Solving a pizza mystery at the Jersey Shore

"Who is pizza_jew?" And "where can I get these?!" are two of the hotter questions in recent months among locals surfing #pizzaporn on Instagram.

As I lingered over that relatively new account's gallery of gorgeous Neapolitan pies, the hint "Jersey Shore" was dropped, and my own curiosity was piqued, too.

It turns out that Mike Fitzick, 30, is the pizzaiolo in question, and Valentina's in Northfield is his hearth home base.

Of course! I loved this Neapolitan BYOB during my visit last summer, recognizing it as one of the Shore's best trattorias. But I did not pay close-enough attention to the pizzas.

Fitzick is a former Mack & Manco's sauce hose jockey who saw the artisan-pizza light in the 850-degree heat of Valentina's wood-fired oven (not to mention its Neapolitan sous and pastry chef Maura Prisco Fitzick, whom he married). And he has been refining his dough over the last year, honing in on his preferred Italian flour (Molino Dallagiovanna), pushing the fermentation to a two-day cold proof for maximum complexity, and, of course, refining the toppings.

A recent revisit brought pizzas that still impressed with their delicacy and perfectly harmonized flavors - a crimson blush of bright San Marzanos with tangy clouds of white buffalo mozzarella atop the Regina Margherita and, my favorite, a mushroom pizza earthy with porcinis, oysters, and shiitakes boosted by brandy-caramelized onions, thyme, and garlic confit.

One caveat: While Valentina's offers a fantastic two-course $15 lunch bargain, the smaller pizzas on that menu don't always puff and blister around the edges like the full-size big boys in Fitzick's Instagram feed.

But few pizza spots can match the finesse and authenticity of these Italian-style pies at the Shore.

So if that means a dinner-size pizza for lunch, it's worth the extra dough.

- Craig LaBan

Regina Margherita and Funghi Selvatici pizzas, $15, Valentina's, 200 Tilton Rd., Northfield, N.J. 08225, 609-380-2466.