Whatever happened to the Veneziana?

Tonight, we went to Pizza Express for dinner, to meet my wife's friend who wanted to introduce her new fiancé to us. I always loved Pizza Express: the food may not be fancy, but the quality is always reliable. But recently, there is something that has been bothering me: the Veneziana, my go-to pizza when i go there, is no longer on the menu. The Veneziana has everything I love in a pizza: capers, olives, and well, that's it. They also give a discretionary 25p to the Venice in Peril fund for every Veneziana sold. Well, they still do, except for every mushroom pizza sold, because they don't sell Veneziana anymore.  My question is why? Why is it no longer on the menu? Because I don't care about mushroom pizza. I mean I really don't. And I am all for saving Venice, mind you, but I will donate to the charity directly rather than eat a mushroom pizza. In the end, the Veneziana allowed me to make a good deed while enjoying a dinner out. Since it is gone, I don't find the menu of Pizza Express so appealing anymore.

La bière de la maison

Des fois, dans les restaurants, on offre le vin de la maison. À Pizza Express, on offre la bière de la maison, brassée exclusivement par Meantime Brewery. Bière un peu blonde à mon goût, mais qui se prend fort bien avec une pizza (ben, comme de raison). Je n'ai pas vu ça souvent ailleurs, des bières de la maison. Selon mes souvenirs, Pizzédélic à Montréal en avait une, mais ça date des années 90, je ne sais pas s'ils en ont encore une. Dans tous les cas, j'aime bien l'idée d'une bière de la maison.

Veneziana Pizza

Last week for my wife's birthday, we went to Pizza Express. It is a sort of almost acidental tradition for her birthday: we often end up there, even when we don't plan it. But Pizza Express is always reliable: it serves good food at decent price, Wolfie is sure to enjoy it and we are never disappointed in the meal. It is especially true for me, as I always go for the Veneziana, so I know exactly what I am going to have. It has black olives, capers, red onions and 25p is given to the Venice In Peril fund. So I feel like I do my good deed of the day every time I go there and order it. And my wife is happy because it means that I eat vegetarian.

Pizza Express, troubles and tribulations

I haven't been to Pizza Express since the birthday of my son. This is where we went for his birthday meal. We don't go there, yet we all love it. It's nothing outstanding, but it is a reliable chain and we always eat well. Recently, Pizza Express has been on the news and on my mind for all the wrong reasons. Firstly, it got into financial trouble. When a pizza chain is in trouble, it is never a good sign. Then, I learned that Venice is literally drowning. That looks like it is unrelated, but you see, when I go to Pizza Express, I almost always have a Veneziana. Because it is delicious and has everything I love in a pizza (see the picture) and because it gives 25p of  its price to Venice in Peril. And now I feel guilty that I have not eaten there more often, or visited Venice, for that matter. All these 25p they gave to a worthy cause, maybe for nothing. And then, the worst happened: Prince Andrew said that he was in the Pizza Express in Woking when he allegedly sexually assaulted a teenager. I know this stupid, arrogant, sinister aristocrat has a lot more grievous things to answer for, but tarnishing an honourable restaurant chain by using it as an alibi (and a stupid one at that) was downright crass. So I feel very bad for Pizza Express. I don't think they deserve all this.

The sticky toffee pudding obsession

I blogged two week ago about my parents' sudden interest in this British classic dessert that is the sticky toffee pudding. I mocked them a bit about it. Well, maybe I should not have. We went to Pizza Express recently and they had their own version of the dessert, called "Sticky Toffee Bundt Cake". So they imply it is a variant of two desserts, or a hybrid. But basically, as you can easily see on the picture, it is the same pudding. And yes, I felt that I had to try it. A sticky toffee pudding. In a pizzeria. For sociological purposes of course: I wanted to blog about it. And yes, my verdict is simple: it IS a toffee pudding.

And it was a good one too, albeit a tad small. I expect my puddings to be bigger and thus more filling. There is no point counting after calories when you eat that sort of dessert and you don't expect very subtle flavours: it tastes of caramel, of dates a bit (if there are any), of fatty, creamy stuff, you need to feel like you are receiving a sugar overload and utterly contented. I still think the best place to eat one is in a pub. So this is what I will do next time I eat in a pub. And I know, I have developed the same obsession as my family. Which is good, as I expect there will be some on the menu when we go home at Christmas.

Time for a Veneziana pizza

My wife had a great idea about tonight: we should go to Pizza Express for dinner. She has some vouchers that we need to redeem there and tonight is as great a time as any. As I am a man of habit, I will order a Veneziana pizza. Not only because it is delicious, with everything I love in a pizza: capers, olives, onions and some other stuff that makes this one so unique, but also because 25p is given to the Venice In Peril fund every time I have one. Or you, or anyone. So yes, I am plugging it shamelessly in this blog. I did plug it before in 2013, but it is good to remind people about this, because the city is indeed in peril and I would like to visit it before it drowns. But charity notwithstanding we have not been to Pizza Express in a long while and I am in the mood for a Veneziana.

The Veneziana of Pizza Express

Remember when, a long while ago, I had decided to start a new tradition here on Vraie Fiction, of plugging a menu or a meal from a restaurant or a pub every Friday or Saturday (or even Sunday sometimes)? Last time I did it was on August 30th. So it is a long, long lost tradition, or a long interrupted one. But I am starting it again. I might not be very original, as tonight I am plugging a pizza from a British pizza chain, Pizza Express. Not exactly the Crown in Cookham from my first post. That said, I have found my pizza, in fact my favorite pizza in the UK and the one I eat pretty much every time I go to Pizza Express. And it is not only for the taste, it is for what it does. The pizza is called the Veneziana and you can see a picture of it on the left.

So why do I love it so much? Well, there is of course the taste: olives and capers are always a big winner for me, and the Veneziana has plenty of black olives and capers. it also has red onions a plenty and sultanas, which gives a bit of distinctive sweetness to the savoury whole. I'd love it no matter what would come next, but something comes next: when I order it, I also give money to charity. Because every time you do, a discretionary 25p goes to the Venice in Peril Fund. I have never seen Venice, but I do want to see it, preferably before it drowns. If we could avoid letting drown, I would be even happier. And I know it is very modest a contribution, but I love to contribute to it all the same, 25p at a time. According to Wikipedia, the Veneziana was introduced to the menu in 1977. I have only discovered Pizza Express a few years ago, but I have been eating Veneziana ever since, pretty much every time I go there. My way of connecting to Italian culture.