London might have reached peak pizza, but that doesn’t seem to have deterred self-proclaimed pizza entrepreneur Ed Sandeman, who just opened Made of Dough with two co-founder friends in southeast London.
The trio met at Catholic boarding school, which might explain the Virgin Mary emblazoned on boxes and walls by local tattoo artist Carina Roma, and went on to found Made of Dough in 2014, touring their lean, sixty-hour fermentation method around the country at festivals, and serving out of a shipping container in Brixton, before ending up on Peckham’s ritziest street, Bellenden Road.
Fifty covers are spread over one floor with an open wood fire oven, chefs table, cocktail bar and both front and back outdoor areas– perfect for sipping one of their Amalfi Lemon Bellinis, or ending the night on a sugar high with a gelato milkshake.
The boys might be entering a saturated craft pizza market – the capital even has its own festival dedicated to the popular Italian staple – but no one can say they’re underprepared. Along with their years of experience they have roots in Campania and Andalucía, and seem to have worked out the winning formula; great produce sourced locally – in Peckham they use award-winning butchers Flock and Herd located a few doors down – affable staff, a hip fit-out by Run for the Hills that includes neon signage, chalk-board walls and brass, and a genuinely relaxed atmosphere.
It is another one of those no-bookings spots, and it is in Peckham – a neighbourhood going through something of a cultural renaissance – so you might have to queue, but rest assured that you’re in for one of the capital’s best examples of that much-loved dinner made of dough.
