The London Pizza Festival returns June 11th. Let the pizza fights begin!
As it would be futile to discourage dissent at the UK's leading celebration of pizza passion, the London Pizza Festival is structured to slice pizzas in four and divide opinion by 1,000.
As the author of Where to Eat Pizza and the organiser of the London Pizza Festival, I don’t go looking for pizza fights. They find me:
How could you possibly like this pizzeria? How could you possibly not like that pizza place?
How can you eat pizza with a knife and fork? Ugh. How can you eat pizza with your hands? Ugh.
Thin and crunchy pizza is the best! Bendy and fluffy pizza is tops!
Pizza must be baked in a wood-fired oven. Electric and gas ovens can be every bit as good as wood ones.
That pie is burnt to a crisp! That pie is charred to perfection!
How can you say that Neapolitan pizza is better than New York pizza? Or that New York pizza is better than New Haven? Or that New Haven is better than Roman? Or that Roman is better than Detroit? Or that Detroit is better than Chicago deep-dish? Or that Chicago deep-dish is better than Chicago tavern-style? Or that Chicago tavern-style is better than Neapolitan?
Pineapple pizza sucks.
I have one reply that works for nearly every pizza argument, no matter how persuasive or contentious it may be: “No one knows your opinion better than you do.”
It sounds a little condescending, sure, but I also think it’s a valid point: Pizza preferences are part of our identity. Our views are shaped by our earliest likes and dislikes, our upbringing, our travels, our evolving tastes and the last thing we saw on Instagram.
At pizza festivals, competitions and trade shows, I am not always thrilled to see a panel of fat cats rate and rank the pizzas. Granted, the distinguished members of the jury may be knowledgeable, objective and honest. Who am I to judge the judges?
But when it comes to pizza, memory and passion may be more valuable than objectivity. That’s why, at the London Pizza Festival, I don’t name a handful of expert judges, I enlist 1,000 of them:
Everyone who attends the London Pizza Festival receives a voting sticker as they enter. Only after they’ve tried all the signature pizzas showcased by the participating pizzas do they step up to the voting board and award their sticker to the one they like most. The pizzeria with the most stickers wins.
The dominance of round and bendy Neapolitan-style pizza at the 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019 editions of the Festival (see video highlights) will be challenged this year by two regional classics in crisper, rectangular formats: Quadrata elevates the base of pizza al taglio, the cherished slice of Rome, to its optimum crunch on Euston Road in Central London. Detroit Pizza London goes deep at Spitalfields in East London, delighting homesick Americans and British converts alike with saucy Detroit squares. Cheese melts down the sides of each pie, encrusting its high walls with caramelised cheese.
Defending the pride of Naples will be three true greats that have helped raise the pizza craft in the UK to new levels: 081 Pizzeria in Peckham and Fitzrovia (in residence at The Smugglers Tavern); Fatto a Mano, with one location in Kings Cross and three in Brighton and Hove; and Oi Vita in Islington.
So which of the five pizzerias is most likely to be named champion of the 2023 London Pizza Festival? Don’t ask me: No one knows your opinion better than you do.
For London Pizza Festival updates, go to its Facebook page and click “interested”.