With a mission to deliver the truly authentic taste of an Italian pizzeria, Pizzeria GG procures the majority of its tools and ingredients directly from Italy under the watchful eye of the proprietor Mr. Kawano.
Pizzeria GG has two restaurants, the original one located in the busy west side community of Kichijoji just steps away from their famous Inokashira Park. This restaurant has a cozy basement atmosphere with marble tabletops, circular walls and an outside staircase letting in enough daylight to make it feel airy. Their newest flagship branch is located in the iconic tourist spot of Kamakura famous for its historic Buddhist temples. The large open modern layout at this restaurant allows lots of natural daylight to make the place feels contemporary and spacious overlooking an open kitchen.
There are many kinds of pizza in the world, same as there are many types of bread loaf. Pizzeria GG strive for the true Neapolitan style made from an almost fluid dough which can only be handled rapidly with skill. Once that magical mix is topped with authentic Italian flavours it hits the oven’s sizzling floor and almost explodes into a pale chewy delight etched with a beautiful ashy charring which intensifies the flavour.
The oven was hand-built on-site in Tokyo by Italian craftsmen with the history of five generations. The oven building materials are sourced for efficiency; walls retaining the heat generated by the wood for many hours. Surprisingly, the oven cooking floor itself is made from special soil from Salerno. The mortar bonding the ornate arched brickwork is made from sand directly from the infamous volcano Mount Vesuvius. This is the ‘Rolls-Royce of ovens’ designed to give fast uniform heat with the wood lending it’s characteristic perfumed smoke scent to the food. At peak oven heat a pizza can be cooked in around 90 seconds!
All the classics are served, Margherita, Capricciosa, Romano, Marinara plus a whole host of others. Italian pizza has a unique philosophy that is not topping heavy but the ingredients scattered on it are intense flavour explosions. Pizzeria GG use high quality produce; intense cheeses, piccante salami and olives which taste rich and deli-like. We tried the classic Cappiciossa (JPY1450) (translated as Capricious, because of its many toppings or 'moods') also the Diavolo (JPY1250) (Devil) due to its fiery Salami which we also drizzled with GG’s own chilli oil which delivers a delayed ‘karai' kick (so be careful).
If you are yearning for an Italian foodie vacation or maybe you're a Gaijin overdosed on Ramen, Sushi, Tonkatsu, Yakiniku, Yakitori, then this is certainly a great local antidote and money very well spent.
Due to the interesting location of both of Pizzeria GG's restaurants you can even combine a good day out with a guaranteed good meal. Bon Apetito!
