London and pizza, an Italian excellence.When we talk about Italian excellence, one of the fields in which we have no rivals is undoubtedly the gastronomic one. We Italians like to eat, we like to do it with taste, and to do so we have developed a cuisine that has no equal in the world. And if we decide to export our "passion" to countries not properly known for their culinary skills, success is guaranteed as the fabulous wallet pizza.
The story of Silvestro Morlando
We want to tell you the story of Silvestro Morlando and his wallet pizza which has now conquered the hearts of Londoners.
The story of Morlando in the land of His Majesty began about four years ago and has a lot in common with the many boys who venture across the border in search of fortune.
Tired of what the city of Pescara had to offer him, Silvestro armed himself with a one-way ticket to London with a simple baggage in his hand, his twenty-two years and the desire to get involved in one of the most cosmopolitan cities on the planet . And like all the guys who get involved armed only with their own desire, he had to start with a lot of humility as a simple dishwasher, exploited and underpaid in addition, and suffer the frenetic pace of the English metropolis.
But the spirit of sacrifice has allowed Morlando to face every situation without ever losing heart and, after having changed several professions always in the field of catering, he had the brilliant idea of making London and its inhabitants known one of the many local jewels: the wallet pizza.
Let it be clear that pizza in England is much more widespread than one might imagine but ...
In London, the market is very competitive and, in some areas, even now saturated, but the idea of the young man from Pescara was not to open yet another pizzeria, but to introduce Londoners to our version of the much vaunted phenomenon called Street Food (very popular in recent years) through the wallet pizza.
Here comes the Old Spitafields Market, one of the oldest markets in the city, a light blue Citroen H-van with "South Italy" writing. Inside it, complete with counter and wood-burning oven, we find the now twenty-six year old Morlando and the baker Savastano serving pizzas wrapped in a simple paper napkin, to be consumed on the street without too many thoughts, with the risk of getting burned and dirty the work suit.
The idea had a success with few precedents and within a few weeks the blue van found itself churning out more than three hundred pizzas in its portfolio only on London weekends, allowing Silvestro to redeem himself and make himself known both on the streets of London and for those of his Pescara.
Secret of success, beyond the spirit of sacrifice, certainly a dough worked by mixing traditional flour with wholemeal flour and a forty hour leavening, all seasoned with a mix of ingredients imported directly from the beautiful country such as mozzarella and Parmigiano Reggiano.
Morlando's projects certainly do not end at Old Spitafields Market, but expand throughout London (and beyond) as evidenced by the order of an Ape Piaggio also equipped with a wood oven, and the proposal to open a restaurant five minutes from Liverpool Street Station.
And if for the Neapolitans it may seem strange to know of a Pescara who makes a pizza even inserted in the Where to eat Pizza by Daniel Young (a guide on where to eat the best pizza in the world), will be heartened by knowing the Neapolitan origins of Silvestro's grandfather who by profession was, coincidentally, a baker.
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