Little Pizza Kitchen up for big one

PLANNING a visit to those Antony Gormley statues this month? Unless you are made of iron, you had better wrap up well on that Crosby/Waterloo beach.

But there's one warming reason to stick around afterwards: The Little Pizza Kitchen.

Top city chef Alex Lawless's small but perfectly formed restaurant in St John's Road, Waterloo, serves some of the the best pizzas in Liverpool, and we have often told you this.

But don't take just our word for it. The 28-cover venue was the NATION'S BEST small independent pizza restaurant in 2009, according to the national Pizza, Pasta and Italian Food Association.

But why rest on your mozzarella laurels? This year's awards, to be held next Thursday in London, will see LPK up for the bigger, more ambitious Pizza Restaurant of the Year title, beating off a record number of entries, say organisers.

The tiny pizzeria, which serves some fantastic rustic Italian and British dishes too, will fight the might of San Carlo in Manchester, the swanky Rocket chain in London, along with several Scottish and south of England wannabes.

Meanwhile, the restaurant's mushroom pizza, with roasted squash, Gorgonzola, pine nuts and rocket, has also been selected as a finalist in the Pizza Designer Awards 2010, to be announced on the same night at a gala dinner of, we assume, pizza.

Alex says: “I am obviously delighted that we have done so well, and to come this far for a second year running is a fantastic endorsement of the skills of Lee Stevens and Jamie Farrell who work the ovens.”

This sort of stuff isn't as easy as you might think.

Alex explains: “We only use tipo‘00’ flour, extra virgin olive oil and sea salt in our doughs. Not only does it taste better but it's healthier too. The base sauce is slowly cooked for a minimum of four hours and we use fresh herbs to help maximise flavour.”

It's not just us at Liverpool Confidential who put the Little Pizza Kitchen on their hotlist: the entire kitchen team at rather bigger and swishier Panoramic restaurant had their post-Christmas do in there this year.

Given the size of the place, sardines were not just on the menu, but on the list of party games.

For the money saving visitor, Little Pizza Kitchen has also got a superb limited-time burger-and-a-beer deal for Liverpool Confidential readers here and, from Tuesday November 9, will be trialling a delivery service of its pizzas (typically £8.75 for a big one) in the local area.

Forget the people - even the Canada geese on that beach are feeling peckish.

Little Pizza Kitchen
44 Saint John’s Road,
Waterloo,
Liverpool
L22 9QG
Tel:0151 286 1299

Opening times:
Tuesday – Saturday: 4pm – 10pm
Sunday: 3pm – 10pm