One of the world’s best pizzaiolos is to bring a pizza-based tasting menu to Soho, in a new 100-cover restaurant.
Michele Pascarella, the man behind the award-winning Napoli on the Road, will launch his third pizzeria on Wardour Street this autumn, with à la carte on the ground floor and a “fine dining” concept below.
Pascarella told the Standard he wants to put Campania’s most famous dish front and centre while also offering something different to diners as London’s pizza scene continues to boom.
“We’ll have our normal, seasonal menu but I want to change everything,” he said. “We’re going to do the first pizza tasting menu, a Neapolitan tasting menu with six courses that highlight more diversity and different techniques and flavours.
Michele Pascarella (Virgilio Saulle)
“We’ll start with antipasti, move to salads and focaccia, but will also do triple-cooked pizza and other specialities alongside a wine flight. Wines will come from Campania. Everything will be new and seasonal. But traditional pizza will still be at the heart of it all.
“I’m very excited and a bit scared. This is a big site.”
A Soho flagship comes six years after Pascarella launched Napoli on the Road from a three-wheeled Piaggio Ape. The chef toured London markets before opening a restaurant in Chiswick and a second in nearby Richmond.
Plaudits followed and he was crowned the best pizza maker in the world at the 50 Top Pizza Awards in 2023. Napoli on the Road was named Europe’s Best Pizzeria twice, in 2024 and this year, 2025.
Pascarella, who moved to London from Napoli 15 years ago to work in Italian restaurants, said he will use the same dough, ingredients and attention to detail despite the expansion into London and promised not to open any more sites for fear of diminishing the quality of his pies.
“We’re back where we belong, in central London,” he said. “I never thought I’d have the chance to open a restaurant here and now it’s happening. We’re doing it ourselves, with no outside investment, and we’re very proud.
“Soho is full of creativity, culture and open-minded attitudes. Soho was where I first began working in London and returning feels like a homecoming and a dream come true.
“But we don’t want to become a chain. There’ll be no more after this because the quality drops.”
A margherita (Adrianna Giakoumis)
The third Napoli on the Road is one of many new pizzerias in London. In the last 20 years, the capital has become a true “pizza city”, with acclaimed Neapolitan restaurants preceding the more recent explosion of New York-inspired concepts.
Recent examples include Carmela’s in Islington, and the increasingly famous Crisp, the latter of which is opening in Mayfair in partnership with the Devonshire.
Pascarella added: “I’m really happy about the pizza scene in London. When I arrived 15 years ago, people weren’t talking about pizza. It’s so popular now. There are so many great pizzerias. It’s good to see the improvement.”
Soho’s branch of Napoli on the Road has been designed by the Barcelona-based firm Serra. Minimalism will be at its heart, with whitewashed walls, rounded archways and chrome pizza ovens. The basement will be mustard-hued with counter seating and table service.
Napoli on the Road will launch at 140 Wardour Street in late October. napoliontheroad.co.uk
Dining and Cooking