Aroy aroy

Published on November 23, 2007

Almost half of this small eatery's space is filled by two big ovens - one coal-powered and one electrical, which are being used to bake pizzas for eagerly awaiting customers. Three pizza makers move their hands about quickly, rolling and making circular shapes out of dough, lathering them with tomato sauce, and sprinkling on them cheese and ordered toppings. At a brisk pace, the pizzas are being slid in and out of the oven using long wooden peels.

Pizza Pizza is a new Italian bistro owned by popular actress Yanee Chongvisuit and her Italian-Australian husband Sam Armenio, who created Scoozi, one of the best known Italian eateries in town back almost a decade ago. Here, since February this year, the couple has formed a new team, created a new menu and attracted even more customers to their pizzas loaded with secret recipes and other items you expect from a typical Italian diner.

"We are no longer a fine-dining restaurant. Everything has to be changed," explains Yanee who helped rearrange the menu by adding a lot of Thai flavours into the Italian staples. "There's no more grilling station and time-consuming dishes such as risotto were eliminated from our list. Instead, we've put in more items that would appeal to a wider circle of customers. For example we added a lot of Thai spices into the menu to appeal to more Thai customers as well."

Pizza Pizza's menu features a wide range of appetisers, soups, salads, pizzas and pastas. The place, which is packed during weekends, draws a good amount of customers even on a weekday night. Most of the crowds are young people having a good time after a long-day's work. A typical meal consists of a salad, a soup and a pizza.

We tried Yanee's popular truffle salad (Bt180) made from mixed greens, crumbled gorgonzola and a drizzling of warm truffle dressing. The green salad is nothing special, but the truffles dressing is creamy and rich and carries the subtle and mysterious scents of the truffles and gorgonzola, which lends occasional bursts of a pungent taste to the dish's unique flavour.

Italian soups have always been my favourites. I love it all, from the simple and hearty minestrone with loads of parmesan to any kind of seafood soup. I ordered a bowl of softly cooked seafood soup in white wine (Bt270) that comes with generous big chunks of sliced squid, handful of clams, a big mussel, one prawn and spinach. Clear, spicy and tasty, the hearty soup is fulfilling with chopped parsley and cilantro and the white wine.

We also ordered a half-and-half pie of margherita and meat lover's pizza (Bt360). The crust of our pizza was paper thin with a whiff of coal-burnt aroma. The taste was good, although not great, with loaded toppings and aromatic cheese to match.

Since Yanee is famed for her truffle cream sauce, we decided to try their foie gras ravioli. A dish of four ravioli is Bt290. The pasta is sealed with foie gras and aromatic mushrooms that blend nicely with the rich and creamy sauce the place is famous for. But we certainly hope there are more pieces of the pasta there to share among three of us.

Pizza Pizza is a good choice of restaurant for friends who want to gather and have a good time with pizza and Italian-style snacks. Yanee also creates a lot of Thai-style tasty toppings such as green curry and Thai-style pastas.

 She says she loves spicy food and never tones down her cooking when it comes to Thai dishes. Their largest pizza there equals six pies and can be shared among 10-15 people and holds four different toppings. You can order them cut into small squares for your party

as well.

Pizza Pizza

(by Yanee)

Seventh Floor,

Central Food Hall, CentralWorld

Daily, 11am to 10pm

(02) 613 1612-4

Sirin P Wongpanit  

More reviews can be read at OhSirin.blogspot.com.