Is Crisp W6 pizza really the best in London?
When we declare something is "the best" we're in fact saying it's the best we know of. Crisp W6 is really good. Our experiences and predilections will dictate just how really good the pub pizzeria is.
Last summer, Dave Portnoy, the founder of Barstool Sports and the indefatigable critic behind One Bite Pizza Reviews, declared that Crisp W6 Pizza at the Chancellors Pub in Hammersmith was “by far, by far, by far” his favourite pizza in London.
Portnoy shares his views with millions of followers on several social media platforms. That rave got the attention of A-listers and leading food and lifestyle influencers who together anoint the next big thing. From a kitchen in a pub basement, Carl McCluskey and his sidemen went from making 30 pizzas on a routine Saturday to churning out some 300 pies, all baked in a PizzaMaster electric deck oven.
I was late to the coronation. I only woke from my stupor when I learned my friend Tim Hunt’s physical trainer had confirmed Crisp W6 was tops. On Friday I finally embarked on the westbound journey across London to Crisp Road (see map). That’s right, Crisp Road. You just can’t make that up.
Is Hammersmith really home to the best pizza in London? That depends on your pizza memories and, crucially, your personal pizza preferences. We are creatures of habit and experience. When we praise anything as “the best,” we’re in effect saying it’s the best in the context of what we know, what we’ve heard, what we’ve read, what we’ve tried and what we like.
Be forewarned:
If the only high-quality pizza you know is soft, steamy, wood-fired Neapolitan you may not care for an alternative that’s crisp by touch, name and location.
If you’re a proud partisan of Sicilian, Detroit, Roman pizza al taglio, Chicago deep-dish or any pan pizza with girth and give, Crisp W6 may disappoint. Between the point of each slice and the airy cornicione (“cornice”- outer rim) there’s next-to-zero compression to the chew. The level of stodgy, gut-busting gratification is nearly as low.
If you’re drawn to cutting-edge pizzas with home-grown heirloom tomatoes, house-churned mozzarella, small-batch salume and slow-aged basil dust layered over a 72-hour dough made from a flour composed of hand-milled local grains rescued from extinction, be advised: Crisp W6 is a pizzeria, not a research lab or a social movement.
But there is a reward for trading in the very real satisfactions rendered by pizza orthodoxy, gastronomy or gluttony for the instinctive thrill of a noisy crunch. Don’t be fooled by the light and delicate platform: It will not sag under the weight and damp of saucy tomato, oozy melted cheeses, grease-filled pepperoni cups and hot honey. Its pleasures last from the first bite that burns the roof of your mouth - OUCH! – to the chill of the last nibble that makes you cry out in pain, only from the realisation there’s no pizza left in the box.
Likewise, anyone already fond of the dry, crusty pies of New York pizza restaurants and slice joints, or the brittle, cracker-thin crunch of pizza tonda romana (“round Roman pizza”) – aka Scrocchiarella – will need no convincing. They’ll be simpatico with that growing band of core supporters.
Over the past decade, London has become a capital of the Neapolitan pizza diaspora. It might be the best town outside of Italy for the characteristically bendy pizza of Naples. It’s the only style of pizza British opinion-makers unanimously bestow with their greatest single word of praise for a food classic: Proper.
Even so, my sense is that, with some pizza diversity training, Londoners will embrace a self-sustaining slice that defies gravity, that doesn’t droop, that breaks but does not curl when you fold it. My suspicions are borne out by the popularity of two renegade pizzerias run by English dreamers with a serious Brooklyn pizza complex: Vincenzo’s, in the northern reaches of Greater London, and Crisp W6 in West London.
No matter your pizza past, Crisp W6 is cracking good.
Thanks for your kind words, Sayjel. You made my day. Hope to see you at the London Pizza Festival. Details will be available very soon. Rest assured that all textures of pizza crusts will be well represented.
Great article! not on social media much so crisp wasn’t on my radar Daniel! Will try it out! Glad you have pizza festival returning too! Can’t wait! Sayjel