Downtown Austin just scored a serious new slice spot. Moderna Bar & Pizzeria opened this week in the former Cover 3 space on West Sixth, bringing chef Leo Spizzirri’s full‑tilt pizza obsession to a neo‑traditional Italian menu built around a dough‑first approach the team calls Post‑Heritage Neapolitan.
According to Moderna Bar & Pizzeria, Spizzirri serves as executive chef, with restaurateurs Mike Pottorff and Chris Ruhling as partners on the project. The concept is framed as an elevated Italian restaurant centered on long‑fermented doughs, craft cocktails, and a full lineup of salads, pastas, and Italian‑American classics. The site also lays out dining hours and routes pickup and delivery orders through Toast.
Oven, Pies and Tableside Theater
As reported by CultureMap Austin, the dining room revolves around a gold‑tiled Marra Forni oven that the review calls the largest of its kind built in Texas. Pizzas are described as hyper‑thin, with a firm bottom that is meant to be picked up and eaten slice by slice. Spizzirri reportedly spent two years dialing in the dough, which follows a three‑day process starting with Rouge de Bordeaux grain grown for Barton Springs Mill in Dripping Springs and milled in‑house each day. The menu features 10 pizza styles, with nine available for takeout and one reserved for dine‑in only, alongside salads, pastas, theatrical plates, and cocktails.
Dough and Local Grain
Barton Springs Mill has promoted heritage wheats such as Rouge de Bordeaux to Texas bakers and chefs, highlighting the grain’s nutty, cinnamon‑like aromas and its fit for artisan breads and pizza. The mill notes that the return of locally milled heritage grains has opened new avenues for chefs and bakers, fueling experimentation with long‑fermented doughs around Austin.
How to Go and Order
Details on hours and reservations are listed on the restaurant’s website, and pickup and delivery are handled through Toast. Diners can find the full menu and online ordering page on Toast, while the Moderna site includes dining hours and contact information for reservations.
