Wood-fired ovens are breaking ground every week and everywhere, even in areas already served by good indie pizzerias. Pizza Brixton has opened on the pizza-paved A23, passing from the original Franco Manca in Brixton through Addommè and Bravi Ragazzi in Streatham to Sorrento In in Norwood and finishing at Fatto a Mano in Brighton.

In addition to London favourites Yard Sale Pizza, Homeslice, and Santa Maria recently launching new locations, celebrated Italian pizzerias — inspired by the success of L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele — continue to arrive. The great 50 Kalò di Ciro Salvo, a Naples sensation, has now opened near Trafalgar Square. It makes the list.

A consequence of this pizza boom is an insatiable demand for pizza bakers and high staff turnover. With London’s pizzaioli emulating Fabrizio Cacciatorre, the Italian footballer who played for 10 different Italian clubs in a space of 10 years, it’s become difficult for pizzerias to maintain consistency. So how is a London pizza punter to cope with all this to-ing and fro-ing? By choosing either a pizzeria owned and operated by the pizza maker or one with proven, hands-on management that can withstand — and maybe even avert — the revolving-door disruptions. The essential pizzerias below fall into these two categories.


Oi Vita Pizzeria

The shortage of qualified pizza makers in London is a boon to the appetites of Oi Vita devotees, if not to the home life of co-owner Nicola Apicella. He is a fixture at the forno, shaping beautifully airy pizzas layered with the finest traditional ingredients. His cheese-dusted calzone may be stuffed and covered with assorted cheeses and salumi, in the Neapolitan manner, but this exceptional folded pizza is as un-heavy as they come.


Santa Maria

Santa Maria has been at or near the top best-pizza-in-London lists for so long now, co-owners Pasquale Chionchio and Angelo Ambrosio should be paying rent. The pizza, like Santa Maria’s incredibly demanding co-owners, is Neapolitan to the core, its deceptively fragile crust holding up to pressure, from the San Marzano tomatoes as well as one’s eager fingers. Branches in Chelsea and Fitzrovia now open, too.


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Daniel Young
source: https://london.eater.com/maps/best-pizza-restaurants-london

Oi Vita pizza photo from Facebook page (ed)
Santa Maria pizza photo from Facebook page (ed)

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