Southern Italian restaurant Cicala at the Divine Lorraine has a new sibling in Little sistera Neapolitan pizzeria and spritz bar located across the lobby of the historic hotel on North Broad Street and Fairmount Avenue.
The expansion is the combined effort of chef-owner couple Joe Cicala and Angela Ranalli-Cicala. They chose the name, which translates to “little sister,” as an indicator of what to expect; an energetic, Italian-disco-scored counterpart to the more-refined vibe of their adjacent establishment.
“It’s usually the youngest siblings that are loudest,” Joe Cicala, 42, told Billy Penn.
The menu offers over a dozen pizzas ($15-$20); signatures include the star-shaped La Stella with ricotta-stuffed crust and ‘nduja, the lemon-topped Sorrentina, and the Faccia Gialla, or “Yellow Face” pizza — a reference to the nickname affectionately given to San Gennaro, the patron saint of Naples, due to the traditional hue of his statue — layered with yellow Piennolo del Vesuvio tomatoes, smoked mozzarella, squash blossoms, and lemon zest.
The pizzas, all roughly 12 inches, are made using in-house biga dough, with water, flower, and a touch of yeast hand-mixed each night and left to ferment for up to three days, resulting in “a more airy and crispier crust than the doughy and chewy Neapolitan,” Cicala explained.
Preceding the pizzas on the menu, a selection of aperitivi ($6-$12) featuring marinated anchovies, tuna-stuffed Calabrese peppers, and fried potato croquettes with smoked mozzarella and prosciutto. Antipasti options ($12-$18) include a Sicilian eggplant caponata with house-made focaccia, insalata di rucola, and assortments of imported salumi and southern Italian cheeses.
Desserts are designed by co-owner Angela — currently in Italy, where she’s managing the couple’s tour company, Antico Italian Culinary Travel — with recipes and photos regularly sent to Sorellina’s kitchen team. Recent treats have included strega-soaked ladyfingers with lemon crema diplomatica and puff pastry, and a rum-soaked Neapolitan brioche with vanilla pastry cream (both $12). For digestivi, there’s an amaro flight ($19) of Montenegro, Averna, and Fernet Branca.
A circle bar in the center of the space boasts a full program of light and dark liquors alongside a lineup of spritz cocktails ($15-$18) offering lighter, more coastal imbibing than the Manhattans and Old Fashioneds at Cicala.
“I wanted an aperitivo-style bar,” Cicala said, “[with] lower ABV drinks that make you a little hungry, open the palate a little bit.”
With the Sorellina expansion, Cicala hopes to ease the pressure off the namesake restaurant. Located a block away from The Metthe restaurant routinely attracts patrons looking to squeeze in a meal before a show. “We were getting 100 covers that wanted to be in and out in an hour and have three courses, and it was almost impossible,” he said. “So, we decided what if we had a more fun, casual kind of spot that could deal with the higher volume of business for show nights?”
Another motive, he admits: “I just missed making pizza.”
Prior to the restaurants at the Divine Lorraine, Cicala had been a partner at the now defunct East Passyunk spot Brigantessa, overseeing a menu heavy on Neapolitan pizzas. During the pandemic, which shut down the Divine Lorraine restaurant four months after its opening, Cicala and his employees ran a “pizza speakeasy” out of a wood-fire brick oven he built in the backyard of the couple’s South Philly rowhome, using the funds to keep his staff on the payroll. “We were selling like 200 pizzas a day,” he said, before “the city shut it down.”
The experience, he said, left him with a realization. “There’s a demand for this — why not investigate doing it full-time?”
With the sudden availability in 2022 of the adjacent venue at the Divine Lorraine — half-built and abandoned by a restaurant group during the pandemic — Cicala leapt on the opportunity, slowly finishing the space with the help of his father. Tiles were imported from the Amalfi coast, and artwork commissioned by staff members Jordan Mannix and Ryan Bond — a large-scale portrait of football legend Diego Maradona and a Neapolitan-themed painting of Sophia Loren.
Besides alleviating the pre-theater rush off Cicala, the owners hope Sorellina will grow into a go-to for the late-night post-show crowd, with closing hours extended to accommodate them as well as host afterparties for the hotel’s weddings, with the option of pizza buffets and an open bar.
“We want to be the neighborhood pizzeria-spritz bar. It should be loud,” Cicala said. “It should be energetic and fun and very Neapolitan.”
699 N Broad St. | 5 to 10 p.m., Wednesday-Sunday (open till later for post-theater runs with last seating at 10) | (267) 324-3586 | sorellinapizza.com