Gourmet Pizza Restaurant To Replace Scotto's In Festival At Bel Air

BEL AIR, MD - A new gourmet pizza place will be opening in the Festival at Bel Air, in the space where Scotto's used to be.

The owners of Neo Pizza appeared before the Harford County Liquor Control Board on Wednesday and received tentative approval for a liquor license to sell beer, wine and liquor on the premises.

Neo Pizza signed a lease in January with the Festival at Bel Air LLC, according to attorney Joseph Snee. He is representing the pizzeria, which will be where Scotto's closed in August 2016, reportedly due to rising rent.

The Bel Air Neo Pizza will be the second in the state. The first opened in Annapolis in 2015. The founder of Neo Pizza also founded New York J & P Pizza in Finksburg in 1995 in Carroll County.

"This is kind of my brainchild," Neo Pizza founder Leho Poldmae said before the liquor board Wednesday in Bel Air. "I wanted to focus on pizza and bring some specialty pizzas in."

In Annapolis, specialty pizzas include offerings like the "Chesapeake," which is topped with olive oil, lump crab, Italian parsley, lemon thyme aioli and old bay. "The specialty pizzas are great," Poldmae said.

Small plates range from edamame to ahi tuna. See the menu for Neo Pizza in Annapolis, which the owners said will be replicated in Bel Air.

Poldmae said that he hired a chef from California when opening the location in the Annapolis Towne Centre, planning to offer a restaurant where people could order gourmet small plates as well as specialty pizza.

"....you can come in, have a glass of wine, have a meal, have some small plates, order a nice pizza..." Poldmae said, explaining the concept. There will be family-style dishes as well like spaghetti and a kids menu.

Eric Chairs, who has a 10 percent stake in the company and will manage the restaurant, lives in Abingdon and received his degree in hospitality from Harford Community College in 1993. He has worked at Fuddruckers and TGI Fridays and has been trained in how to serve alcohol. Everyone will be asked for ID to purchase beer and wine at Neo Pizza, the owners said.

"Our goal is to be in [for final liquor license approval] in six months," Snee said.

First, the proprietors must make a $250,000 capital investment in the space, which is required by the board. The owners said that demolition permits have been obtained for electrical and commercial work, and the interior has been completely gutted.

In the new restaurant - called Neo Pizza - there will be high-top tables, lower dining room tables, a bar and community seating. Bathrooms will be moved to a corridor, not in the location where they were when the restaurant was Scotto's. It will accommodate just under 100 people.

To get final approval for its liquor license, Neo Pizza must verify it has made the $250,000 capital investment and received approval from the health department and fire marshal for operation.

Proposed hours will be 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Sunday to Thursday; and Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to midnight.

See Also: Scotto's Italian Restaurant Closes in Festival at Bel Air

Photos by Elizabeth Janney.