50 Kalo' di Ciro Salvo Opens in London

On July 12th Ciro Salvo will 50 Kalò in Trafalgar Square, his new pizzeria with his historical partner Alessandro Guglielmini. "We got the idea of ​​opening in London  a few years ago. Obviously I waited for the right time, I wanted to transfer  50 Kalò's entire identity and to do it  correctly I had to think and study the right formula. It is a leap that can be done when one is professionally mature and ready. Opening a pizzeria is easy, but transferring the soul is the most important thing. " declares Ciro Salvo. Salvo who faithfully reproduces his style of pizza good, hydrated and soft.  A style that began  about 25 years ago that has evolved over time.

The menu will feature many of  Salvo's symbolic pizzas: Margherita, 50 Kalò, Montanara; and the famous fried pizza . A wide selection of wines from Campania and Italian craft beers will be available to drink as well as special Champagne list.

During the day,  a bar will be open featuring  Italian cocktails (Spritz, Negroni, Bellini) for an aperitif or after a meal.

50 Kalo'  will be about 200 square meters with 90 seats, in the city center: in the famous Trafalgar Square,  one of the hottest locations in London.

What else? A special room so diners can observe the perfect pizza production: from preparation of the dough, hand cutting and rolling the dough into balls, manipulation, cooking and presentation..


The project is designed by Costa Group who has recreated an environment that combines English style with the Mediterranean. On the walls are photos of Ciro Salvo that reproduce the perfect sequence to make pizza, in the center the wood oven covered with red tiles, as in the pizzeria in Naples. Also the work bench is in white marble according to the Neapolitan tradition.

Good luck, Ciro!

Together.... for Santobono Children's Hospital in Naples

Yesterday I went out for a fried pizza. Nothing new about that except that the men who made that pizza for me happened to be 9 of Campania's top pizza makers; Antonio Starita, Enzo Coccia, Guglielmo Vuolo, Franco Pepe, Attilio Bachetti, Gino Sorbillo, Francesco, Ciro and Salvatore Salvo.  Yesterday afternoon, these pizza makers decided to get together to spread a little Christmas cheer by preparing fried pizzas for a hungry crowd at Nalbero di Napoli! To make fried pizzas and to collect donations for ONE PIZZA. ONE PIZZA is a calendar designed to raise money for the "Re-Life" project designed to renovate the intensive care ward at Santobono Children's Hospital in Naples.

 

Take a look at what went down!

The calendar, was officially presented on the 15th of December and since that day, copies are available at the 8 pizzerias involved in the project to those who give a small donation of 10 Euro. 

Or those who'd like to help can also go online here   

Complimenti!

Snapshot of the Day - Late Lunch 50 Kalo' (Na)

It has become one of my traditions.  A couple of times a month, when my schedule allows, I have a late lunch at 50 Kalo' in Naples. I arrive around 3:15 pm, when I'm able to find 'my parking spot', when the lunch crowd has died down but the oven is still hot.  The oven is hot and Ciro Salvo and his staff is far from done for the day.  This, for me, is the perfect time to wind down from a busy work week that is almost over, and prepare for the weekend. Usually I order my favs, my standbys - like a white calzone or a margherita with nduja di spilinga.  But  today?  Today was different. As I stared at the menu, Salvo pointed to an item and said, " Perche' non provi questa?"  Why don't you try this one?
I said yes subito, right away trusting Salvo who knows my tastes, my preferences.
It arrived - the 50 Kalo' with a twist.  A margherita pizzza with escarole, dozens of sliced cherry tomatoes, tons of tiny pitted black olives, and an endless amount of soft savory capers.
A new tradition?  We'll see next Thursday!

Lasagna Pizza Step-by-Step - 50 Kalo', (Na)

A few months back, I had a chance to try a few pizzas that were about to make their way on 50 Kalo's winter menu.  One of the new items that caught my eye - and taste buds - was pizza maker Ciro Salvo's lasagna pizza. It seemed to me to be an exciting/interesting mix combining two of my favorite foods.
Pizza.
Lasagna.
Fast forward to last evening, when the desire for pizza and a craving for lasagna hit hard. So, while Neapolitans rushed to their favorite grocery stores/markets/butchers/pasta makers to pick up ingredients to prepare their version of lasagna, a traditional  Fat Tuesday-Carnivale must, I decided to make my way to 50 Kalo', cozy up next to a wood burning pizza oven and watch Salvo in action.
So here it is...
Lasagna Pizza step-by-step...

Step 1 - Salvo extends his pizza dough on his marble work station

Step 2 -  He then begins to add the classic lasagna ingredients such as generous amount of ricotta cheese

Tomato sauce made with San Marzano tomatoes 

ground marchigiana beef

Fior di latte from Agerola, a sprinking of Grana Padano DOP cheese (aged 24 months), and fresh basil...

Step 3- 1-2 minutes in a wood burning oven and eat!

Serendipity - Vigna Lapillo Lacryma Christi Rosso DOC 2013, L'Azienda Vinicola Sorrentino

Wikipedia: Serendipity means  a "happy accident" or "pleasant surprise"; specifically, the accident of finding something good or useful without looking for it.  

Not 24 hours earlier, a friend of mine mentioned that I should try some wines from the Vesuvius area.  My nose is often in Irpina he reminded me,with a smile.
So was it a coincidence that while trying out the new pizza menu last week at 50 Kalo', I spotted some new additions from the Vesuvius area on the wine list?  
Maybe, maybe not.

So after ordering a fried pizza stuffed with ricotta and piccante nduja, I chose a glass  of Vigna Lapillo Lacryma Rosso DOC 2013 from L'Azienda Vinicola Sorrentino to pair with it.  80% Piedirosso, 20% Aglianico blended together from this vineyard blessed with volcanic soil.  Intense ruby red colors, intense aromas and a slightly tannic flavor held its ground with my pizza of choice for the day.

In fact, Sorrentino may want to add Salvo's pizza to their pairing notes.
Just a thought...

L'estate on a Plate - Pizzeria 50 Kalo' di Ciro Salvo (Na)

July is definitely my favorite month of the year.  But not just because my son and I celebrate our birthdays :-)  but it's also the month when the fruit and vegetable stands in Campania come to life with an exciting array of delicious flavors and colors.  What's evening more divertente is when I visit a restaurant or pizzeria and see that the  chefs and pizza makers have tweaked their menus by adding many of these fantastic products of the summer season such as eggplant, fresh tomatoes, zucchini and zucchini flowers.
50 Kalo' Pizzeria in Naples is no exception.  Pizza maker Ciro Salvo introduced his new menu a couple of weeks ago and I stopped by the other day to take a look/bite/taste.

Ciro Salvo

Besides the old favorites such as his Marinara and Margherita, I noticed new specialties such as one with eggplant with datterini tomatoes from Montoro, another with tuna from Puglia and onions from Montoro, and three pizzas featuring zucchini. I was determined to try one of them...but which one?  His pizza featuring ricotta, zucchini flowers and salami?  His pizza with topped with fior di latte from Agerola, zucchini flowers and conciato romano cheese?  Or what about Salvo's pizza with zucchini pesto and prosciutto crudo?  I decided to think about it over a glass of Falanghina dei Campi Flegrei 2012 (La Sibilla), a potato crocchette, and a serving of fried pasta.

I went for the zucchini pesto, which I later learned that they produce themselves.  Simple, shared Salvo.  Just zucchini and Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.

The prosciutto crudo San Daniele PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) was aged for 18 months.  Before summer arrived to my table, my pizza recieved a careful drizzling of extra virgin olive oil  from the prestigious  agriturismo belonging to Don Alfonso 1890.

L'estate on a plate.

Pizzeria 50 Kalo' di Ciro Salvo
Piazza Sannazzaro 201/B
80122 Naples, Italy
081 1920 4667

50 Kalo' di Ciro Salvo Opens in Napoli - On the Sunny Side of the Street

I may have skipped a little as I exited the garage where I left my car about 50 meters or so from Piazza Sannazzaro in Mergellina (Na).  From a distance I saw the sign, the umbrellas, the tables.  But wait, maybe I'm jumping head, going too quickly.  Let me back up just a bit. Let me explain what put that spring in my step as I headed to the sunny side of the street.
The 'official' announcement was made little over a month ago.  Probably the biggest announcement in Naples enogastronomic history in a long long time.  Expected and desired by many, myself included.
Pizzaolio Ciro Salvo would be opening his new pizzeria 50 Kalo' in Naples on the 13th of February.
Those outside of Napoli may not understand the excitement.  So here's a  little background in a nutshell. Salvo is from Portici, about 25 minutes from Naples.  His family has been making some of the best Neapolitan pizza for three generations, ever since his grandmother opened up a small but respectable pizzeria in 1968.  Salvo,  36 years old young, got the pizza making bug while working side by side with his dad in the family's business.  It was in 1996 when Ciro decided to make this world his own.  Since then, he has been working, researching, concentrating on making the best pizza ever; beginning with the pizza dough,  obviously the products that he puts on top, as well as the wood burning oven that he puts his prized creations in.  Those outside of Naples may have not noticed the vera Neapolitan pizza boom that has erupted not only in Campania, but throughout Italy.  Top pizza makers, including Salvo have focused on quality, quality, quality.  But Salvo?  He has silently spent the past 3 years ish working in Torre Annuziata, but it was just a matter of time.  After appearing on the cover of Gambero Rosso magazine back in July there was no turning back.   Napoli wanted/needed him here.  In their own backyard.  In their own piazza.
My first visit to this sunny side of the street, though, wasn't only to taste a Salvo special.  I must admit, that for the past couple of years, I, too, have been a pizza foodie, a pilgrim, so to speak, driving an hour ish to taste one of the top pizzas in Italia. (Now the drive would take 20 minutes or so, depending on traffic)
No, I was on a different type of mission.
Ciao, Maurizio!  Auguri! I said as I greeted Maurizio Cortese.  Cortese, at the door as he had been   long before the pizzeria's opening serving as Salvo's consultant, confidant, friend.  It was fitting that Cortese was at the door since he was responsible for organizing an event where I tried my 'first Salvo'.  A simple marinara with top quality tomatoes, amazing oregano, and Salvo's soft as a cloud pizza dough.

 (I wrote about that afternoon here).
Ciao Maurizio! I said, trying my hardest not to blurt out Where's Ciro??!!? I wanted to congratulate Salvo as well. I couldn't help but think back to an afternoon one summer in Portici with Salvo where he shared with me his background over an ice cream and a walk through his friend's organic vegetable garden

.
There was a long list of things that I wanted to do that afternoon.  Check out the wine and beer  list:  A list full of Campania wines, many that I have visited in my  vineyard hopping rounds; La Sibilla, Fattoria La Rivolta, Agnanum, Az. Alepa, Villa Matilde to name a few.  Then the beer.  An intense and enticing collection.  (I asked Cortese for his advice since beer is not my strong point)

I wanted to check out the 50 Kalo's interior which I had only seen previously in photos...sleek, modern.  An interior which could seat up to 80 customers, another 40 outside.
And since I was there, ok.  Why not try a pizza.  I took a seat next to the window.  One strategically located where not only I could see the pulse of the piazza outside which connected Fuorigrotta to Mergellina, but with a perfect view of the banco where I could watch pizzas in action.
Pizzas such as the one I ordered - a favorite - 'nduja di spilinga.  A pizza made with San Marzano DOP  tomatoes, fior di latte from Agerola, hot spicy 'nduja from Spilinga (Calabria, where they like it hot), fresh basil, and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil produced by Don Alfonso 1890.

Or my son's favorite, who, fever and all, wanted to try his Salvo favorite - la marinara - a true test of excellence.  Once again, San Marzano tomatoes, this time paired with garlic, and I mean garlic,  from Ufita, oregano from Mt Alburni, and Don Alfonso's extra virgin olive oil.

Yes, this trip had one last  little mission. To enjoy my pizza  seated at a table under a photo that I snapped of Ciro,  one evening over a year ago, while he prepared a pizza for me.

50 Kalo' di Ciro Salvo

Piazza Sannazzaro, 201/b Naples

081 192 04 667

Open for lunch and dinner (closed Tuesdays)

Reservations aren't accepted

A Pizza with Ciro...

Ciro Salvo

Ci vediamo in pizzeria?...Ciro Salvo's last words to me after we spent the afternoon together last July.  An ice cream, a walk around the port, and a visit to an organic garden.  But pizza?  Not that day.  It was Ciro's day off. So, I'd have to go visit him at Masse' in Torre Annunziata about 20 minutes outside of Naples. There I would be able to observe Ciro at work where he feels most comfortable.  So a couple of weeks after his trip to Tokyo to teach Japanese pizza makers the art of Neapolitan pizza, I braved the Torre Annunziata Friday night traffic to have a seat next to Ciro and his brand new pizza oven.

A glance at the pizza menu and I instantly saw how Salvo's desire and continuous search for the best products have made their way to this little corner of Torre Annunziata.  Peocrino cheese DOP, conciato romano cheese from Le Campestre extra virgin olive oils from the Cilento region, a variety of tomatoes such as San Marzano, Piennolo from Vesuvius and tomatoes from Gragnano.

I must of changed my mind 3 or 4 times before I finally decided upon a pizza al bianco (without tomatoes) with porcini mushrooms and sausage.  My son, David, knew instantly what he wanted ...Salvo's famous marinara.

While waiting for our pizzas, I took the opportunity to chat with Ciro while he worked.  We talked about his time in Tokyo, his upcoming trip to Torino for the event of the year ; Salone Internazionale del Gusto in Turin, Italy where he would lead a seminar on Neapolitan pizza, and an upcoming 3 week course in Rome at Gambero Rosso's Cooking School.  A busy schedule for anyone, especially one who was about to become a father for the first time (his daughter is due any minute ;-) ).

Ciro was in charge and I enjoyed watching the rythym he had established between extendingd the pasta dough, adding the toppings, and then passing it over to Gennaro Salvo who was ready to place it into the oven. His oven...la mia Ferrari...he said with a smile. An oven designed and constructed by Forno Napoletano.  60 seconds more or less was all that was needed to transform a pizza dough topped with products hand picked by Salvo into an amazing Friday night dinner.

The moment arrived.  Our pizzas were ready.  A simple marinara with tomatoes from Gragnano...garlic, evo from Cilento DOP, and oregano...

A pizza with fior di latte from Agerola,  porcini mushrooms, and sausage from Agerola...

Top quality products paired with Salvo's famous pizza dough.  His latest version is left to rise for around 20 hours.  A mix of flour ("O"), water, salt, and yeast...and that special Salvo touch backed by years of experience adds up to the softest pizza crust I have ever eaten....

Like slicing into a cloud...

Ci vediamo in pizzeria?  Yes, Ciro...Again...and again...and again...and again....




 Masse'
Corso Vittorio Emanuel,429
Torre Annunziata (Na)
081 536 3382