After a New Lick of Paint, Pizza+ Becomes Pizza Saporita, Stays Delicious and Homey

Everyone loves pizza, and if you don't then why are you here? Now that we've established your devotion to this favorite of foods, it's most likely that you previously tried Pizza+'s slices, which opened in 2012, and quickly became a trusted source for thin-crust pizza overseen by masterchef Fabrizio Montori, winner of Champion Pizza Maker at the 2011 World Pizza Championship.

Having since expanding to four locations, the Dongzhimen location reopened at the end of March after a complete concept upgrade, and will be followed by a transformation of the Chaoyang Park branch in the near future. Now that the paint's dry, we went over to the newly christened Pizza Saporita to see what exactly has changed.

The upgraded version is elegant and modern, but remains fast-food style. They've added more seats – 18 seats inside, and 12 al fresco – and remodelled the space to include grey bricks, wooden tables, and white tiles (from Italy), designed by an all-Italian team. The whole value has been rendered brighter and more spacious, inviting patrons to stay longer.

The new menu is also pleasing, with six salads (RMB 26-38), soups, snacks, a baked sausage platter (RMB 49), and baked lamb (RMB 62). They've retained their most popular options (RMB 22-28 per piece, or RMB 88-92 per pie), such as the forest, Sea World, four cheese, countryside, caprese cold, and Star of the Sea. Additionally, there are three vegetarian pizzas (RMB 16-18 per piece, or RMB 60-68 per pie), and 11 meat pizzas (RMB 16-22 per piece, or RMB 60-88 per pie). For those looking to splash, there's also the new Royal Truffle Filet Pizza (RMB 248 per pizza, limited to five pies per day), which features fresh truffle, 24-month-aged Parmesan cheese, and extra virgin olive oil.

For starters, we tried the Forest (RMB 22 per piece), a long-time favorite and a litmus test to see how things may have changed as a part of this new venture. With mozzarella cheese, mushrooms, and sausage, as well as smattering of walnuts poking through the rich creamy topping, the truffle sauce takes this novel pizza to another level and we're happy to report that it's just as good as its predecessor. The Sea World is adorned with salmon, arugula, mozzarella cheese and cherry tomatoes, while a splash of balsamic vinegar adds acidic and sweet notes.

However, it's the Countryside that may soon become our new go-to pizza, with parma ham, sliced buffalo mozzarella cheese, arugula, porcini mushrooms, and truffle sauce on a tomato base, making for a mix of savory, smokey, sweet, and earthy flavors that are sure to brighten your day. Interestingly, the team have also created a simple caprese cold pizza for those days in the near future when you don't want to sweat over a steamy slice, featuring sliced tomato, mozzarella cheese, oregano, and mayonnaise on top of a pre-baked and crisp tomato-paste pie.

For dessert, the handmade tiramisu (RMB 39) is made using a recipe straight from Montori’s mom's kitchen. Served in a mason jar, the rich blend of coffee and cream makes for a refreshing end to the meal and captures the brand's move towards more sit-down style dining. There's also their Nutella pizza (RMB 22 a piece, and RMB 88 per pie), covered with a thick layer Nutella and a layer of sugar powder on top.

They also have a series of beers from an Italian craft brewery Birradamare: Birra Roma Amber, Birra Roma Blond, Weisse, Biretta Nera Schwarzbier (our favorite), and Ondabionda in bottles (RMB 28 for 330ml, RMB 65 for 750ml) to pair with their new and spruced-up pizza menu.

During our visit during a workday lunch time, all the inside tables were full, and you may have to share a table with other customers. Why so packed? “Most of the ingredients are imported from Italy, even the water to make pizza dough,” said operation manager Xiaobo.

Another reason could be their lunch combo (Mon-Fri, 11am-2pm), which for RMB 49 you can two slices of specialty pizza, a vegetable salad, and a soft drink; RMB 39 will get you two slices of meat or vegetarian pizza, a salad, and a soft drink. Kids can get a corn or wurstel pizza, with a slice of Nutella pizza for dessert, and a drink for RMB 29. And what about us lazy bones or stranded hungry workers? Saporita offers delivery for RMB 5 for locations within 3km of any of their stores, and RMB 10 for anywhere 3-5km.

Another new selling point is Saporita's store, stocking a range of imported goods from Italy, such as pasta, wine, olive oil, chips, jam, and snacks. “All the ingredients we sell here, we also use them to make pizza,” explains Xiaobo. The price of the goods here is the same as what you'd find in Italy, making them some of the lowest in Beijing: a bag of 500g pasta is only RMB 6, pasta sauce is RMB 14-15 for 350g, cookies are RMB 6-17, hard cheese is RMB 99-392 per kg, and wines are RMB 54-178.

It's not often that you get the chance to witness an award-winning pizza chef working hard in the kitchen, and Montori will be sticking around until the Chaoyang Park venue goes into development. Given Saporita's upgraded combination of delicious pizza, hearty desserts, great value goods, a humble chef, and a slick new atmosphere, there’s no doubt that they will remain busy and have done well to keep the aspects that kept their old clientele loyal as well as improving in other areas. As is written on the wall, Saporita offers “a homely taste of Italy,” and we’re excited to return for comforting slices again and again.

More stories by this author here.

Email: tracywang@thebeijinger.com
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Photos: Tracy Wang