Back in April, Napoli on the Road (which was founded in Richmond a decade ago) arrived on Wardour Street, Soho, bringing chef-founder Michele Pascarella’s award-winning Neapolitan-style pies with it. And now, the team has finally unveiled its hotly anticipated pizza tasting menu, the first of its kind in the UK.
From the outside, the new design-forward Wardour Street outpost – with its understated signage, clean lines and large windows – wouldn’t look out of place in Mexico City. Inside, it’s the culmination of years of Pascarella’s hard work.
“When I first arrived in the city, I landed in central London, imagining and dreaming about one day opening something of my own here,” the three-time European number-one pizzaiolo tells Broadsheet. “In those early years, I started working in a pizzeria in Soho. So, being able to realise the dream of returning to central London with something I created on my own is truly a full-circle moment for me.”
The Soho site has the essence of the chef’s original restaurants, but with a more modernist feel, with soft curves, gentle lighting and not an Italian cliche in sight. “We want people to feel at home,” Pascarella says. “That’s why we’ve recreated a Mediterranean, welcoming, and familiar atmosphere … a place where guests feel happy and relaxed.”
The new tasting menu is a £65 seven-course experience designed to challenge expectations of what a modern pizzeria can be. The idea, Pascarella says, is to encourage diners to think about the Neapolitan stalwart as one part of a longer, slower meal. “They’re a chance to show how far you can take pizza when you treat it as part of a tasting experience rather than a single main dish.”
The menu uses a mix of fried dishes, intermezzi and sweets alongside pizza to explore Italian ingredients through different textures and techniques. Napoli on the Road’s award-winning signature ricordi di infanzia pizza (which translates to “childhood memories”) makes an appearance, but with a different ragù made using alternative cuts of meat. Elsewhere, vitello tonnato is reworked as a Piedmontese padellino (a small, round, thick-crust pan pizza born in Turin), while ingredients such as tomato recur in different forms.
The menu will also change with the seasons, with ingredients and individual courses evolving according to what’s at its best at any one time. “Pizza is at the heart of what we do, but the ingredients are just as important, and we wanted to give them space to tell their own story throughout the experience,” Pascarella says.
As with most tasting menus, there’s a drinks pairing, too. Priced at £40, it includes Shogun Sake, Roebuck Rosé de Noirs from West Sussex and Moscato d’Asti from Piedmont. Diners will also find a small gift waiting for them at the end. “We wanted to create something that feels like a complete experience,” says Pascarella, “rather than simply coming in for a meal.”
Otherwise, the à la carte offering showcases the chef’s long-fermented doughs topped with seasonal ingredients and transformed into pies with fluffy, leopard-speckled crusts. Pascarella’s take on recognisable classics include nduja and stracciatella; and friarielli, pork sausage and smoked mozzarella. House specials star concoctions such as courgette cream, fior di latte, provolone, crispy courgette and mint; as well as a five-cheese combo with cherry tomato jam and crispy parmesan wisps.
Standouts include Pascarella’s signature beef ragù pizza – the award-winning dish that helped cement Pascarella’s reputation on the global stage – and the crusty sandwich-style cime e salsiccia padellino with cime di rapa cream, smoked mozzarella, sausage and nori.
Smaller bites include oozing frittatine di pasta; polpette (meatballs); and a tomato, nectarine, pickled peach and basil salad. For dessert there’s a millefoglie sbagliata featuring puff pastry folded with almonds, cream and liqueur, alongside tiramisu, and a ricotta, chocolate and almond cake.
Besides the beef ragù, no dish is safe for long. “We change the menu with the seasons, so there’s always something new to discover,” says Pascarella. “We want people to try all the pizzas to really understand how we make them; each one is different, with its own combination of flavours and textures.”
Despite the huge surge of new pizzerias across the capital in recent years, Pascarella is unfazed by the competition. “Every pizzeria has its own soul. We have our direction, concept, and vision,” he says. “We focus on creating something true to us, beyond trends, with a focus solely on the highest quality.”
Napoli on the Road
140 Wardour Street, W1F 8ZT
Hours
Daily midday–10.30pm
