Mention a pizza place and personally, I regress to a time in Brooklyn, NY where having consumed one too many frozen margaritas my friend and I wandered into Giovelli’s for ‘a slice of cheese’ and became the unwitting victims of an impromptu flour fight. My friend woke up the next morning and put on her
jacket, only to find two powdery white, man-sized handprints on her shoulders. We didn’t remember the tackle. Or indeed the scoff that ensued. But we’ll always remember the handprints.
Pizza in England has never been the same. You can’t wander down the street with a cheese craving and have it satisfied in quite the same way as you can in New York City. Takeaway, microwave and oven pizzas just won't suffice. In fact, I rarely bother with them here. I have become a pizza snob. So it was with doubt in my mind that I wandered into Covent Garden’s answer to the deluge of pizza chain restaurants – Fire and Stone – to sample yet another slice of something different. Surely they could never match the Big Apple special that saved me on so many occasions.
The truth is that, no, they can’t match it. No one can ever match it, but here’s a place that stands alone in the crowd and asks for no comparisons. The scene of our Christmas party offered 20 amazing, wood-fired, stone-baked pizzas, all made from fresh ingredients, and their inspirations come from all around the world. Fancy a taste of Thailand? A blast of Bombay? Perhaps even a sampling of Sydney? With toppings like caramelized onion jam, sour cream and smoked paprika you can guarantee that whatever you choose, your taste buds will wind up a world away from Covent Garden.
The place is funky too. Great music and huge colourful leather booths mean you can bring your mates and gossip for hours, or just drink your cares away with a bottle of wine from the menu. Hmm, but you might not want to inspect your middle half in the full length bathroom mirror after you’ve eaten. Our Christmas blow-out was full on pizza carnage and we even got to dance downstairs – well, those of us who could still move when the feast from a thousand countries lay as crusty remains on our plates. This is definitely a place to bear in mind for a party.
At the moment, with an exclusive offer from lastminute.com, you can book now for June and get a massive 50% off a special menu, which has to be a bargain if ever we saw one.
If you can’t go to New York for some authentic pizza, take my advice and head to Fire and Stone for the next best thing. And there will be no impromptu flour fights, we promise. Well, not on your side of the kitchen anyway…
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Book now for June and get 50% off
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