You are a reliable lot. I asked you to share with me your experiences of the pizzas at Donna Margherita on Lavender Hill in South London, after my own decidedly mixed visit, and dozens of you did so. And the result of this exercise in critical democracy, this attempt to harness the wisdom of crowds? Inconclusive, I would say.
As many of you came to bury the pizzas as to praise them. Juli Turpin, who lived around the corner for many years, went back time and time again in search of greatness, and never found it. 'I loved the ambiance and the authenticity of the place but the food never quite did it for me,' she said, before adding that her boyfriend disagreed. Martin Spitaler called the pizzas 'disappointing', and Leigh Jones had a good old moan about the dismal, chilly thing he found in his take away box when he got it home one night.
But - and it's a huge, beautifully illuminated, BUT of the sort monks used to toil over - those in praise were as up on the restaurant as others were down. And a bunch of them were Italians. Now I know this shouldn't matter. We should all be able to judge good food from bad no matter where we were born. (Trust me: never take recommendations for good Jewish restaurants from Jews. No good will come of it.)
But it does matter. So when Luca Maiano says that Donna Margherita is not merely a restaurant, but a lifesaver for a homesick Italian, we better believe him. 'In this world of bad imitations of the real Neapolitan Pizza,' he said, 'Donna Margherita managed to deliver the real McCoy.' Bruno and Sarah Ciploi practically dribbled into their keyboards at the mere mention of the joint's name, and Enzo Cioce, a restaurant manager in Dublin, said he was convinced he would never find 'a pizza like the one we do back home' until he made the pilgrimage to Lavender Hill. It is, he says, 'the real deal'.
So what does this tell us? Firstly that the pizzas at Donna Margherita can be both good and bad. And secondly, that if ever I find myself in this situation again I should not hesitate in making judgements. I should just do the job I'm paid for and say as I find. On the night I went the garlic bread was great, and the pizzas weren't. Still, thank you to all of you who shared with me your opinions. I was told by one of you that the restaurant has posted copies of the review around the place, as a way of encouraging people to get in touch. Their self-confidence is admirable - even if the same can not always be said about their pizzas.
