The idea of making my way across London to Pentonville Road on an early wintry Sunday evening really did not appeal to me, but we had arranged to meet up a couple of weeks earlier so I did not feel like pulling out. And I am glad I didn’t! Myself and a few fellow bloggers had been invited to try Sicilian owned Vigata pizzeria, a few minutes’ walk from King’s Cross station. I admit I had my doubts: Sicily isn’t renowned for pizzas and King’s Cross isn’t a place I usually go for dinner. Yet owner Salvo made us feel very welcome from the moment we sat down.
He served us my second ever (yeah, I know..) Aperol Spritz (which was actually better than the first one) and brought some plentiful looking sharing platters which included marinated artichokes, mozzarella, porchetta (but not the roman one, Salvo pointed out) and other good quality cold cuts. We also tried some fried calamari.
While savouring the starters, we ordered pizzas to share. A Margherita, a pizza with funghi, and one with both ‘nduja and salame. The pizzas were, surprisingly (I have been called a pizza snob, but I am neapolitan after all!) pretty good. The dough was soft, chewy and salted to the right level. The pizzas were well cooked, and the toppings of good standard. The pizza with ‘nduja and salame was my favourite one, with hot kick of the spicy calabrian soft sausage not too powerful, and complemented by the harder texture of the salame.
Salvo stopped by to chat to us quite often and he’s a character for sure, but clearly passionate about the food he produces and very friendly. We also tried the ‘Vigata bun’, a bun similar to the Italian rosetta which he bakes and uses for the Vigata burgers. We did not try the burgers, but are apparently another key item on Vigata’s menu.
We ended the meal with a decent Tiramisu’ and a couple of ‘ciccio’: a pizza donut filled with either chocolate sauce or chocolate and bananas. I personally don’t really like pizza dough with sweet fillings, although it seems to be all the rage. Not that I did not enjoy eating it, but these doughy puds remind me too much of my time at high school when we used to sneak out to the elettroforno Catania to buy fresh bread rolls and Kinder Cereali. A mid morning school snack, nothing more. Yet Vigata’s Ciccios are good, because their pizza dough is good.
Salvo also poured us each a shot of limoncello of course.
Our meal at Vigata was a lot of fun and got us to enjoy some very good food and I would definitely recommend if you are in the area. I might even think of crossing London again soon!
Thanks @Wilkes888, @theDailyOut @MissJordi and @Ge0rgygirl for the company.
Salvo wanted us to be his guests, however we felt he had been so generous we left what we deemed a generous ‘tip’.
***THIS RESTAURANT HAS SINCE CLOSED DOWN***
