I’m gonna go out on a limb here, and say that most of you will agree that Pizza is one of life’s best foods. In that case, get yourselves down to Nottingham to try the morsels served at Peter Pizzeria; we did, on their opening night, and here’s what we thought…
The first impression certainly stays with you: a colourful, graffiti-style sign, replete with stylised pizza! Upbeat music hits your ears as you walk through the entrance, instantly lifting your mood, and the super-friendly staff are definitely up for ensuring you have a great time with them. In one corner is the huge pizza oven, and the Pizzaiolos were busy making all manner of morsels when we rocked up.
Peter Pizzeria is located in a former bank, so it’s a fab, open-plan space with the former vault providing a bit of a secret eating area. The poured concrete floor and ceiling ducts lend a modern, industrial feel to the venue, backed up by the angular lines of the dark-wood tables and the mid-back seating. Lifting the vibe was the warm honeyed tone of the lighting and the great prints that adorned each wall.
If you in the ‘pineapple belongs on pizza’ camp, you’re going to be sorely disappointed at Peter Pizza; ain’t no way fruit goes on their artisan dough! Disappointment won’t figure, though, as there’s more than enough other scrumminess to satisfy your desires. Our wonderful server sorted drinks out for us, pronto: a rather cheeky Limoncello Spritz for me (£7) and a pint of Poretti (£5.75) for His Nibs.
With drinks sorted, it was time to give the menu some serious attention, and it’s a pretty varied one, offering special pizzas as well as the regular choices. I loved the fact that children (aka ‘small humans’) have their own section of the menu, and that the pizzas are about half the price of adult ones. As a starter, we chose the Garlic Ciabatta to share; this is £7 and is topped very generously with Strianese Tomatoes, Fior Di Latte (Mozzarella made with Cows’ milk), Oregano and Garlic Oil. This morsel had a beautiful char to it that was gorgeously smoky note in the mouth, contrasting well with the sweet Tomato and creamy cheese. We both said that this was super-tasty and it took the edge off our hunger very nicely.
The Man Bird opted to have one of the said ‘special ones’: Insert Name Here (£14); no, that’s not a typo, the pizza really is called Insert Name Here! This minx features a traditional tomato base topped with Strianese Tomatoes, Fior Di Latte, Wild Boar, Nduja, Red and Green Chillies, Rocket, Mozzarella and Garlic Oil. I decided to go for a white-base pizza, the Caprese (£13.50), and this has Fior Di Latte, Parma Ham, Cherry Tomato, Rocket, Bella Lodi (a type of Parm with a black rind), and Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Sulking because there was no Pineapple in sight, I added Artichoke instead to the already extensive toppings (an extra £1.75).
Thanks to the ridiculous temperatures in the pizza oven, the Pizzaiolos can produce scrummy pizzas in a mere 90 seconds! Yep, you did read that right! Our pizzas were both absolutely delish. Flavours were exploding in our mouths, left-right-and-centre, and you can tell that the ingredients used at Peter Pizzeria are super-fresh. Each topping was plentiful and the thin bases stayed beautifully crisp; even the thicker periphery. His Nibs was taken a bit off-guard by the spiciness of his choice; no need to panic though, it was fiery rather than lip tingling – IYKYK!
Whenever we dine out, we always notice when we get service that goes beyond what you expect, and the team at Peter Pizzeria were on fire. Check backs were good in good time and our server noticed our glasses were about 2/3 empty, so asked if we’d like more drinks rather than waiting until they were empty. Nicely, after clearing our empty plates away he gave us a few minutes before asking if we’d like dessert.
I do like a ‘proper’ Tiramisu, but couldn’t resist the Simon Lemon-Misu (£6.50), named after the Peter Pizzeria Chef at the Loughborough site. The Man Bird went for a Frangelico Brownie served with Vanilla Gelato (£6.50) to end his meal with. Sometimes it really pays to change things up, and I’m chuffed that I swapped the Coffee notes for Citrus ones in my ‘misu’ – it was blooming wonderful. His Nibs was equally smitten with his dessert, despite me querying whether the Hazelnut would appeal to him. I think because Frangelico also has Coffee, Chocolate and Vanilla hints in its make-up, it softened the nutty flavour which The Man normally eschews. The contrast in temperature between the warm Brownie and the cool Gelato provided a nice sensorial element to this dessert, too.
Unusually, we skipped coffee, though it should be noted that the beans are from 200Degree Coffee so they are a flavoursome cup. Hot Wings happily awarded to Peter Pizzeria; Nottingham, you have yet another fine feather in your dining out cap.
Peter Pizzeria is open 7 days a week: Mon-Thurs Noon-10pm, Fri + Sat Noon-10.30pm, and Sunday Noon-9.30pm. I would use the good old -dog-n-bone (phone) to make a booking right now 0115 6950848, as the deets for the Nottingham site aren’t up on the website currently www.peterpizzeria.co.uk . No doubt they will be soon, but for now it’s just the Leicester and Loughborough venues that you can book online.
