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The demanding dozen seated at the 24 August PizzaTuesday tasting table at Otto Pizza in London’s Notting Hill were very happy with their introduction to cornmeal crusted pizzas. Those who threw their crust ends back into the pan did so as a matter of survival: Were they to eat every crumb of their first three slices there would be no hope of a painless journey through – and home from – a fourth. Some were also thinking ahead, strategically reserving storage space for the looming affogato of hazelnut ice cream and Square Mile espresso promised for dessert.
Otto’s cornmeal (polenta) crusts are much richer and their layer of toppings thicker and denser than those of traditional, flour-based Italian pizza. A two-slice serving is plenty for a regulation-sized grownup.
Of the pizza varieties sampled and ultimately devoured in the tasting, the three combinations developed by Otto – sweet corn & caramelised red onion, tapenade & cheese, pancetta, fig & blue cheese – were generally preferred to a fourth concoction of fennel sausage, aubergine, balsamic-glazed red onion & fresh tomato created prior to the event on twitter amongst PizzaTuesday followers. The group’s rating someone else’s designs more highly than its own reflected its graciousness and sense of fairness. Otto co-owner Richard Thomson was thrilled with the outcome, calling it a “relief”. The endless fuss with composing, mastering and updating the pizza menu actually mattered.
The affable Thomson sat at either end of the table for the duration of the tasting. He met and pretty much charmed everyone but didn’t dare ask if they thought Otto’s pizza was really pizza. His PizzaTuesday guests, gracious as ever, did not ask the same of him.
