Datte Foco: pizza triumph 10
To Stoke Newington’s newest and most puzzling pizzeria. Datte Foco opened amid the pre-Christmas freeze, and to judge by the number of customers I’ve seen on the couple of occasions when I pressed my nose up against the window, the neighbourhood is struggling to know what to make of it.
The literal translation of Datte Foco is “set yourself on fire”, but in Italian it doubles as a mild admonition along the lines of “get lost, or go to hell” – perhaps a surprise for an establishment that proposes to welcome you in. That’s not the only peculiarity: Datte Foco specialises in pizza al taglio – slices of pizza sold by weight. Until now, the only places that remotely resembled it were those ghastly stalls off Leicester Square that sell strips of what amounts to flavoured dough. The Church Street venue is certainly in a league above those tatty joints, but from first glance, it’s still not clear what the place is about.
Not only is the pizza served in (to most people) unfamiliar style, but the restaurant itself doesn’t help you decide how to approach it. Is it a lunchtime takeaway? Or are you meant to come here for an evening meal? If it’s the former, then how will it survive in an area like Stoke Newington where there are no big businesses with hundreds of staff who spill out onto the streets at 1pm? And if it’s meant to be the latter, then the bright lighting and café-style seating are all wrong.
I’m not even sure I would have bothered with it, had it not been for what turned out to be an excellent event organised by local food writer Daniel Young, who blogs at youngandfoodish.com. Daniel chose Datte Foco for the first of his Pizza Tuesdays, a regular event that will showcase the best of London’s pizza places. I noticed it on his website, went along with a friend, and ended up having quite the most pleasant evening in ages.
Pizzaiolo (pizza chef) Herbie Leonelli served eight varieties of the best of his range – considerably better than that of Trattoria Il Bacio up the road, which also serves a kind of tray-based pizza. Full marks for the base, which achieves the not unremarkable feat of being simultaneously crispy and fluffy.
The assembled crowd – which included a couple from Dulwich and the locally resident owner of a lauded coffee shop in Great Ormond Street – ploughed effortlessly through a crostino salsiccia e broccoletti (white pizza with spicy sausage and broccoli rabe) and crostino salsiccia e porcini (white pizza with sausage and porcini mushroom). Nearly sated, we finished with crostino bresaola e rucola (white pizza with air-dried beef and rocket).
But my vote for best in show goes to the first and simplest out of the oven: pizza rossa. The plain tomato topping oozes voluptously into the mouth to give quite a divine experience; who knew such pleasures could be had from such simplicity?
Despite the excellence of the food, I’m still not sure that Datte Foco has got its identity right. Maybe the addition this weekend of a delivery service will help; ditto the plan to replace the tables in the back of the restaurant with comfortable sofas. But the surest way to solidify the success of this estimable venture is word of mouth: so tell your friends. Datte Foco may not amount to an evening out, but neither should it be passed over on the way home.
…hmm, thought about trying this new place a couple of Saturday lunchtimes ago, but it was shut. Did try out the new Il Bacio in the cursed 98 Church Street the other evening and it was excellent. Best bit was all the ladies I was with debating whether to have a Maldini or a Del Piero pizza, unaware that all the pizza’s are named after famous footballers…
Great Review but you obviously missed the central point. What is unique about Datte Focco is the combination of perfect pizza, mellow beats and the totally chilled out and relaxed atmosphere orchastrated by the hosts Herbert and Neil and their growing asemble of Southern European female waitresses.
When I first arrived at Datte Fuco, what instantly struck me was the passion, pizza and people, which made me think that authentic, full bodied world-class pizza has arrived in Church Street, Stoke Newington. You get the impression that these guys are students of the Rome grand-master dishing up a succulent range of traditional italian pizza leaving you lusting for more. Forget the Ivy in Beverley Hills, Cipriani in Venice or even Nobu in London. Datte Foco pizza in Church Street, Stoke Newington makes those places her bitch every time. Lets take a look at the very bottom – literally. The dough base. It’s not too thick and bready and not so thin like some american fake ass joints. Basically, the dough is perfect. Now the tangy tomato sauce, this is a perfect blended balance of herbs and spices a closely guarded secret that Datte Foco learned from the grand-master probably invented a hundred years ago back in small village just outside Rome. OK now your starting to get the picture, image that with finely coated smoked oak cheese, not the low grade stuff used by the average cheap delivery companies, this stuff is the real deal, who take pride in giving us, the general public, an education in to the game changing ever competitive market of hot stone based wonderful Pizza!
It is almost a “krypton factor” like a challenge having to choose which exquisite vegetable or meat to taste as they are all so good. My personal favourite is the tomato and anchovies, although every topping is superb. Words cannot express the culinary-explosion that takes place after the first bite.
Datte is set to become a legendary establishment that will live on from generation to generation. Hungry people worldwide will flock to Church Street to taste what some have haled as “The greatest Pizza ever made.”
Now your getting close. Could not have expressed it better myself.
Hmmm… do I detect a hint of sarcasm in Mr Kemp’s analysis?!
Matt, no not at all, i am just trying to give readers a little bit of light hearted fun… go and try it for yourself, it really is very good.
Sorry Matt, i just realized you wrote the original review, giving it the thumbs up! Nice blog by the way!
Good Lord.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who has been a bit bemused about Go to Hell’s identity.
“Mellow beats”? It’s a shopfront. How do I know it’s any different thant the thousand other fake fast food non chains on the High Road? I’m not really up for pizza that’s been apparently sitting in the wondow for hours.
Might give it a try – but the trick seems to be getting something recently from the oven.
Kris, why do you hate everything?
Datte Focco is the best thing in stoke newington! Literally the greatest Pizza ever, byob, rare grooves, and the dudes who run it are totally safe. Go in and read about how they make the dough.
TECK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
[...] at the latest addition to Stoke Newington Church Street’s Italian Connection, Datte Foco. As someone else has said before me, Datte Foco, which calls itself a “pizza and love joint”, is not [...]