Writer Jessica Brownlie tastes a little bit of heaven at Appetito Pizza and Pasta in London.
December the second was memorable for two reasons:
Lockdown 2.0 was lifted
I tasted heaven.
Heaven showed itself to me in the form of an all you can eat Italian experience: Appetito Pizza and Pasta.
Please note that this isn’t a buffet, or help yourself restaurant – this is an intimate chefs table experience in which chef Simone cooks everything you desire, right in front of you. It’s practically a dinner and a show.
The experience started with us arriving at an understated kitchen, hidden away in a corner of Tooting. The kitchen was a simple, inconspicuous kitchen. No bells and whistles, with a makeshift table and chairs right in the centre. Upon entering the kitchen, the first thing to greet you is a delicious aroma of fresh pizza and the warmth of industrial ovens.
Once seated Simone explained that everything on his menu (aside from two items; chips and mozzarella sticks) have all been lovingly hand made by himself, using nothing but the freshest ingredients – the majority of which had been imported from various areas of Italy! Only the most authentic food was to make it in Simone’s kitchen!
To start we were given some delicious, sourdough bread and olive oil to nibble on whilst we watched Simone create our starter. Even the bread was made with such thought and care, taking nearly two days just to get the consistency perfect before baking.
The starter platter was divine, the deep-fried sourdough was so perfectly light on the inside yet with a delicate crunch on the outside. The perfect oxymoron. This, I discovered is called Montanare and is a traditional street food in Naples. It tasted like an artisanal savoury doughnut – incredible. I’m still dreaming about this now.
The evening went from incredible to phenomenal and finally to I’m stuffed! I was lucky enough to try the parmigiana, the freshness of the aubergine paired with the warm cheese and tang of the tomato sauce was enough to be a meal of its own!
I also managed to try two different types of tagliatelle, the pesto, made with pumpkin seed instead of pine seed – which added an incredible roasted flavour to the pesto, a must-try if you visit, and the Bolognese, which was unlike any other I have tried. For starters, the pasta itself was an entirely different calibre – nothing like I had tried before.
The most incredible thing about this experience isn’t the passion, the love or even the insanely delicious food. It’s the price, the chef’s table experience is only £15 per person. I couldn’t believe it when I found out – Simone wants to feed people good food at a fair price. That, I think, is saintly.
Appetito Pizza and Pasta
89 Bickersteth Road,
Trident Business Centre,
SW17 9SH, London
Chatting Food Contributor
Jessica Brownlie
Often found shoving food into her face. Whilst living out her childhood fantasy by eating all the Mickey-shaped treats in Disneyland, Jessica developed the idea of becoming a food blogger and thus Beauty and the Feast was born! Along with a keen interest in the unusual, whacky and weird Jessica also enjoys maintaining somewhat of a Ketogenic diet.
Follow Jess @beautyandthefeastofficial
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