Matto PizzaGourmet

Review

A slice of Rome

Long gone are the days when pizza had to be big, cheap and have a lot on it. Nowadays, pizzerias in Vienna are opening almost by the minute, and you have to think a bit to stand out from the crowd. On the one hand, there are the "authentic" ones, where not only the pizzaioli are from Naples, but also the oven and the flour and the water and the air and the tomatoes anyway. Then there are the "creative" ones, where raw fish, avocado and sauerkraut are also allowed on the flatbread, following the example of Wolfgang Puck; then there are the ones with alternative doughs, i.e. sourdough instead of yeast, spelt and rye instead of wheat, and recently more and more those with a different preparation, deep-fried for example. And then there are the mixed forms, which means that there is really, really a lot of pizza at the moment.
Which is why the Charim family, who own a small store on Tuchlauben, where they have already tried out Lilette's fruit juice bar and a Hungry Guy hummus bar, came up with a pizza concept that would be a little different from others.
Matto de Pizza has succeeded in this, because firstly, they play more in the direction of "Roman" pizza, i.e. different from the "Neapolitan" version that is currently being traded as the measure of pizza authenticity, with crispy rather than wafer-thin, elastic dough. Above all, however, they bake the pizza in long strips, cut it into slices and place it in the display case. Just like in the station snack bars! Depending on whether you want to eat the pizza slices straight away or take them home with you, the slices are either briefly placed under the salamander or baked in the oven at home - and this of course goes against all previous pizza quality dogmas. But this is definitely not a junk pizza: the dough is made from three different Italian flours (the sacks stand decoratively on shelves next to the oven) and is allowed to rest for 48 hours, and only the finest ingredients are used for the toppings. The slices really aren't bad: "Funghi" with sliced mushrooms, good fior di latte (mozzarella made from cow's milk) and excellent tomato sauce is always a good choice (€ 3.90); "Mortazza", on the other hand, uses plenty of the large Bolognese sausage mortadella, which has no place on a pizza in itself, and artichoke puree, and tastes very good (€ 4.90).
But perhaps the best is "El Pibe" with fior di latte, provolone, salsiccia sausage meat and friarielli/stem cabbage, salty, sausagey, a little bitter - great (€ 3.90). But the fact that they are reheated pizza slices? Summary: At first glance, it looks like junk food, but it fulfills (almost) all the criteria of a premium pizza - the gourmet pizza slice.

More in Italian
Food & Drink in Vienna