Handmade is the Mantra with The Rug's Pizza Creations

With voting in the Sweet 16 now under way in our 2015 Pizza Cup (click here to cast your opinion), we continue our Pizza Profile series introducing some of Beijing's best pies.

Today we talk to Gordon Chan, manager of The Rug, last year's champion of the Upscale Pizza division that unfortunately did not make it out of the second round in this year's voting. That's not to say they don't sling a great pie: in fact, they have a selection of some of the most unique and tasty pizzas in Beijing. Read on to find out more:

How long have you plied the trade?
Five years.

What's your style/pizza philosophy?   
We like to think outside the box, hoping to bring interesting new tastes for our customers to explore and enjoy.

In a market crowded with over 100 different pizza shops, what do you do to stand out? 
Creating new and interesting tastes for our customers, and at the same time using fresh and organic ingredients to add value to our dishes. All of our dough, tomato sauce, and other ingredients are handmade with local ingredients. For the most part, we think: "If it's something we can't do ourselves, we won't serve it to our customers."

Take our baked zucchini and calamari ink fish black pizza: we buy fresh ink fish and our chefs squeeze out the ink by hand. Plenty of vendors have approached us, trying to sell processed fish ink for this pizza, trying to tell us it's more efficient. But usually ingredients like that have all kinds of additives and chemicals in them. So we always try to do these things ourselves.

What would you say your style is?
We believe we are more of the Californian style: thin crust with many toppings inspired by California cuisine.

Thick vs Thin: What's your take?  
Thin.

What's the secret to your sauce?
Handmade with local, fresh tomatoes.  

What kind(s) of cheese do you use and why?
We use mozzarella cheese mostly. But for some more of the creative pizzas we have tried mascarpone for sweet pizza, and jack cheese with a jalapeño based pizza.
 

Tell us about your basic pizza.
Its name: Margherita.
Thick or thin crust? Thin crust.
Type of sauce: Fresh tomato sauce.
Type(s) of cheese: Mozzarella cheese based. We drizzle with some very fine extra virgin olive oil on top adding more rich taste to it!
Additional toppings: Fresh cherry tomatoes and basil.
What sizes does it come in? We do one size, 12-inch for RMB 58.
 

Tell us about your most unique pizza
Its name: Baked zucchini and calamari ink fish black pizza.
Thick or thin crust? Thin crust.
Type(s) of cheese: Mozzarella.
What makes it special: The sauce uses fresh fish ink, giving the pizza a unique, charcoal like color. Fresh ink fish sauce goes well with the zucchini and calamari, creating a unique taste. And, of course, we finish with an extra heaping of virgin olive oil at the end.
What sizes does it come in? One size,12-inch for RMB 148.

Hungry for more? Check out pizza specials around town and compare and contrast some of Beijing's best pizzas in our ongoing Pizza Profiles series.

Photos courtesy of The Rug