Pizzzeria1926 - authentic Neapolitan pizza in Edinburgh

Locanda de Gusti is one of my favourite restaurants and regular readers know that I’m a fan of its owner, Rosario Sartore. Back in October he told me he was opening a Neapolitan pizza restaurant across the road: last week it opened. I was there on day two.

La Luciana – the light of my heart. Look at the colour of that crust! See the gorgeous octopus. Find the garlic slices.

You tend to like what’s familiar: I usually prefer pizza made in Stockholm to pizza made in Edinburgh. The pizza I grew up with was hand-tossed, thin-based, crisp-edged and modestly topped. That’s what I look for and when I get it, I’m very happy (Civerino’s makes me happy, as does Origano). Now, to make C. happy is more difficult. He’s not as fussy about the base as I am but his dairy intolerance means he reacts badly to over-cheesed pizza, and some bases catch him out. So, how does Pizzeria1926 perform against our rigourous requirements?

Oh so well.

Let’s pop out for a quick pizza…

One Tuesday, Edinburgh Foody was tagged in a photo from Pizzeria1926, the next day I sent a shot out to check if it was actually open. It was. I suggested we dine there. We did.

The plan was a pizza and a glass of water. Faced with the menu, I completely failed to exercise impulse control. We shared the starter, coupa, a mixture of deep fried morsels. I had the squid, octopus and whitebait, C. the courgette flowers, arancini, potato croquettes and pasta balls. All delicious.

Coupa is a sharing platter of deep fried treats – since C. is vegetarian, we asked for separate containers. Here’s the fish catch.

Pizza!

Feast your eyes on the La Luciana, a cheese-free beauty with octopus and olives. The tomato provides a background against which the tangy (stone-in) olives and the gentle octopus sing in harmony with a generous splash of olive oil. The brown crust smelled and tasted delicious.

C. had the Alle Verdura and asked specifically for mozzarella and potential aubergine to be left off. It looked great.

Still coupa – but this is the veggie loot.

Waffer-thin

After starter and pizza I was stuffed. No way would I have dessert. Except that the cake of the day was pasteria, a wonderful ricotta-based cheese cake flavoured with orange flower water. We shared one and we’re glad we did, even if we were now almost too full to move.

If there’s pasteria on the menu, have it. It’s so fragrant, so lovely.

Bright and cheerful

Pizzeria 1926 is bright, new and cheerful. The pizza oven in the back takes pride of place and additional dishes come from downstairs or the desert pantry where the ice cream counter reigns. The menu is perfectly formed: there’s one starter, a fine but focused selection of pizze covering classics like Quattro Stagioni and Marinara and Formaggio, as well as more new and exotic varieties.