London: Leadenhall Market - History or Pizza or Both

I was recently invited to try out the Pizza Express in London's Leadenhall Market in the East End.  The event was a pizza making evening with a group of bloggers and we made great tasting individually personalised pizzas.  I was really happy with the final result of my pizza

and along with delicious and famous dough balls

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for starters and a glass or two of chilled Prosecco had a really fun evening.

Pizza Express was first started in Soho in London's West End in 1965 on Wardour Street.  Founder Peter Boizot never realised how popular this endeavor would be and I am sure he never envisioned one of his restaurants being in the historic heart of the East End of London - Leadenhall Market.

From the outside the Pizza Express looks warm and cosy but doesn't look like there is a lot of dining space however downstairs they can seat 125-130 people (covers) in the recently renovated basement area. The space is spacious with lots of little areas that can be quite private if you wish. If the weather permits there is also seating for another 22 outside.

Parties are well catered for and there are sofas and booths to give a new cosier atmosphere.

The renovations were carried out with extreme simplicity and care.  The building is a Grade II listed building which means no structural alterations can be made and anything done must be done with utmost care. In many cases removing old lighting and repositioning it highlighted the beautiful brick arches.

The walls have photos and memorabilia from the days when Leadenhall Market was a poultry and meat market as the photo below shows rows of turkeys and chickens hanging up for sale.

On the ground floor there is a beautiful wrought iron spiral staircase which leads upstairs to a private meeting area perfect for a lunchtime business meeting!

The spiral staircase is quite narrow however due to the Grade II listing they cannot change it so they keep this space for the meeting room.

Looking down stairs from the open wrought iron railing the decorations are simple but inviting you to keep looking around.

I love to be a fly on the wall looking at fellow diners and wondering who they are, what their relationships are and why they are here the same time as myself!

Around every corner there is something to catch the eye, something to make you stop and spend a moment or two to enjoy.

Leadenhall Market has a lot of history - owned and managed by the City of London Corporation since 1411 and was an important market to many of the East End residents.  Although originally a Roman settlement it wasn't until 1411 that Dick Whittington (remember Puss in Boots!) acquired the lease of the building quickly leading it to become a major meat and fish market.

After parts of the market were destroyed by the Great Fire of London in 1666 along with much of the city it was quickly re-built. In 1881 the stone structure buildings were replaced with wrought iron and glass and given the Grade II listed status it still holds today.

Today Leadenhall Market is a popular and modern retail centre - Pizza Express opened it's doors there in 2001.  Original features of the meat and poultry market can be seen outside the restaurant.  Samuel Pepys, who also frequented the market area said "When a man is tired of London he is tired of life." This is how I feel about London these days and I really appreciate the chance to discover these areas and facts around them.

I was invited to review the Pizza Express at Leadenhall Market. I was not required to write a positive review.  As usual all opinions and photographs are my own.  No photographs may be reproduced in any form without my written permission.

My friend and fellow blogger Nayna from Simply F00D was with me at the event.  Read what she thought of it by clicking here!

Pizza Express Live - Coming to High Holborn Soon

Imagine a Friday or Saturday evening - you want to go to your local Pizza Express for pizza and a few drinks, listen to the background music and then either go on somewhere else or make your way home.  What if that could change?

Let me start by telling you about the pizza making evening I was invited to at Pizza Express at the High Holborn branch.  Easy to reach from the Central Line Underground Station, a few hundred metres from the entrance (99 High Holborn actually). This branch has recently undergone a refurbishment and the downstairs has had a complete makeover including comfortable upholstered seating and bespoke artwork - keep reading to find out all about that.

Most branches of Pizza Express offer pizza making parties especially popular with children but also great for office team building, hen parties and in this case a group of bloggers. I recently wrote about my granddaughter's birthday party at a Pizza Express - you can read it by clicking here.

It's always fun when you are with a group of bloggers - as food is put on the table all the phones and cameras come out and no one touches anything until we have all taken our photos.

There were ten of us and after a few glasses of Prosecco, olives and the famous pizza dough balls

we put on our aprons and seriously stylish hats and started to learn the basics of pizza making.

Let the pizza making begin!

Ready to do the toppings.

Now to bake

and finally eat our creations.

After our creations were made and eaten we went downstairs to see the new venture! It's called Pizza Express Live.

This is the latest one in a series of innovative space changes in the Pizza Express family.  The Pizza Express Live Holborn will open early September.  You will be able to book a table for a great night of comedy live and a great selection of live music acts (in fact every kind of music except jazz as this is the specialty of Pizza Express Jazz Club Soho) and once seated at your table the full Pizza Express menu and drinks menu will be available so you can sit back and enjoy the evening.

Sit around the stage

or take a table, enjoy the entertainment, food and your companion(s) company.

The bar is fully stocked

The sound system is state of the art producing a crisp and clear sound to ensure you don't miss a beat or a joke!

I will certainly be taking Mr R to Central London as soon as we know the list of performers and can book tickets.  What could be better than entertainment, pizza and prosecco?  Will you give it a try?

I was a guest of Pizza Express and was not required to write a positive report of my evening.  As usual all opinions are my own as well as photographs.  No photographs may be reproduced in any way without my express written permission.

A Birthday Party at Pizza Express

My granddaughter (Little Miss) recently turned nine years old.  Where did the time go? I remember being handed a little 5lb12oz pink bundle and suddenly she is fast growing into a gorgeous young lady!!

Little Miss's mother is a Manager at Pizza Express in Milton Keynes at the Hub. Pizza Express do birthday parties for children where they get to make their own pizza, have it cooked then sit down to eat it.

Little Miss invited several of her friends as well has her two cousins, Big and Small and her step sister and two step brothers.

Sitting next to her best friend from school is a very happy young lady.!

All the ingredients are ready and the dough has risen ready for pizza making.

A quick lesson from Mum how to treat your dough to get it ready to toss in the air.

"Look kids, this is how you toss a pizza". They all thought that was great fun!

Small is certainly having fun.

"Ta-Dah" as Big presents his dough ready for the tomato sauce.

Little Miss gets shown how to spread the sauce by her mum.

"Look Nanny I made a pizza" chirped Small.

Pizzas all cooked and time to settle down and eat their creations.

Time for the birthday girl to blow out her candles.

And a final dish of ice cream before all making our way home, the children clutching the pizza that they couldn't eat there.

If you have 'Little People' and are looking for an alternative birthday party give Pizza Express a thought.

I did not receive anything from Pizza Express and was not required to write a post about the party.  As usual all opinions and photos are my own.  No photos can be reproduced without my written permission.

Review: Pizza Express Winter Menu

I always love having a meal at my local Pizza Express. Pizza Express opened it's first restaurant in 1965 in London's Soho and have not changed their menu much whilst at the same time have kept it up to date and interesting.

The current menu includes the classics and has several new items added.

I went with Mr R for a quiet Saturday evening out together, something which doesn't happen often due to my hectic schedule.

For starters Mr R had the new Risotto Mio, lovely and creamy with mushrooms and a drizzle of truffle oil.

I had the new Calamari, rings of really tender squid covered in breadcrumbs and served with a Caesar dressing.  I almost expected to find an onion ring inside as I am used to calamari coming in chunks.

Mr R had the new Soho pizza designed to celebrate the original menu of 1965 and opted for the extra selection of cured meats. He picked the classic base not being that fond of the really thin pizza bases.

I wanted to have a new item but the Pizza Express Calzone is my all time favourite and I am afraid that I had to have one of those.

Calzone means pocket in Italian and this is a pizza that looks like an over sized pasty filled with tomato, salami, spinach, cheese and herbs. Mmmm, delicious as usual and far to big to finish so I have half of it to take home.

Mr R ordered the new mini potatoes from the menu and because it took a bit longer than the manager liked he brought us over a huge piece of mozzarella cheese covered in pesto and sweet mini tomatoes.

The Noci potatoes followed shortly and Mr R also called the Potato Monster got stuck in.

Dessert time and neither of us wanted a really heavy pudding.  The two new additions to the dessert menu were perfect.

Bombolini - little doughnut bites filled with strawberry jam surrounding a dollop of vanilla bean ice cream.

Salted Caramel Profiteroles - just three little filled profiteroles dipped in a caramel icing with little bits of honeycomb accompanied by a cafe late - the prefect way to end the meal and the evening.

All the while our waiter, Fabrizio looked after us perfectly, not ignoring us nor being too pushy and recommending his favourites as well.

We slowly waddled our way back to the car park feeling full and satisfied.

We were guests of Pizza Express and as usual all opinions and photos are our own.