The Yard and a Concert in a Galaxy Far, Far Away

After my post about Zizzi, my friend Simen recommended to visit The Yard, so a few weeks back I decided to give it a try. I get to the place, after lunch time so the place was completely empty, the pizza is good, stone baked, quite similar to the rustica style of Zizzi, the difference it’s you can buy it by the yard, quarter yard, half yard, or a complete yard, sadly there is no economies of scale. I went for the mushrooms, thyme and garlic, and added pepperoni, the flavour was good, a little bit bland in my opinion or at least according to my palate. They also have a good selection of pastas and pizza bread also by the yard. Good concept, decent prices, pizzas go from 6 to 9 pounds, but still Zizzi and Story Deli are my favourite places to go for a pizza here in the rainy capital.

The Yard

Quarter Yard Mushrooms, Thyme, Garlic, and Pepperoni Pizza

Next pizza I’m trying is Kramer style like in the episode “The Couch” on Seinfeld, where Kramer and Poppie go to business together opening a place where you can make your own pizza.

Kramer: Alright, put a little sauce on here, some cheese.

Poppie: Not too much!

Kramer: And, cucumbers!

Poppie: Wait a second, what is that?

Kramer: It's cucumbers.

Poppie: No, no, you can't put cucumbers on a pizza.

Kramer: Well, why not? I like cucumbers.

Star Wars in Concert

I went to the Star Wars in Concert, the halls of the O2 arena were full with fans in costumes and props from the movies, and Anthony Daniels (C3PO) was there presenting each song. In my opinion it was a terrific show, hearing the music and watching clips from the episodes, for moments I completely forgot that I was in a concert and an orchestra was playing live the music.

Anthony Daniels

I found this video the other day, property of the American Film Institute, just awesome, Tom Hanks is saluting George Lucas on his life achievement ceremony award in 2005. just enjoy it.

George Lucas AFI Life Achievement Award (copyright AFI)

You can always count on Zizzi

I’m amazed that one of my favourite pizza in London is a restaurant chain. I have tried different places, but I’m always ending in the same pizzeria. Don’t get me wrong, there are a bunch of good places such as Franco Manca in Brixton Market a really old school Neapolitan flavours, Story Deli in Brick Lane creative out of the box thin crust just an amazing concept, Soho Pizzeria in Soho with a great atmosphere having Jazz live music every night but Sundays, Arancina in Notting Hill the best one for a take away with a mix of flavours from Rome and Sicily, and finally Italian Graffiti in Soho good flavours but they could be a little bit more generous with the toppings.

Great options, actually love them all. On the other hand big Italian restaurant chains such as Pizza Express, and Strada in my opinion just failed to execute. However, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, if you don’t want to think too much Zizzi is a great option, I’m addicted to their Pizza Rustica, big thin and crisp dough topped with great ingredients, my favourite one the Trentino (smoked ham, buffalo mozzarella, tomatoes, rocket, and grana padano cheese). The best about Zizzi is that they are everywhere, really everywhere I think they have more than 20 restaurants in London so is really easy to spot, that reminds me the Seinfeld episode “The Maid” when Karmer is lost downtown New York after he  broke up with his girlfriend.


Kramer: I think it's over, we had a big fight, she threw me out, I started walking, and now I'm lost downtown! I don't recognise anybody. I miss home, and I don't even know how to get there.

Jerry: What’s around you?

Kramer: I’m looking at Ray’s pizza. You know where that is?

Jerry: Is it Famous Ray’s?

Kramer: No, it’s just original.

Jerry: Famous ORIGINAL Ray’s?

Kramer: It’s just original, Jerry!

Jerry: Well, what street are you on?
Kramer: Hey, I'm on first and first. How can the same street intersect with itself? I must be at the nexus of the universe.
Jerry: Just wait there. I'll pick you up, and Kramer, stay alive no matter what occurs, I will find you.
Kramer: Aah!

Trentino Pizza Rustica

I do have to warn you, the pizzas are really good but I did try some of the antipasti (bruschetta, calamari, and tricolore) and didn’t convince me at all, so my suggestion is to stick with the pizza and stay away from the antipasti. Also be prepared to pay between 16 and 20 quids for a pizza rustica and a peroni gran riserva.

Antipasti: Calamari