Pizza palace
With pizza rapidly replacing the once-humble hamburger as the hottest gastronomic thing to put in one’s mouth, the race for the acknowledgement as Stockholm’s best pizza parlour is undoubtedly on. While some establishments opt for special flatbread (Kornhamnstorg 53), others are going square and minimal (Artisan). Some just choose to be extra fashionable (Pizzahat), and others still go for an avant-garde approach to toppings (Crispy Pizza). Then there are those who just go back to the original and the basics.
Giro is one such place. In its attempt to master what is unquestionably one of the world’s most iconic foods, Giro have gone back to its roots, to the Italian city of Naples. Michele Condurro at L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele, owner of the restaurant made famous by Julia Roberts in the film Eat Pray Love, first fired up his oven in 1906, focusing mainly on only two types of pizzas: the Marinara and the Margherita. It is from the distinguished masters at this well-renowned restaurant that Giro has learnt the principles behind a perfect pizza: the quintessential ingredients, the particular method of rising, the mounting of the dough and the handling of the specially-installed oven.
In conformity with the philosophy of merging tradition and innovation, the interior of the pizzeria, located in adjacence to (and part of) the Miss Clara hotel, works on both fronts. On one hand, the bar area feels like a slightly kitschy pastiche of its Italian counterpart, where the bottles of wine sitting on the shelves very well could have been covered in a year’s layer of dust. On the other hand, the marble tables and light bulbs dispended from the ceiling are very much on-trend.
The Margherita (129 kronor) is, next after the Marinara, Giro’s most paired-down pizza, topped with San Marzano tomatoes, fior di latte mozzarella and fresh basil. It is also the pizza I’d highly recommend if you’d like to get up close and personal with the anatomy of pizza. This, along with a glass of Terlan Sauvignon Winkl (130 kronor), is the real deal – distinct flavours that intertwine in perfect harmony. With the pepperoni and salsiccia pizza (167 kronor) – Giro’s most popular variety, according to my server – one moves away from the simplicity and clarity of the former, which in no way is an inferior experience. The mozzarella and tomatoes are paired with peppers and salsiccia and offer a more full-bodied and hearty sense of flavour, and it is best enjoyed with a spicy and fruity red such as R Ripasso (105 kronor).
Having enjoyed my fair share of pizza throughout my life, I reach an interesting insight over lunch at Giro. For some reason, I don’t quite have the usual bloated feeling – which is something the waiter attributes to the fact that the dough’s leavening process is completed before it enters the oven (and the stomach, where it typically continues to rise). Not a bad thing, as it leaves room for that tiramisu (97 kronor) and a double espresso (29 kronor).
Giro | Sveavägen 46| 08-440 67 67 | giropizzeria.com
