In this week’s Supper Club restaurant review, Tim Christian tells you to believe the hype about this Neapolitan pizza joint in the heart of Blackpool – and gives us a science lesson while he’s at it.
I’m not a believer in divine providence, or the weave of fate, or any manner of predestination, but sometimes events align in such a manner that you must grasp the opportunity with both hands. This is especially true if that means each hand ends up with a pizza in it.
Most Blackpool residents have likely heard of Stefani’s but, for those who haven’t, Stefani’s is a small, family-run pizzeria located in St John’s Square that has become something of an epicentre of good food in the town. Owner Nico is no stranger to good food. He grew up with it, and learnt his craft under his grandfather Pepe, slinging pizzas at a seafront takeaway here in Blackpool. Nico brings the same traditional techniques Pepe taught him (and which he honed after travelling to Naples himself) to offer a range of pizzas made with authentic Napoli-sourced ingredients and cooked in a traditional wood-fired pizza oven (the much beloved Gigi, familiar to those who follow their instagram account).
A sign outside proudly announces to the passer-by that Stefani’s was included in a list of top 50 pizzas in Europe – an impressive claim – so I have often walked by and made a note to see just how good this pizza is.
One weeknight, after selling a couple of games on Facebook (Dark Souls: Remastered and the double bill of Planescape Torment and Icewind Dale for the Switch, if you’re curious) I was making my regular rounds on Instagram and saw not only that Stefani’s had a BOGOF offer on their pizzas. They had also started doing a salt and pepper chicken pizza, AND were doing a vegan version. I simply could not control my appetite/curiousity.
I decided to buy to take away, but still drove into town to collect and once again (again, again, again) reflected on the burgeoning potential of the area for a real and exciting bounty of independent and exciting eating places.
Stefani’s is a very cozy little place, with a fairly traditional but slightly tongue-in-cheek Italian decor. On another occasion I would definitely like to come and enjoy the atmosphere inside and make a proper evening of it.
I ordered the vegan salt and pepper chicken pizza and the pizza Napoli (what else!) with olives, capers and anchovies. The size of Stefani’s means the customer gets to see Gigi in action. I love watching pizza being made and cooked in a proper pizza oven and before too long (very quickly, in fact) I had two steaming hot and phenomenally good looking pizzas ready and waiting for me to carry back to the car and off home.
They had taken several of their staff out to Italy for an inspirational exploration of pizza culture/fact-finding mission and applied that to some of the recipes they then sold in the pizzeria. I have a tremendous respect for that.
By this point I was practically sick with hunger and simply could not wait until I got home to try these pizzas out. Getting back to the car I cracked open both the steaming pizza boxes to try a slice of each, and god I was hoping they tasted as good as they looked.
I’ve long been of the opinion that the key to a truly excellent pizza is the base. Obviously the toppings are important, but too often they take centre stage and you have to put up with bland, bready and uninspiring bases. Not so for Stefani’s pizzas. The base is – quite frankly – exquisite. There really is no substitute for fresh dough and a proper oven, with Gigi imparting that special something via the magic of the Maillard reaction.
The what now?
Oh yes, it’s time for some science. The Maillard reaction is the process which imparts an extra level of flavour onto some foods. Long story short, it’s the browning effect that you see on seared meat, melted cheese or on the crust of bread as a result of proteins or amino acids chemically reacting with carbohydrates or reducing sugars. This reaction is accelerated and extended by applying heat and adds that special something to the food it affects. See those darkened patches on the pizza crust? That’s Maillard, and that’s what makes it particularly delicious. Apply too much heat, or for too long, and it simply becomes burned, but get it right and the result is fantastic, and that’s the skill of a good pizza chef (or indeed any chef), hitting that perfect sweet spot. Anyway, enough of that and back to the food.
I genuinely couldn’t tell you which of the pizzas I enjoyed the most, the Napoli had the perfect balance of the salt of the anchovies (not to everyone’s taste, but I love them) with the sharpness of the capers and depth of flavour from the olives, and all with that crispy, chewy moreish base. The salt and pepper pizza I honestly wouldn’t have realised was a vegan version if I didn’t know in advance. The tangy spice was perfectly balanced and didn’t overwhelm or create a weird mix of clashing flavours as fusing cuisines can sometimes do. I alternated slices because I could not pick a favourite and could probably have polished off both pizzas in one sitting had I set my mind to it. They were both so good (I didn’t, because I’m a good boy… mostly). They were, however, just as delicious to come back to later as leftovers
So, did Stefani’s live up to the hype? I would say yes, quite possibly the best pizza in Blackpool (I haven’t tried them all… yet), and a testament to the obvious love of the craft that the owners have. Just a quick side note on that subject here: I saw on their Instagram that they had taken several of their staff out to Italy for an inspirational exploration of pizza culture/fact-finding mission and applied that to some of the recipes they then sold in the pizzeria. I have a tremendous respect for that. How many other food outlets would do that for their staff? Excellent stuff. Get yourself down to Stefani’s and get some pizza in you.
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