What do you do with a public toilet that’s fallen out of use? Turn it into a pizzeria of course. Joe Public, right by Clapham Common station, has taken over the old loos and now slings out 20-inch California-style pizzas that you can enjoy by the slice. The bases are thin and crispy with topping combos such as courgette, aubergine and garlic butter, and chicken, chorizo and halloumi. There is counter space to sit at but this place is great for grabbing a bite on the go, and it’s open until midnight during the week.
Eco has been serving Italian food to the people of Clapham for over twenty years and they’re showing no signs of slowing down. They serve a range of pastas, risottos and salads but the pizzas are the real hit here. They use sourdough for the base and add garlic oil to every pizza as well as topping them with the likes of wild boar, coppa ham and scamorza cheese. Exposed brickwork and an open kitchen showcasing the pizza oven ensures the place really looks the part too.
This pizzeria, which first set up shop on Hoxton Square, has expanded south with a second site on Venn Street. Run by the same team behind Berbere in Florence, the Radio Alice way of making pizza is a little different to how everyone else does it – the sourdough base is baked first and the toppings, like ‘nduja, anchovies and courgettes, are added afterwards to keep them at their freshest.
Owner Gabriele Vitale is passionate about the food of Naples and he’s distilled that into Donna Margherita. They’ve been refining their sourdough recipe for a decade and you can really taste the quality of that crust. The namesake Donna Margherita pizza with cherry tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, parmesan and extra virgin olive oil is their signature but their calzones and folded sandwiches are also top drawer. Throw in a restaurant menu of more authentic Neapolitan dishes, a regional wine list and friendly service, and you’ll really feel like you’re in southern Italy.
Pizza Metro Pizza was the first place in London to serve metre-long wood-fired pizzas and they still draw in the crowds today. The dough is made fresh everyday (by Italian chefs no less) and finished with quality produce imported from Italy. The length obviously means more room for toppings and the kitchen definitely takes advantage of this – as well as more traditional combinations on both red and white bases, here you can get meatballs, Italian sausages and Bolognese sauce on your pizzas. Naturally Pizza Metro Pizza is perfect if you’re in a group, line a couple up in the middle of the table and let everyone slice pieces off as they like.
Pizza can be good for you, says Dan & Angel. This Mediterranean restaurant (the menu is a mix of Spanish and Italian dishes) serves pizzas that are high in fibre and protein and low in calories thanks to their wholemeal and quinoa dough. The varieties are all fairly classic but their halloumi, roasted vegetable and avocado pizza is particularly good – it’s definitely still a pizza but you don’t feel like you’ve over-indulged after eating it.
