'London's Best Pizza' - Santa Maria Pizzeria

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When Time Out named the humble Santa Maria 'Best Pizza Restaurant in London', I felt somewhat obliged to get down there, by any means possible, and try it for myself.

It's the kind of place where, on the kind of sunny day on which I visited, I sat in the small light filled room by the big french windows (in my red lipstick and Vivienne Westwood sweater) and it just felt like summer - and it just felt lovely. If there is even a scrap of sun before this summer breathes it's final feeble breath then you should really jump in your cars, tubes and buses and descend upon this place like a plague of pizza hungry locusts.



Santa Maria is a beautiful little place, a small labour of love created by Angelo and Pasquale who wanted to bring a taste of genuine Naples street food to Ealing. With no advance booking and a total of 16 indoor tables, this is not a place for a night out with a group of friends and is more suited for impromptu lunches and casual yet intimate dinners.



The decor is simple but perfect- white walls, wooden crate shelves and a quite enchanting photos, and all emblazoned with their Santa Maria logo designed by Italian graphic designer Salvatore Lillini. It is light, airy and well presented, somehow retaining the air of a local, 'best kept secret' - despite its recent acclaim.

The menu is small and classic, featuring a small selection of classic Neapolitan combinations (seven pizzas and a calzone to be precise) that would have Pizza Expresses mammoth menu blushing in shame. The ingredients are all flown in from Italy and the sources of their mozzarella, olive oil and Parmesan can all be found on their websites.

I've never been to Naples, but I have had Italian pizza, and this is it. The bases are super thin, the toppings are light but taste fresh, as if ten minutes ago, they were raw produce. Our pizza was a little heavy in mozzarella juice and tended to splash all over the plate, but to be honest though it may have made the base a little soggier, nothing was impaired and it made it a lot more fun to try and eat...
I haven't eaten at enough pizza restaurants in London to say if this is the best, but I can say it's good. I can also say my motivation to eat at many others has depleted somewhat.
LLF recommends splitting a pizza (Santa' Anna, with artichoke and black olives) and making room for their grilled mixed vegetables and a scoop of their gelato- I would go with the hazelnut gelato, with whole roasted hazelnuts stirred in.



Santa Maria Pizzeria, 15 St Mary's Road, W5 5RA
020 8579 1462
www.santamariapizzeria.com

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Lou Loves Travel: Italy

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I never got into Italian food until recently. A few friends of mine have sung its praises and I've slowly become more aware of it. The other night, a post dinner walk led me to the doors of River Cafe. I recently bought a beautiful hardback copy of the River Cafe cookbook from a charity shop, and after experiencing my first taste of Polenta (yeah, I know!) I have embarked on a passionate love affair with the versatile cornflour meal.

Considering this blossoming curiosity, it was only a matter of time before I found myself in Italy. This time ended up being sooner rather than later. Last week Lou Loves Food embarked on a brief Epicurean tour of Tuscany, picking up tastes in Florence, Pisa and Lucca. (It was a trip my thighs will never forgive me for.)

We hid from the rain in Lucca, taking comfort in Chianti and brushetta with plates of fresh chopped tomatoes, and we drank Spritz (Prosecco and Campari with soda) under the beating sun in the courtyard bars overshadowed by the Duomo in Florence.

I drank more Prosecco than I care to admit to, already having a weakness for it thanks to London's penchant for the more elegant and creative cocktail menus. I discovered a new favourite ice cream flavour from their innumerable Gellatoria's- where the ice creams are whipped into towering peaks, studded with hazelnuts, strawberries or crumbled biscotti.
My new flavour du jour is pine nut- a creamy, nutty ice cream laced with whole pine nuts.


And pine nuts seem to wriggle their way into all dishes- from the pasta and antipasti to their extensive and inescapable selection of cakes that line the glass counters of every bar. I was seduced, more than once, by the Tuscan speciality- Torta con i Bisheri- shapeless biscuits with raisins and chocolates and Prisaria, crumbling and stuffed with almond paste, dusted with mounds of icing.

In Pisa, I experienced my first ever edible gnocchi. I had only eaten it once or twice before, and in fairness, it had come out of a packet and been prepared by me. I had been disappointed; the results were lumpy, stodgy and tastes more of starch and carbs than anything else. The gnocchi I ordered in a pasta place down a Pisan side road was soft and melting and coated in melting Gorgonzola.

I ate an Italian pizza in a local backstreet trattoria, where the chef totted up the bill in front of a huge pizza oven (Two bottles of water, a bottle of Prosecco and three large pizzas for around £24) whilst still covered up to the elbows in flour. It sparked a dangerous hunger in me for pizza that I suspect will haunt my dreams and my kitchen for months to come.

I tried as much pasta as was possible in such a limited time; tagliatelle with courgette and salmon, sea food spaghetti and a simple Farfalline dish with black olives and oil. And I kept my energy up, of course, with countless tiny cups of strong espresso. Yet another weakness of mine, despite my crippling caffiene intolerance.

I can now admit that I am a convert to the world of Italian cuisine. A world I have little experience in. But you just give me time...

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This week I have been mostly...

Drinking Spritz, on terrace bars in Florence and Pisa, with antipasti and sunshine.

Prosecco, Campari and Soda

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Food Fact of the Day.

Tirimisu, means 'pick me up'.

... An Italian themed Fact of the Week, to coincide with my trip to Italy! Off to Vienna tomorrow, so things at Lou Loves Food are a little quiet right now. But not for long...

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