World’s top pizza? Forget Italy—it’s at Bethnal Green’s Story Deli
The best pizzas in the world appears to be made in London’s East End—and that’s official.
A modest pizzaria in Bethnal Green has beaten the Italians at their own game, according to bloggers around the world.
Story Deli was voted top of the pizza poll in yesterday’s Chowzter Fast Feast awards.
“It was a bit of a surprise,” admitted deli owner Lee Hollingworth, 56. “We got invited to the awards, but didn’t think anything of it.
“I don’t know why our Margheritas were voted top. We just do it quietly—they’re nothing out of the ordinary.”
But Lee does use 100 per cent organic ingredients and won’t use anything that’s not made from natural produce.
Nobody can beat the Italians for making amazing pizzas that build on centuries of tradition, says Chowzter.
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But Story Deli has taken that tradition and turned it on its head, according to Chowzter’s founder Jeffrey Merrihue.
The poll was on nominations by 50 bloggers around the world, amid reports that Italy—the culinary birthplace of the pizza—has a shortage of pizza-makers and needs to find 6,000 to keep the industry heated up.
Story Deli, which moved to Bethnal Green Road recently from the Old Truman Brewery in Brick Lane, was a strong contender in Time Out’s last knockout contest to find the London’s best pizza.
Its pizzas were described as super thin, bread-like, finished with a smear of good sauce, quality organic ingredients which “stretch the definition of what a pizza can be.” Main courses are £10-£15.
A Korean takeaway in Seoul was top for its fried chicken wings, a Mexican outlet in Queretaro for its Goat Taco barbecue, an American diner in Connecticut for its lunch Cheeseburger, an Indian curry house in Goa for its Mutton Vindaloo, a Vietnamese bar in Ho Chi Minh City for its sandwich and a Polish truck stop in Krakow for its sausage.
