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A slice of success

By on April 30, 2008

Queen Margherita has a lot to answer for. The first pizza was created for her over a hundred years ago in Napoli, the spiritual home of the pizza. A century later Tokyo’s authentic pizzerias have refined the tradition and brought it to a new level of sophistication. Here are three of the best gourmet pizzerias east of the Adriatic.

 

California Pizza Kitchen
California Pizza Kitchen has been serving it’s innovative pizzas for over 20 years.CPK is a casually, smart family restaurant and its staple pizzas, are healthy, colorful, and packed with flavors. CPK  offers a diverse menu reflecting it’s Californian origins and serves more than twenty different pizza pies including a selection of “Premium Crispy Pizzas” with Neapolitan style crust. CPK’s most popular pizza is its Original BBQ Chicken, topped with barbeque sauce, gouda and mozzarella cheeses, BBQ chicken, sliced red onions and cilantro.The menu has a wide selection of salads, appetizers, and original desserts such as the scrumtous Caramel Fudge Pecan Cheesecake. Families are a common sight at both branches where the large tables and friendly staff are more than accommodating.
TF choice The dynamic sweet and spicy Jamaican Jerk Chicken pizza covered in Caribbean sauce, mozzarella cheese, smoked bacon, onions, roasted red and yellow peppers, and sprinkled with minced green onions is mouthwatering.
Napule
Napule takes it’s name from the local diallect of Naples and is currently wowing the Tokyo pizzeria world with it’s combination of contemporary flavors and traditional style. A wood -fired oven greets you with a crisp fragrance of herbs as you enter this beautifully adorned tratorria filled with paintings of southern Italy. Napule’s cuisine is adored by even the fussiest gourmets, attracting such elite clientele as former Japanese prime-minister Junichiro Koizumi and TV personality Tetsuko Kuroyanagi whose photos appear at the entrance. The Pizza Marinara offers a refreshing, distinctively mediterranean flavor with Napule’s own little twist. The crisp yet fluffy dough is covered in a thin, tangy layer of tomato sauce, onions cleverly dispersed throughout in small portions, packing each bite with a strong, sweet taste. This irresistible pizza is topped off with a medley of aromatic herbs and this one is number one on my must-try recommendation. Napule trattoria and pizzeria’s owes much of its rising fame to “capo pizzaiolo” (pizza connoisseur) Hisanori Yamamoto who won the grand prize  at the World Pizza Cup.Their Tokyo Midtown branch has a relaxing terrace overlooking plenty of greenery where the whole family can unwind for a perfect weekend meal.Tf choice The Pomodorino is a wonderfully vibrant pizza that the young ones will love!  The    fresh basil leaves lay atop a douce bed of mozzarella revealing the juicy sweetness of cherry tomatoes , ensuring the kids will eat their veggies!
Pizzakaya
Located  conveniently just down the street from Roppongi Hills, Pizzakaya has been serving up  Pizzas since 1996. Famed for it’s gourmet pizza, it’s one of the top choices among pizza aficionados both foreign and Japanese alike and has been  featured on Fuji TV, and in the Japanese press. Pizzakaya’s dough is made daily with five kinds of flour and then left to rise, fall and mature for 24 hours.Their luscious pizzas send forth an aroma that will have mouths watering The menu offers as many vegetarian-friendly pizzas as it does meat filled pies and also includes a hearty selection of salads, appetizers (“Garlic Marbles” or “Hell Sausage Meatballs” anyone?), and even some south-of-the-border fare. For those who have tried delivery pizza in Japan and been disappointed don’t despair Pizzakaya deliver their gourmet pies throughout central Tokyo.Tf choice  The  gourgeousVegetarian Delight, is topped with  succulent tomatoes, mushrooms, olives, garlic, green pepper & onion gives a sensational  punch!
California Pizza KitchenOpen 11am-11pm (L.O. 10pm).3F Lalaport Yokohama, 4035-1 Ikebe-cho, Tsuzuki-ku, Yokohama. Tel: 045-414-24154F Lazona Kawasaki, 72-1 Horikawa-cho, Saiwai-ku, Kawasaki.      Tel: 044-874-8434.
NapuleTokyo Midtown Garden Terrace, 9-7-4 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo Tel. 03-5413-0711
PizzakayaOpen Mon – Sat, 5 – 11pm; Sun, 5 – 10pm (Last order is 30 minutes before closing; 1 hour for delivery orders) Dai-ichi Koyama Building 2F, 3-1-19 Nishi Azabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-0031. TEL/FAX: 03-3479-8383.

About Erin O'Neil