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!

Grenada: Making Pizza at Vendome RC School

Last year I visited Vendome RC School in Grenada for the second time bringing them second hand books for their library which had  been donated by my local friends.  As I have already told you about the school (click here for the post) some of the children will not eat from school lunch one day until school lunch the following day!

I had asked the Head Teacher if I could cook something with the older children when I returned the following year.  She was all for it and asked if I could make pizza as even though there is a Pizza Hut in the capital St Georges most of these children would never have the chance to sample this.  Sure I said, pizza it will be!!

So fast forward to our visit this year to Grenada for the 4th Annual Grenada Chocolate Festival.  We (Mr R and myself) were staying after the festival finished and to coincide with the arrival of a barrel of books and other school supplied that we had sent from the UK we arrived at the school with plans to empty the barrel and then to make some pizza.

The pupils from the 6th Grade/Year 6 were really excited to help open the barrel - you would have thought it was Christmas!

Mr R had all he could do to empty the barrel in an orderly manner!

Whilst still at home I tried to think of all the equipment we could possibly need such as bowls, pizza pans, mini muffin pans, rolling pins etc. Not being sure where I could get these things I brought them with me. I got the first group of children mixing the dough and kneading it.

There was cheese to grate,

dough to kneed,

ham to chop

We made flat pizzas

and mini pizzas - the kids loved filling the little holes with the pizza dough

then filling them in.

The children had such a good time, there were smiles and laughter all around.

A very successful pizza making party if ever there was one and with plenty to go around!

I am planning to return to the school next year with more supplies for the library and a cooking class.  I haven't decided what I will make but I am sure the children will have fun.

True Blue Bay Resort have written an interview with me about my trips to Grenada and my work with the Vendome RC School. Click here if you want to read it.

This was not a sponsored post in any way. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions are my own.  Photographs are either my own or Arthur Daniel Photography - no photos may be reproduced in any manner without my written permission.

Please leave a comment below, I love reading them.

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.