The new ‘Pizzeria of the Future’ represents Pizza Pilgrim’s first major step towards what pizzerias should look like by 2030 and beyond
The 108-cover restaurant aims to unpack every element of running a pizzeria, from how it’s built to how the menu is developed, with a view to making it more sustainable, inspired by Selfridges’ Project Earth initiative. The site brings a taste of authentic Napoli to the central-London luxury department store – even if some of the ingredients might be closer to home.
Pizza Pilgrims at Selfridges London.
Guests enter through a 3 meter hydroponic basil tunnel, created in partnership with Harvest London, who supply basil to all Pizza Pilgrims pizzerias. As a key ingredient for Neapolitan pizzas, the hydroponic system uses less water and saves over 250,000 air miles for Pizza Pilgrims every year. Meanwhile, all the pizza dough will be made with only regenerative UK wheat in collaboration with Wild Farmed, a technology developed by Andy Cato of Groove Armada fame. By 2030 the Wild Farmed system will be taking as much carbon out of the atmosphere as a 100-year-old rainforest the size of Greater London. Further locally sourced ingredients will include Fior di Latte mozzarella made in the UK using local milk and a traditional Italian process and sustainable British charcuterie from Cobble Lane Cured.
Pizza Pilgrims worked closely with Selfridges to create the retailer’s most sustainable restaurant fit to date. At the table, the upholstery has been replaced with fully vegan Pinatex (a leather alternative made from pineapples – pineapples on chairs not pizza!), whilst tabletops have been crafted from reclaimed plastic waste in a beautiful terrazzo style. The timber floors are reclaimed and the giant wall mural of the bay of Naples has been created from 2000 recycled glass water bottles. At the open-style craft beer bar, in partnership with London Brewery Gypsy Hill, drinks will be served from fully reusable kegs, with no single use packaging, whilst the newly formulated wine list features a selection of sustainable wines which are all stored in a cave in the Chiltern Hills, to reduce the need for refrigeration.
Guests can expect new menu exclusive to Selfridges, with newcomers including Wild Mushrooms, Truffled Ricotta and Burrata, British Wagyu Beef with Mozzarella and Poponcini Peppers and a Smoked Salmon Everything Bagel Pizza featuring a Fior di Latte base and everything bagel seed crust, baked and topped with smoked salmon, mascarpone, red onion, capers, and dill.
New to the side game is Stuffed Burrata, where guests can choose from three choices of pesto, truffled ricotta or roasted peppers alongside Gnocchi Fritti – deep fried potato Gnocchi with gorgonzola centre topped with red pepper tapenade.
Meanwhile, desserts include a Pip & Nut Chocolate Almond and Cornish Sea Salt Pizza Ring (free of palm oil, and made with ethically sourced chocolate and almond spread, served with vanilla ice-cream). Also new to the menu is a Honeyed Strawberry Pistachio & Rosewater Sundae (vanilla ice-cream topped with strawberries marinated in sweet rosewater and crushed pistachio hearts).
Co-founder Thom Elliot from Pizza Pilgrims says: “The Pizza Pilgrims Selfridges project is our first major step in the direction of creating more sustainable pizzerias. From working with forward thinking food producers who are developing amazing innovations like hydroponic basil, regenerative wheat and natural wines to looking at the way we build pizzerias with more sustainable materials and recycled furniture – we are excited to learn and develop the sustainability of what we do – because there is no other option.”
Co-founder James Elliot from Pizza Pilgrims says: “We wanted to have a complete review of every part of our pizzerias and see what we could do better but without losing creativity and fun. It’s important to stress that this is only the beginning. We want to use our Selfridges pizzeria as a hub for innovation so that we can implement changes in all our other pizzerias!”
Pizza Pilgrims at Selfridges is the first restaurant to launch as part of a new dining destination on the fourth floor of the Oxford Street store, as Selfridges continues to transform the experience of eating and drinking with curated dining destinations and a commitment to creativity, sustainability, and innovation. The new late-night destination will be open until 11.30pm and accessible via a dedicated express lift.
Visit Pizza Pilgrims Selfridges from Thursday 9th December at:
4th Floor, Selfridges
400 Oxford St
London, W1C 1JS
