World-Famous Naples Pizzeria Brings Its Chewy, Saucy Margherita to Soho

L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele, the Naples pizzeria that became a worldwide phenomenon after its appearance in Eat Pray Love, will open a new restaurant in London. It replaces the original Patisserie Valerie on Old Compton Street in Soho, which opened in 1987 and closed this year after the company’s financial collapse. Chef Victor Garvey, of Rambla in Soho, posted an image of the restaurant’s sign on Twitter.

L’Antica Pizzeria has a second site on London’s Baker Street, and had another in Stoke Newington — that site was renamed to Pizzeria Stokey, and then Vicoli di Napoli Pizzeria, after a protracted licensing battle between Da Michele’s licensing company, Michele in the World, and the franchisees.

Writing in Eater London’s guide to the city’s best pizza, Daniel Young says of Da Michele:

For the classic margherita, the tomato and mozzarella is the same as in Naples and so is the famous stretch: Pulled and pinched over a wooden paddle, the base becomes so thin you can practically see through it. A minute in the oven for a charred, misshapen pizza too big for its plate or its box. This rustic randomness is the essence of the Da Michele experience.

There is no timeline for the opening as yet: L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele announced the news by grafting John Lennon on to its branding. Big behaviour. More soon.