By Douglas Favero

Restaurant owner and chef, Simone Lanzi, came to know and love Oaxaca during vacations from his restaurant job in Mexico City in the mid-Nineties. In 1997, when he went back to his hometown of Florence, Italy, it was always with the idea to return to Oaxaca, set down roots and open up his own place.

So that’s what he did.
The big move came in March of 2006, which turned out to be exactly the wrong time. Undaunted, he opened when the restaurant was ready even if the town wasn’t, in September 2006. A slow season followed. But when the worst passed, the people started trickling in, and business has been looking up ever since. In fact a couple months ago the intimate one-room restaurant became twice as roomy with a modest expansion. Candlelit tables draw in couples and friends walking by the Lira’s flowerpots on Pino Suarez between Morelos and Independencia. Because it’s a dimly lit Italian place serving wine and its dishes are made from scratch, it’s more likely you’re going for dinner, but it’s open for lunch too.

You’ll learn from the green chalkboards on the sidewalk that the pizza is made the traditional Italian way—placed directly in the oven without a tray. The Instituto Albergio-educated chef explains the reason you don’t cook pizza with a pan is, first, the dough takes on the flavor of the pan, second, it doesn’t cook as well, and third, that’s just not the way it’s done. Everything, from the bread to the sauce, is made from start to finish at the restaurant, except for the pasta. Until Simone starts making his own, the pasta is an Italian brand called Dechecco delivered from Mexico City.
The menu remains dedicated to Tuscany traditions, while wines represent France, Australia, Chile, Argentina, and of course Italy. The chef recommends the Prosciutto Crudo y Rucola pizza, which features membrane-thin uncooked ham (prosciutto) and a vitamin-rich, slightly bitter lettuce leaf (rucola), that could make any Italian homesick.

The pizzas and pastas listed on the full-size chalkboard menu on the south wall start at 90 pesos and don’t go higher than l60, while the homemade tiramisu and cheesecake and panna cotta (creamy gelatin with fruit or chocolate topping) are passed out at 30 pesos apiece. The wines are 45 pesos a cup and between 270 and 400 pesos per bottle.
The Vieja Lira is located at Pino Suarez #100 between Morelos and Independencia. The telephone number is 51 6 11 22. The hours are from 1 to 11 p.m. (10 p.m. on Sunday). The restaurant is closed on Tuesdays.