The other evening we had a dominos at my daughters, so tasty! I reminded her of the mini frozen pizzas I used to serve them when they were wee, you could clack them against each other like a musical instrument 😆, mmmm tasty! X
Pizza Express was the first place I took my 3 month old daughter to and knew I wouldn't have any issues. And Veneziana was always my favourite! They used to do a mini dessert of figs with marscapone and a coffee that my mum (a dessert hater) loved too.
We often go to Pizza Express with the grandchildren as, not only are they happy with pizza and crayons, there are safe, interesting gluten-free options for me.
I think that's the thing - sometimes with young children it's good to know what you're going to get! And crayons are a godsend! (I always meant - but always forgot - to carry a little pack of my own)
Haha, the bit about the cheese cake made me laugh out loud. Pizza was regarded as very exotic in my childhood in Kirkintilloch. My mum liked to experiment with new foods though, so we were all introduced to 'Pisa Pie', served in squares. Then we got very exotic with Vesta Curries, dried stuff in a pack that required the addition of boiling water. A small portion was given to the dog... She rolled in it.
Lovely piece, Fiona, and absolutely bang on about Pizza Express being a haven in the UK’s notoriously child-free social zones of the past.
We loved ours in Didsbury, but, alas, stopped going when the new ‘artisanal’, with the emphasis on the last two syllables, pizza joints opened and our kids were no longer satisfied by Babycinnos and crayons, which was a great shame…for us, more than them.
All things must pass, even pizza, and what once was loved in youth no longer brings joy…or something like that. I dunno, but I will always love seeing a Pizza Express somewhere…
Thanks Mark! Yes suddenly you find yourself edging out of that crayons at the table lifestage and it's all a happy Peroni fuzzed memory. And the Pizza Express supermarket ones are a bit rubbish. I do still crave the doughballs though!
Ha ha, I DO actually gorge on non-dairy cheese! All of it - the fake Baby Bels included. Leigh makes the most tremendous pit-za with dough and sauce from scratch. Once I found out I was allergic to dairy very early on in life that was it - milky bits became my nemesis - and at that time it was HARD to find ‘substitutes’. My memory of the early Asda ‘soya milk’ lives rent free in my head as they say, but we had no option and we made the best of it. It’s now a total breeze for anyone who chooses to eat a vegan diet, such is the array of products and price points - and interestingly, some of the best plant-made meals we’ve ever had have been in Barcelona.
Glad to be living in a time when what we call our ‘omissive diets’ no longer mark us out as difficult weirdos. If anything…it’s kind of become a little bit…’commonplace’. Do we feel like the people who were “into the band before they were famous”? 😂 - a little bit, sometimes!
Ha - I get that. I remember regarding 'vegetarian' friends as highly exotic and spending days figuring out how I might possibly cater for them. As for vegans - I couldn't even start to imagine. I've tried a vegan diet but felt so anaemic I wanted to gnaw on an iron bar... x
Exotic, lol! Yes vegan eating is not to be taken lightly. Most people start out enthusiastically but without enough information about nutrition and food generally - if you know a little about what food contains what vitamins, minerals, how much fibre, protein etc., it becomes more straightforward - the stuff we should all be taught in schools. I've seen people just switch to fake meat and oat milk and hope for the best and of course that's not sustainable. You re-programme your eating from the ground up (literally, I guess) and I was amazed early on about how many things I *hadn't* been eating as a non-vegan, simply because I'd never needed to investigate them.
"Plus, if you had young kids in early noughties UK you’ll probably know that Pizza Express was so unfailingly child-friendly, you almost wept with relief that you could treat your family to a sit down meal without the staff glaring at you with abject hatred." Absolutely this!
Pizza Express closed down in Perth 🥴
The other evening we had a dominos at my daughters, so tasty! I reminded her of the mini frozen pizzas I used to serve them when they were wee, you could clack them against each other like a musical instrument 😆, mmmm tasty! X
Ha - I remember those too! Like mini dustbin lids. I'd try to gussy them up with extra cheese. And perhaps even a single olive! x
Pizza Express was the first place I took my 3 month old daughter to and knew I wouldn't have any issues. And Veneziana was always my favourite! They used to do a mini dessert of figs with marscapone and a coffee that my mum (a dessert hater) loved too.
They were definitely brilliant at welcoming frazzled parents! Not to be sniffed at. So lovely to be somewhere that felt quite 'grown up' too.
We often go to Pizza Express with the grandchildren as, not only are they happy with pizza and crayons, there are safe, interesting gluten-free options for me.
I think that's the thing - sometimes with young children it's good to know what you're going to get! And crayons are a godsend! (I always meant - but always forgot - to carry a little pack of my own)
Haha, the bit about the cheese cake made me laugh out loud. Pizza was regarded as very exotic in my childhood in Kirkintilloch. My mum liked to experiment with new foods though, so we were all introduced to 'Pisa Pie', served in squares. Then we got very exotic with Vesta Curries, dried stuff in a pack that required the addition of boiling water. A small portion was given to the dog... She rolled in it.
Ha yes I remember those dehydrated Vesta curries! So fancy! With raisins in if memory serves. And not a chemical in sight, obviously...
Hey, I managed to have many bad pizzas even in Rome!
Agh really! I always imagine every single one to be perfection! (But I've never been to Rome...)
Pizza Express is now more expensive than the Ritz. And they don't even do the Veneziana anymore! It's gone down the (deep) pan 😢
My pal Jackie just told me a veg pizza cost her £17.95! Good lord! I had no idea. But then am still stuck in 2005...
Come to New York — we'll hook you and Jimmy up with some REAL pizza!
We WILL! I have memories of Roberto's, is that right, in Bushwick? V delicious
Could be — I've never actually been to Bushwick. But New York and New Jersey are both pizza lovers' paradises; so many great pies to choose from!
Lovely piece, Fiona, and absolutely bang on about Pizza Express being a haven in the UK’s notoriously child-free social zones of the past.
We loved ours in Didsbury, but, alas, stopped going when the new ‘artisanal’, with the emphasis on the last two syllables, pizza joints opened and our kids were no longer satisfied by Babycinnos and crayons, which was a great shame…for us, more than them.
All things must pass, even pizza, and what once was loved in youth no longer brings joy…or something like that. I dunno, but I will always love seeing a Pizza Express somewhere…
Thanks Mark! Yes suddenly you find yourself edging out of that crayons at the table lifestage and it's all a happy Peroni fuzzed memory. And the Pizza Express supermarket ones are a bit rubbish. I do still crave the doughballs though!
Ha ha, I DO actually gorge on non-dairy cheese! All of it - the fake Baby Bels included. Leigh makes the most tremendous pit-za with dough and sauce from scratch. Once I found out I was allergic to dairy very early on in life that was it - milky bits became my nemesis - and at that time it was HARD to find ‘substitutes’. My memory of the early Asda ‘soya milk’ lives rent free in my head as they say, but we had no option and we made the best of it. It’s now a total breeze for anyone who chooses to eat a vegan diet, such is the array of products and price points - and interestingly, some of the best plant-made meals we’ve ever had have been in Barcelona.
Glad to be living in a time when what we call our ‘omissive diets’ no longer mark us out as difficult weirdos. If anything…it’s kind of become a little bit…’commonplace’. Do we feel like the people who were “into the band before they were famous”? 😂 - a little bit, sometimes!
Ha - I get that. I remember regarding 'vegetarian' friends as highly exotic and spending days figuring out how I might possibly cater for them. As for vegans - I couldn't even start to imagine. I've tried a vegan diet but felt so anaemic I wanted to gnaw on an iron bar... x
Exotic, lol! Yes vegan eating is not to be taken lightly. Most people start out enthusiastically but without enough information about nutrition and food generally - if you know a little about what food contains what vitamins, minerals, how much fibre, protein etc., it becomes more straightforward - the stuff we should all be taught in schools. I've seen people just switch to fake meat and oat milk and hope for the best and of course that's not sustainable. You re-programme your eating from the ground up (literally, I guess) and I was amazed early on about how many things I *hadn't* been eating as a non-vegan, simply because I'd never needed to investigate them.
"Plus, if you had young kids in early noughties UK you’ll probably know that Pizza Express was so unfailingly child-friendly, you almost wept with relief that you could treat your family to a sit down meal without the staff glaring at you with abject hatred." Absolutely this!
Yes! You wanted to hug the staff, right?!