The Deep Dish: Biting Into Old World-Style Pizza at Radici

As online voting continues for the 2017 Pizza Cup, The Deep Dish will be previewing a few of the restaurants vying for the title of Beijing's most beloved pie. So take a look, grab a slice, and pick the team you want to be victorious.

New York-style, Chicago-style, deep dish, square, unicorn tear-flavored, dragon-fire baked ... The pizza dictionary is lengthy, complicated, and often frightening for your regular European lad. The stress of ordering unfamiliar pizza can only be compared to that of your first time in Starbucks, when the pressure to appear sophisticated and knowledgeable in the ways of coffee leads to anxious sweats. "What happened to our time and trend-resistant Italian pizza forefathers?" we asked, and then ran to Guomao and found Radici.

Nestled in a cozy corner of the Langyuan village complex, Radici prepares Neapolitan classics for locals and guests. Neapolitan pizza is quite easy to spot – thin and soaked with sauce in the middle, and surrounded by thicker, soft crust – and it's a real treat when done right. While any restaurant can experiment with unusual ingredients and call it a "matter of taste," the high-quality traditional recipes are the ones to decide the real value of their dishes. While it, unfortunately, might be too chilly now (damn you, sneaky and sudden Beijing winter), keep in mind that Radici is generous with their outside space, while you rub your palms together in your frosty hutong apartment waiting for spring. 

Radici is not your usual pizza kiosk or cave, and just being there you feel the need to sit up just a little straighter. The rustic wooden front door hints at the classy-casual Italian interior inside. While the majority of the customers are wearing suits and carry document folders, it is mostly because of the location, while Radici itself feels inviting to all dress codes and expectations. Suitable for a quick lunch with their separate lunch menu or a dinner date with prices that don't make your eyes pop out of your skull entirely, an Italian restaurant is a primo treat-yourself kind of place. 

The menu is unpretentious and all of the pizzas on offer are familiar. Starting with the Margherita (RMB 78), it also includes the four cheese (RMB 88) and prosciutto and rucola pizzas (RMB 128). They also serve pizza's kissing cousin, to break up the monotony of your all-pizza diet by folding the pizza in half and calling it something else: the calzone (RMB 188). Pizza is, of course, best eaten with hands (the Italian way, let's leave those chopsticks at home) and paired with a glass of red or a bottle of an easy-going lager. The price range is suitable if you want to impress someone and if your payday has been delayed by a week (we blame the party plenum for all the difficulties of the next month or so).

The secret of pizza dough can even be water (duh, when it's a flour-yeast-water combination, every part of the mix is vital) and Radici is doing their best at getting the most authentic food by bringing their ingredients from Italy. 

If your pizza needs a buddy, opt in for a Radici root salad (RMB 58) or a simple seasonal salad with balsamic dressing (RMB 58). Though we still strongly believe beer is the best buddy for pizza – if you are over 18, that is. At the end of the day, if the Beijinger's Pizza Cup has exhausted you and drained your interest in this pie, Radici also serves classy antipasti (RMB 120) and cheese or 18-months-old San Daniele ham plates (RMB 118 and RMB 200).

With the limitless amount of restaurants in Beijing, the search for high-quality classics can prove harder than it seems. Once you find yourself with yet another piece of store-bought-crust pizza, bin that and head to Radici to rediscover that Mediterranean joy de vivre that goes best with their homemade Tiramisu.

Radici
Bldg 7, Langyuan Village, Tonghuihe Beilu, Guomao, Chaoyang District (5741 7196)
通惠河北路辅路郎园7号楼

Haven't yet voted in our 2017 Pizza Cup? Simply scan the QR code below to have your say before the winner is announced on Oct 19:

Images courtesy of Radici