Pizza Profile: Tavola Brings the Milanese Style with Their Pizzas

With voting in the first round of the Beijinger's 2015 Pizza Cup open through this weekend (vote here!), we continue our Pizza Profile series introducing some of Beijing's best pies. Today we hear from Mauro Portaluppi, executive chef at Tavola:

How long have you plied the trade?
I have been an executive chef more than 10 years throughout Italy. But, in total, I've worked 25 years in the kitchen. I'm from Milan, and I've been in Beijing for seven months. I also worked in Kenya and Uganda before that.

What's your style/pizza philosophy?
Last Sunday I had pizza at another "Italian" restaurant in Beijing. I'm Italian, and I know enough not to eat at that restaurant again [laughs]. Here, we make real Italian pizza. We have a wood-fired oven, which gives the pizza a special smokey taste. Many Italian restaurants in China say they have a wood-fired oven, but it's really just a gas stove. We have a real wood-fired oven that uses real apricot tree wood.

In a market crowded with over 100 different pizza shops, what do you do to stand out?
We use typical Italian flour, imported from Italy. We use canned tomato imported from Italy, the same as what is used in many restaurants there. And we dress our pizzas with with oil, salt, pepper and oregano, just like in Italy.

Which of your pizzas is the most popular?
It depends on taste. You may see a woman and like her, and she might not be right for me [laughs]. It depends on you like. A lot of people like our diavola. It depends on the day, sometimes at lunch we will sell ten types of pizzas and one of the other, then another day kids will come and eat many others. The rustica is very popular, but personally I don't like truffle. My favorite is margherita – when you go to a pizza place you should always try the margherita to understand what they are doing.

Neapolitan, New York Style, Sicilian, Chicago style, Roman, Californian ... what's your style?
Milan style.

Thick vs Thin: What's your take?
Not too thick, but not too thin – in the middle, it's nice. The higher, thicker style is more Naples style. In Italy, you can go to one restaurant and then go to another 30km down the road, and the pizzas will be completely different.

What kind of cheese do you use?
Buffalo mozzarella.

Tell us about your standard pizza:
Name: Margherita.
Thick/Thin crust: Medium.
Type of sauce: Tomato.
Type of cheese: Buffalo mozzarella.
Price: One size, 40cm for RMB 98.
 

Tell us about one of your more unique pizzas:
Name: Rustica.
Thick/Thin crust: Medium.
Type of sauce: Tomato.
Type of cheese: Buffalo mozzarella.
Additional toppings: Porcini mushrooms, truffle, parma ham and honey glaze.
What else makes it special? The honey is just a pinch, just enough for you to taste it, but not too much to make it too sweet.
Price: One size, 40cm for RMB 148.

Hungry for more? Check out more than a dozen profiles of some of Beijing's best pizza here.

Photos: Tavola