At the prestigious 50 Top Pizza award ceremony in Barcelona this week, renowned Neapolitan pizza chef Ciro Salva's Westminster outpost was named the third best pizzeria in Europe in 2023.
50 Top Pizza is considered to be the most influential guide in the world of pizza, with its annual selections sending pizza devotees around the world into a booking frenzy. At its most recent award ceremony, the guide revealed the Best Pizzerias in Europe, as well as several special awards. The top spot this year went to Sartoria Panatieri in Barcelona, which also took home the prize for Pizza of the Year with its roasted cherry tomato sauce, mozzarella and basil hollandaise combo.
Second place went north, to Bæst in Copenhagen, while the final place on the podium went to 50 Kalò da Ciro Salva in London. The latter also took home the Pastificio Di Martino Award for Best Fried Pasta Pie. Several other London pizzerias also made the Top 50 cut: Napoli on the Road (8th), L'Antica Pizzeria (18th), and 'O Ver (22nd). Meanwhile, Flat Earth Pizzas in Tower Hamlets received one of the Green Ovens, distinguishing a pizzeria's commitment to environmental sustainability.
If you're rightfully surprised at the lack of Italian pizzerias anywhere above, there's a caveat worth mentioning – the 50 Top Pizza Europe awards exclude Italy, probably because there wouldn't be much point in having them otherwise, really. The Top 25 best European pizzerias do automatically make it onto the 100 Best Pizzerias in the World ranking, to be revealed in Naples on 13 September, so we'll see how they match up against the OGs then.
Congratulations to the winners, now please excuse us as we try to figure out how to become one of the 50 Top Pizza inspectors …