After raking in the awards for their pizzerias in Ealing and Chelsea, Santa Maria has just opened its third outpost in Fitzrovia, making it easier for those of us on the other side of town to get a slice, although not necessarily when there’s a blizzard on. The interiors are bright and cheery with lots of white and pastels; a great antidote to the grim weather.
We kicked off with burrata Pugliese and ‘nduja and ricotta meatballs, which come drowned in the most epic tomato sauce. Luckily they provide plenty of bread to mop it up with and we cleaned out the dish it was that good. The pizza is very much the star of the show though, wood-fired the traditional Neapolitan way and topped with authentic Italian ingredients like San Marzano tomatoes.
We went for the Santa Giuseppe with smoked mozzarella, rare breed Yorkshire sausage and wild broccoli, and the Santa Carmela with cotto ham, mushrooms and parmesan. It’s obvious why these pizzas have earned so much praise; the dough has chew but still feels light, the sauce is rich and they’re liberal with the toppings, plus there’s a whole range of extras, including tomato sauce to the bases that come without, to pimp your pizza even more.
Vegans can get involved at Santa Maria too, thanks to a small selection of legit interesting options – no lazy substituting for vegan cheese here. If you can’t finish it all in one sitting (guilty – we went too hard on the starters but it was worth it) they’ll box it up for you to take home. And we all know pizza for breakfast is the best kind of breakfast.
Santa Maria know they’ve got a great thing going and their Fitzrovia spot is doing more of the same, and yes, this is pizza worth going out in the snow for.
160 New Cavendish Street, London, W1W 6YR
santamariapizzeria.com