Three Colts Tavern ‘Like Italy and New York have made sweet love’

I believe it was Aristotle who once said: “A day with pizza is a better day.”

I concur wholeheartedly.

However, how does one differentiate between the many pop-ups now hawking Italy’s finest export around London?

Don’t worry, I won’t bore you with food-nerd jargon about heritage grains, leopard spotting (the burnt bits), and cooking temperatures.

What really sets Short Road Pizza apart is its heart. Yes, that gooey centre of your margarita or mortadella can actually be a force for good in the world and warm not just your stomach, but a bit further up.

Let me introduce marketing manager-turned-chef, Ugo, and illustrator wife Kate.

The pair staved off lockdown insanity in a much more productive way than just downing wine and crying (like some of us).

They started a free pizza delivery service from their home on Short Road in Leytonstone – hence the name of their new restaurant.

Throughout those dark, pandemic days, Ugo and Kate raised over £1,000 for Eat or Heat, their local food bank.

Now what was once a charity gig has become their main hustle, and it’s easy to see why.

Ugo’s Italian heritage runs deep, with his grandfather running a pizzeria in the motherland. Throw in a career in food PR and Kate’s graphic design prowess and you get an offering that looks like a streetwear brand and pizzas that taste like northern Italy and New York have made sweet love on your plate (not my most savoury metaphor, granted).

There is a concerted effort in their current home, the much-loved Three Colts Tavern, to pull away from the rest of the dough-slinging purveyors of East London.

They provide (shock horror) things other than pizza in a direction that leans towards small plates.

A selection of pickles and glistening green olives arrive in silver ramekins.

Crispy Sicilian potatoes lay scattered on a silver platter with an alluringly cheesy, carby scent, along with a garlic dip that slaps our mouths for insolence.

Gildas (Basque pintxo) are available, and on the weekends, you can have burrata, farinata, house focaccia, Napoli potato pie or a range of salads.

You could craft a whole meal without even getting to the pizza section, though why you would is a mystery to me.

Although Short Road claims to “rewrite the rules of pizza”, it’s probably fairer to say “edit”.

These Napoli-style pizzas with a Roman twist and American affectations are very good.

A Dorito-orange Cowabunga is named after the Ninja Turtles and, helpfully, 90s classics loop on a tiny TV next to the open kitchen slot. Here, nduja béchamel joins meaty picante, pepperoni and fior di latte mozzarella and pecorino romano, as we tiptoe between spice and cheese.

The Marinara is more classical, and all the better for it. Green dollops of chimichurri (also provided as a dip) create little mounds of mulch peppering the expanse of heartening tomato base, with the possibility of adding anchovies or burrata for an injection of salt.

Cacio e pepe is the pale base babe, with lemon zest, black pepper and pecorino romano cream in an alluring circle. It’s a velvety dream that is munched and crunched quickly.

Viva las vegan (smoked carrot base, pomegranate and sumac) and the chef’s special, the Rossini (hard-boiled eggs), are the more out-there options.

Dips are all important and Ugo and the team don’t drop the ball.

A hot honey nduja (a bit of sweet) makes me want to cry when finished. Garlic and herb is also a fan favourite, and there is white chilli oil for those wanting even more slip-and-slide on their already dripping slices.

The most expensive thing on the menu is £16, making Short Road a fairly cost-effective evening out.

It again pulls ahead of its competitors with more than one dessert option. Okay, there are only two in total, but they aren’t mucking about.

The first is certainly the best Basque cheesecake I have had in years, and my guest and I love cheesecake like the Golden Girls. It has lime zest with a dusting of salt, and has been blazed in the pizza oven’s inferno, blackened and buckled on the top.

Alongside it is a tiramisu, chocolate-led and the perfect wake-up call after all that oil and cheese.

Running a restaurant for charity during a global pandemic is one thing, but following in your family’s footsteps and making it a reality is quite another.

The fact that the Short Road team is showing signs of expanding beyond their flatbread beginning is extra exciting, and I can’t wait to see where it takes them.

We over-ordered (at Ugo’s bidding), but while whirlwinding out of the door, we left our takeaway boxes, only realising on the tube home. It’s possibly the saddest thing to happen to me so far this year.

The box of steaming, delicious disks will haunt me for the rest of my life, but at least it gives me a reason to return, and return I will.

Slam your face into these pies, book a table HERE!