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There are encounters that seem destined to happen. The story of Pizzaria Santarita began to take shape long before its official opening about a year ago. The project was born from the union of Vinicius Braune — an experienced Brazilian chef responsible for the kitchen and gastronomic direction of the São Paulo pizzeria Seo Basílico (recognised by the prestigious 50 Top Pizza ranking) —, his wife Bruna Lombardo, a São Paulo publicist who took charge of the visual identity and concept of the project, and Romina Lamassa, the charismatic Neapolitan founder of the neighbouring Lamassa Pasta Fresca, a spot that has been setting the rules for good artisan pasta in Estoril for ten years – and which holds a permanent spot on Time Out Cascais’ list of best Italian restaurants.
The genesis of the restaurant blends with a change of life. Vinicius and Bruna, enchanted by the quality of life on the Estoril Coast, decided to leave the frenetic pace of São Paulo behind to raise their children in Portugal. “My wife and I visited Cascais about three or four years ago and fell in love. We felt that gastronomy was very strong in Lisbon, but that here there was still an opportunity to explore.”
Upon settling in Estoril, they became regular customers at Lamassa. A mutual admiration for food quickly brought Vinicius and Romina together – and a shared vent about the immense difficulty of finding commercial property in the town to open a restaurant gave way to a solid partnership.
The initial idea was to set up the pizzeria in one of Romina’s old production warehouses, but the project hit a few technical snags. As it turned out, the answer was right in front of the fresh pasta restaurant, in an old takeaway chicken shop (churrasqueira) that had been closed for a decade.
The space was then refurbished, retaining an original Portuguese tile panel from 1983. In fact, it was this very panel that inspired the entire colour palette of the new restaurant, blending marble that evokes Italian heritage with typically Alentejo-style flooring. The name, Santarita, pays tribute to local history – corresponding to the old name of that Estoril valley (home to, for example, Peixaria da Poça).
This is anything but junk food
Santarita’s main mission is to debunk the idea that pizza is junk food. In Estoril, this classic dish is elevated to the status of a gastronomic meal, built upon an obsessive curation of ingredients sourced from small-scale producers.
Romina Lamassa, with her memories and experiences of Naples, brought a valuable network of importers of Italian benchmarks to the project. However, the truly differentiating and revolutionary element lies in the dough. Going against pure orthodoxy, which dictates the exclusive use of industrial Italian flours, Vinicius followed the advice of a baker friend and tested an organic Portuguese miller’s flour, produced by Paulino Horta in Alenquer. “Freshly milled and packed with essential oils,” as the chef describes to Time Out, this artisanal wheat brings an absolutely unparalleled freshness, flavour, and identity to the final product.
Combined with a rigorous slow-fermentation process that stretches over 48 hours, the dough reaches the table with extreme lightness, ensuring perfect digestion and a crispy texture. “Our pizza is always thought out two days in advance. This brings a lightness to the product; you finish eating and realise you don’t have that heavy, bloated feeling because the dough was perfectly fermented.”
During a recent visit, the Time Out team got to try different options from a menu that strives to be as authentic as possible. The meal begins with starters like the crostini with tomato sauce (€8), cooked with San Marzano tomatoes grown in the volcanic soils of Mount Vesuvius, whose natural sweetness eliminates the need for any acidity correction. This is followed by the burrata with cherry tomatoes and basil pesto, served with focaccia (€13), which is ideal for sharing.
Moving on to the pizzas, the options are divided between classic red bases and white (bianca) options. Among the many choices, we tried the Diavola (€16), with fiordilatte mozzarella and spicy salami, and the less conventional pear, cured ham (presunto), and honey pizza (€16), a customer favourite. But the combinations don’t end there: you can also try the timeless Margherita (€13), the Mortadella (€16) with fiordilatte, mortadella, stracciatella, lemon zest, and chopped pistachios, or the Pancetta (€15) with cherry tomatoes, smoked provola, and pancetta.
In addition to these options, there is always a pizza of the month that adds an element of surprise to the menu. When Time Out sat down at the table, it featured nduja, a typically Italian spicy sausage, and cost €17.
The final touch comes from the dessert menu, entirely homemade, which features the classic tiramisu (€7), following Romina Lamassa’s secret family recipe to the letter. There is also a traditional Sicilian cannolo (€7) – a crispy pastry shell filled with a velvety ricotta cream, lemon and orange zest, finished with a dusting of pistachio – and the surprising entremet di limone (€8), a refreshing Sicilian lemon mousse filled with an artisanal mint gel, delicately encased in a thin layer of white chocolate that perfectly replicates the visual shape of the citrus fruit.
About to celebrate its first year in business, the verdict for Pizzaria Santarita could not be more positive, according to the owners. They guarantee authentic full houses at weekends (the only days, for now, they are also open for lunch) and an extraordinary response from both the local Portuguese community and the many tourists staying at hotels in the Cascais area.
For the future, the founders aim to continue consolidating the operation, keeping the bar high for artisanal quality and expanding the capacity of the space (which features a small outdoor terrace) to host exclusive private events, such as special celebrations. “We’ve already hosted a pre-wedding event here and it was amazing. We have a seating capacity for fifty, but we managed to host eighty people and it turned out beautifully. We want to continue putting this place on the map and welcoming more people.”
Rua Dr. Mário Quina 70 (Estoril). Mon-Thu 19.00–22.30; Fri-Sun 12:00–22:30
See also: Fresh fish and seafood on the terrace? Peixaria da Poça is a must-visit after the beach
Also: The best ice cream shops in Cascais
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