from chaos”
Santa Chiara opened its doors in the middle of lockdown when the whole world was retreating. The Campanella family decided at that moment to make a change and pursue an old ambition: creating the pizzas that they had been dreaming of for so many years. Ever since they opened, their growth has been constant. In just four years they have expanded to three restaurants in Palma and, in 2024, they were included in the prestigious 50 Top Pizza guide, recognition that attests to their work and commitment to quality.
Product, technique and devotion
Far from seeking easy plaudits, Santa Chiara stands out from the usual fare with a pizza menu focused on produce, the local area and tradition. “Our main driver is the search for artesanal produce, by relying on local producers and constant improvement when it comes to produce”, notes Campanella.
Their mozzarella, for instance, comes from Agerola, a small town on the Amalfi coast where the cows graze on open pastures in the Lattari mountains while San Marzano tomatoes bring depth and natural flavour that is hard to beat. Local produce such as Mallorcan sobrasada, cheeses with designation of origin and fresh herbs also feature. The result is a more gastronomic, more conscious pizza, without renouncing taste or its heritage.
San Damiano pizza
Pizzas with their own name
At Santa Chiara, religion is celebrated through the pizzas. Saint iconography is not a kitsch touch but a personal story. Each pizza pays homage to someone from the family, starting with Chiara, Marcello’s first granddaughter, who lends her name to the restaurant’s most famous pizzas. Others are named after people who have been part of the project since the beginning, as a symbol of resistance, passion and belonging. Here, each creation is sacred and each name, an act of memory.
Napoli to Mallorca
Although the roots of Santa Chiara are firmly planted in the south of Italy, the pizzeria pays its respect to the Mallorcan landscape. Proof of this is the iconic San Sebastián pizza, made with DOP taleggio cheese, sobrasada from Can Company and honeyed peanuts, which has become a firm favourite among local clientele. “We look for local produce more and more. This year, for example, as part of the Neapolitan Pizza Week organised by 50 Top Pizza, we are going to do Napoli to Mallorca: all the pizzas will be made with locally-sourced ingredients and with the help of one of the island’s most famous chefs”. By doing so, the family champions Mallorca as a new epicenter for quality pizza.
Santa Chiara pizza
Work, family and a passion for dough
Santa Chiara is, above all, a family project with father and sons sharing the responsibilities: from the dough—cut in a contemporary style—to the management of ingredients in uscita—the fresh toppings added to the pizza once it comes out of the oven, which are so in vogue in high-end pizzerias. Finding that sense of balance was not immediate, however. “At first it was really hard, but these days we work perfectly, we understand each other well”, says Campanella. Working with your family is no easy task, but for them it has been a journey of growth and understanding. “Many people get a tattoo of their partner’s name. I got a tattoo saying ‘Santa Chiara’”, he says with a laugh, although his voice denotes true sentiment.
The future of Santa Chiara is to continue growing with the same level of consistency. The family now boast three restaurants and are working to strengthen their delivery service with orders managed directly on their website. The objective is clear: to take charge of each step of the process, all the way from the oven to the customer’s door. Because at Santa Chiara, quality is non-negotiable. Here, each pizza has its own story of sacrifice, passion and family. And each story, is oven baked with love.
Pizzería Santa Chiara
