Newly-Opened Pizza Factory Entices Patrons with Customizable Pies and a Juice Bar

Even though Gabriele Montevecchio has called his new restaurant Pizza Factory, the Prosper Center venue’s true goodies only begin with its pies.

Sure, the new Guomao eatery opened by Montevecchio – who has spent the past two decades managing F&B departments for numerous luxury hotels across China – features top notch ‘za, thanks to its thin crust, made from authentic coarse semolina flour imported straight from Italy, and its 48-hour fermented dough. And yes, the ingredients on offer include buffalo mozzarella, provolone and pecorino cheeses, along with truffle, fresh tuna, salami, and many more, all of which can be custom-selected at the counter so that each patron’s pizza is tailormade. Better still: that counter is adjacent to an open kitchen, where clientele can see dough being flattened in an instant by a mechanized roller. After the rolling and sprinkling of customized ingredients, the pies are slid from wooden paddles into a massive Wood Stone oven, whose temperature reaches 350 degrees Celsius, unleashing furnace-like flames that make the cheese and dough bubble up before settling back down to a tantalizing sizzle. Even the prices are enticing, with a 22cm personalized pie only costing RMB 38,while the 33cm version costs RMB 48 and a large 40cm pizza is priced at RMB 68.

Fantastic as that customizable pizza counter is, what’s all the more impressive is the restaurant’s juice bar. That beverage treasury features organic wheat grass that will soon be grown in troughs on the counter, which the staff slice off and juice before the customers’ eyes. The station’s other ingredients include brown rice powder, Moroccan clay, organic muesli and other such ingredients that customers can use to personalize home made yogurt smoothies or juices (priced at RMB 28-48, depending on the sizes and ingredients ordered).

“The ingredients in these juices are good for your PH levels, which will fight off cancer,” Montevecchio says, adding that he strives for across-the-board healthiness by sourcing numerous organic and gluten free ingredients from Ugdao, one of China’s leading organic farms. That sentiment carries over to his pies, which skew the greasiness of many pizzerias in favor of a crispy texture and mostly light toppings like tuna, chicken and various veggies. Montevecchio says: “We want them to not be overly filling, so that you can be satisfied and energized, and keep going about your day.”

Montevecchio also strives to avoid the bloated wait times of numerous other Italian restaurants, in order to attract the neighborhood’s business clientele.

“What we want is for you to order your pizza and salad, then order a coffee and bang, there you go, your pizza is done,” he says of that streamlined vibe, which is a departure from the more loungey, formal atmosphere at his Westside cafe, housed one floor above the Pizza Factory in the Prosper Centre. Montevecchio adds: “We want it to be fast food, but quality fast food.”

Pizza Factory
Mon-Sat, 11am-10pm. B/1 Prosper Center, 5 Guanghua Road, Chaoyang District (Just west from the Kerry Center) (6562 8537, 6562 8576)
光华路5号世纪财富中心2号楼西侧地下1层

Photos courtesy of Pizza Factory, Kyle Mullin