Destination pizza… Massimo’s Pizza Club

With at least three pizza joints for every kilometre squared, we are pretty spoiled for choice when it comes to this world wide food phenomenon. So it’s not often that people will find a good enough reason to travel very far for a pizza. I have however found a restaurant in Hout Bay where the pizza is 100% worth the drive out there. The pizza selection is different to any I have experienced before (and I’ve eaten a lot of pizza).

I was invited to join a twitter event there a few weeks ago, where we got to taste an extensive selection of pizza and salads and I was thoroughly impressed, already looking forward to visiting them again for a more relaxed and leisurely meal. So when Adam and I were discussing what to do for our anniversary this Sunday, Massimo’s was my first suggestion. We combined the excursion with a bit of mushroom hunting in the Hout Bay forest (with zero success sadly) and arrived at Massimo’s afterwards for a late lunch.

We were seated at a sublime table at a window overlooking a dreamy, hazy Hout Bay. There was sun flooding onto our table and I had a bird’s eye view into the pizza oven. Sadly my camera seems to have gone on the frizz, so the photos are not a patch on the real thing, but they are all I have… (very sad face).

It was a serious struggle to decide on what to order as everything sounds so intriguing and unlike your regular pizzeria fare. I eventually settled on a pizza with no tomato base, which seems to be one of their trademarks, with mozzarella, smoked cheese, garlic butter and pan fried mushrooms. It was a perfect balance of smoky, herby and savoury flavours. The pizza base is also just that bit different. They puff up a bit in places and cause one to get a combination of textures between chewy, crisp and slightly burned (but in a good way).

When you see the owner of the restaurant, Massimo (naturally), personally doing the baking and finishing touches to each pizza, you know that this is more than a restaurant, it is someone’s passion – and pizza made with passion just tastes better!

There is care and authenticity in every part of this restaurant. The staff seem genuinely to care about their guests and they seem excited to be working with Massimo and all he creates.

We ended our meal with an array of little delights from perfectly made espresso, a selection of homemade chocolate liquors served in chocolate cups (YUM!), grappa and these insane orange liquor infused sugar cubes which you light to caramelise them a little and pop into your mouth for a taste explosion.

What a fantastic way to celebrate our special day… we can’t wait to go back again! Next time we want to get a group together to do ‘the pizza feast’ where Massimo will make a selection of his most popular pizzas and feed you until can feed no more! Sounds like heaven!