Whether it's the heat, the smog, or the retro culture, fact is malls are still magnets for end-consumers and those who pander to the fads they follow in Thailand. They may be emptying elsewhere but not here. No way.
Witness the rash of upscale restaurants packing in patrons across extensive prime spaces reserved for them and their foodie followings by Bangkok's brashest enablers of retail therapy.
Case in point Pizzaiola (pizza-iola), the latest brainwave of Luca Appino, mastermind of Michelin Guide® and Gambero Rosso® Award-winning Pizza Massilia Restaurants (Ruamrudee/Sukhumvit 49) that evolved from a cult pizza truck still serving on Saladaeng. Plus Bottega di Luca, Vesper Bar, Il Fumo.
The open plan eatery is newly up and running on the 7th floor of what is still Bangkok's biggest, and arguably hippest, mall, recently all spruced up again.
Typical of a Luca project, the branding is practically as appetizing as the "authentic Italian at an everyday price" plus toothsome local fusion provisions. Pitched beside a wide walkway, it's a hive of culinary activity, vibrant colour and thoughtful detailing.
Italian national soccer team "azzurri" blue and burrata white upright wooden chairs and stools are set around a kitchen/bar and smooth wood-topped tables, along with bamboo-frame sofas. Blond flooring is part inlaid with beautiful mosaic tiles while faux antique Roman tiles line the kitchen counter. Sitting beneath an enormous red extractor hood, the cook-packed kitchen features a buil-in-situ gas-heated, brick-sided oven which lead chefs Salerno-born Michele Fernando and Veneto-born Massimo Verzini say is cleaner and more consistent than the wood-fired Stefano Ferrara at Pizza Massilia, and almost as sexy. Periodic new paint jobs to the dome keep splashes of colour coming. Another nice touch; recycled paper placemats are backstory readable, colourable for kids, and game-playable. Heavy crockery with garish hand-painted ceramics add to the pleasure of eating, as does the peppy Italian pop soundtrack.
Pizzaiola is Italian slang for ‘Lady Pizza Maker' coined from a Sophia Loren movie, that inspires Pizzaiola's signature motif, half woman, half pizza slice, with forefinger pointing mouthwards a la "tirayu", or tasty.
The premium dough is made from organic flours and mineral water fermented with natural yeast. Hot from the oven, the raised rim, flat middle, subtly smoky, slightly gritty crusts have a lovely aroma and al dente bite.
Only marginally less fancy than Pizza Massillia, it's billed "Pizza del Popolo" – pizza for the people. However, that applies less to quality than pandering to popular tastes that, given the eclectic mall-goer profile leads to intriguing iterations.
Among the items, invariably sporting tons of topping, for instance, is a pizza pimped with Chiang Mai fermented sai-ua sausage, pork crackling, chili specks, and corriander over traditional fior di latte mozzarella, tomato sauce, and olive oil (340/270). Totally amazing!
If classic's more your thing, it doesn't get much more so than cloud soft, creamy burrata hearts, or stracciatella, paired with premium, intense-flavour Capocollo cured pork neck from Calabria. Herby, dairy, umami, it's definitively Italian.
There's more to Pizzaiola than pizza, however. Mains feature flame-grilled prime Australian beef sliced "tagliata", the carnivorous succulence graced with Parmesan shavings amid a rocket forest (590).
Starters and snacks include 24 months Parma ham paired with warm, deliciously donut- and crispy wanton-like "gnocco" (390), Plus affettati coldcuts and formaggi cheese boards, Italian salads and mix ‘n' match homemade spaghetti, linguine, rigatoni or angel hair with pomodoro & basil, clams & tomato, crab aglio, olio & peperoncino, carbonara or truffles sauces.
Desserts are equally indulgent, with, Nutell Amisu, an ensemble of cocoa powder, espresso and marscapone embellished with Nutella, hazelnuts, lady fingers (280), particularly irresistible.
Tel. 062 592 8586
www.pizzaiola.com
