Good music, entertainment and karaoke are the perfect accompaniment to a tasty pizza, a symbol of conviviality and cheerfulness
A lively and good food venue that encompasses many different souls, for young and old and for all those who want to spend a cheerful evening. A place where good music and entertainment are part of the menu, the ideal place to organize a party with friends but, above all, where pizza – a symbol of joy and conviviality – is the protagonist because, when it is as good as this, everyone really likes it, brings people together and offers that simple and genuine pleasure that welcomes and satisfies.
Pizza Express in Carovigno (BR) is all of this and the spirit that hovers there is immediately evident in the words of owner Cosimo Cardone, in the enthusiasm he conveys when he says, “They come to us for pizza, especially on Saturday nights, when people want to go out and spend a few hours in joy enjoying a food that just looking at it inspires conviviality. Pizza is our strong point and, since 1997 when I opened my first take-out place, I studied and deepened every aspect of it until I got the result I wanted. Today I am very satisfied because, here at our place, they come on purpose, even for take-out, despite the fact that we are a bit outside the town of Carovigno: they come for our pizza and, if they don’t stop at our place, they take it home.”
Thus, in fact, began the story of Pizza Express, with a small take-out store until, in 2013, Cosimo Cardone moved the business to a larger premises where he could finally bring his project to life.
Pizza Express is a restaurant but not only that, it is a pizzeria with something more: it is a place where evenings are enlivened by entertainment shows, such as karaoke every Wednesday and Friday because people like to sing, like group dances and good music galore with artists and DJs, to give vent to the desire for conviviality. A space, for example, for the little ones, who between 5 and 8 p.m. can organize their birthday party; three rooms and more than 220 seats to accommodate family celebrations or simple gatherings among friends.
And between music and merriment, what could be better than that dish that just seeing it elicits a smile, pizza? It has to be a special pizza, though, and Cosimo is aware of that. That’s why after years of “breaking in” he decides to take matters into his own hands and study ways to make a good pizza into an extraordinary and unforgettable pizza.
“Two years ago I decided to take care of the dough myself and, after many attempts and experiments, I found the perfect balance. I have always used 5 Stagioni flours because they offer a very good yield; at first the classic ones-the red and the green-then came the specific flour for Neapolitan pizza and I was happy with it: I tried it and haven’t left it since. For about a year now, in fact, I have been preparing a custom blend composed of 5 Stagioni Neapolitan pizza flour together with a small percentage of stone-ground semolina: the result is excellent, the flavor more intense. Success. I make two types of dough, for the coarser, long-rising Neapolitan pizza with a good alveolation, and for the thin classic pizza, which here with us meets a lot of customer favor.
In both cases, 5 Stagioni flours give me the certainty of excellent results.” At the base is the well-formulated dough, then, and then off to the pizzaiolo’s creativity supported by excellent raw materials: “The dough is fundamental,” Cardone says, “but of course on its own it is not enough; it needs to be combined with good products to make the most of it. I choose high quality raw materials, possibly from the area that, in our parts, offers the best such as mozzarella from Agerola, fresh friarelli, sausage or provola. Salento is rich in specialties that give my pizzas that extra touch. It is important to be able to reconcile the base with the topping; they must meet and complement each other.”
There are about 20 pizzas on the menu, and there is no lack of a menu for celiacs that has nothing to envy the traditional one. Cosimo Cardone explains, “Next to the classic pizzas there are gluten-free pizzas that I prepare personally, I do not use ready-made bases but make an ad hoc dough made with 5 Stagioni gluten-free flour. I get an excellent pizza that is very similar to classic pizza-we are famous for that, too, in fact, and there is a lot of demand for it. Of course, we work in a separate environment, with dedicated tools; it’s a subject I am very sensitive to because my wife is also celiac and it was for her that I started studying gluten-free dough. Today, it is part of our specialties and we are proud of it because more and more people are demanding this attention and we are happy to be able to accommodate them.”
Pizza Express, then, where pizza is queen, a symbol of that genuine simplicity that comes from conviviality, is really a place for everyone, and there is no lack, of course, of good typical Salento cuisine as well: “We make traditional dishes, from orecchiette with turnip tops to impepata di cozze, from meat rolls to tagliata. A typical Bari cuisine, in short,” Cosimo says. “But pizza remains the main course, when they come in they don’t even ask for the appetizer (we have it, as well, with fried food and delicacies) they just want her, the queen of the table: pizza! And with a good craft beer on tap, the evening is assured.”
