Pizza Express
Encyclopedia
PizzaExpress is a restaurant
group
with over 400 restaurants across the United Kingdom
and 40 overseas in China
, Europe
, Hong Kong
, Japan
and the Middle East
. It was founded in 1965 by Peter Boizot.
In Ireland, PizzaExpress trades under the name Milano.
. Inspired by a trip to Italy
, Mr Boizot brought back to London
a pizza oven from Naples
and a chef from Sicily
.
In 1969 jazz
performances began at its Dean Street
restaurant, London, starting the brand’s love affair with supporting the arts
.
PizzaExpress was the first to bring pizza to the UK high street
in 1965 and was the first to sell Peroni in this country.
. Signature dishes include its dough balls.
In each PizzaExpress every pizza is handmade, prepared in each restaurant’s open kitchen.
PizzaExpress introduced the lighter pizza ‘Leggera’, the first pizza range on the high street that contains around 500 calories.
In 2008 PizzaExpress started a Guest Chef Series with chef Theo Randall, of Theo Randall at InterContinental London
, creating exclusive dishes for its menu. Francesco Mazzei, of L’Anima, came onboard in 2010 to develop a menu inspired by his hometown of Calabria
.
community from its early days when it opened its first jazz club
in 1969 in Dean Street
, London
. Since then an array of artists have played from Ella Fitzgerald
and Amy Winehouse
, to supporting early performances by Norah Jones
and Jamie Cullum
.
PizzaExpress currently runs three jazz clubs in the UK, they include 10 Dean Street in Soho, The Pheasantry and Maidstone.
PizzaExpress holds an annual competition, the "Big Audition with Jamie Cullum
" for singers, songwriters and musicians. The competition gives artists the chance to gain exposure and win £5000 and a residency a the Dean Street Jazz Club. In 2011, the competition was won by "Offbeat South" with runners up The Yesberger Band and Elle Watson.
and cartoonist
, Enzo Apicella in the 60s to design the PizzaExpress identity and over 80 restaurants.
In 2002, PizzaExpress launched PizzaExpress Prospects Contemporary Art Prize with pop artist
Peter Blake
. Peter Blake’s connection with PizzaExpress was extended when he donated 26 original pieces to the Chiswick
restaurant.
PizzaExpress created a ‘Living Lab’ in October 2010, in Richmond
, trialling new ideas from design
to sound
, collaborating with designer Ab Rogers.
from sinking by donating 5p of every pizza sold to the Venice in Peril Fund
. Over the years the amount donated from each pizza has increased to 25p. From 2008, donations from the Veneziana pizza go to the Veneziana Fund, where 50% is donated to the Venice in Peril Fund and 50% is given to the restoration, repair and maintenance of buildings, fixtures and fittings of buildings and works of art created before 1750. Over £2m has been raised so far from sales of the Veneziana pizza.
In 1999 PizzaExpress introduced its Schools Programme, a programme where the company turns its restaurants into classrooms, educating children about fresh ingredients, how to run a local business and how to cook for themselves.
in 1993 with franchises opening across the UK. UK franchises were then bought back en mass in 1996. TDR Capital and Capricorn Associates then bought the company
in 2003 turning it private again. In 2005, PizzaExpress floated on the London Stock Exchange, as part of the Gondola Holdings PLC. It was then bought by private equity
group Cinven
as the Gondola Group
in 2007. Cinven is still the current owner.
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
group
Group
A group is a number of things or persons being in some relation to one another.- Mathematics :* Group , a set together with a binary operation satisfying certain algebraic conditions** Group theory, the study of groups...
with over 400 restaurants across the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and 40 overseas in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
. It was founded in 1965 by Peter Boizot.
In Ireland, PizzaExpress trades under the name Milano.
History
Founded in 1965 by Peter Boizot, PizzaExpress' first restaurant opened its doors in London’s Wardour StreetWardour Street
Wardour Street is a street in Soho, London. It is a one-way street south to north from Leicester Square, up through Chinatown, across Shaftesbury Avenue to Oxford Street.-History:...
. Inspired by a trip to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Mr Boizot brought back to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
a pizza oven from Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
and a chef from Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
.
In 1969 jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
performances began at its Dean Street
Dean Street
Dean Street is a street in Soho, London, England, running between Oxford Street to the north and Shaftesbury Avenue to the south.-Historical figures:The street has a rich history. In 1764 a young Mozart gave a recital at 21 Dean Street...
restaurant, London, starting the brand’s love affair with supporting the arts
ARts
aRts, which stands for analog Real time synthesizer, is an audio framework that is no longer under development. It is best known for previously being used in KDE to simulate an analog synthesizer....
.
PizzaExpress was the first to bring pizza to the UK high street
High Street
High Street, or the High Street, is a metonym for the generic name of the primary business street of towns or cities, especially in the United Kingdom. It is usually a focal point for shops and retailers in city centres, and is most often used in reference to retailing...
in 1965 and was the first to sell Peroni in this country.
Food
PizzaExpress specialises in pizzaPizza
Pizza is an oven-baked, flat, disc-shaped bread typically topped with a tomato sauce, cheese and various toppings.Originating in Italy, from the Neapolitan cuisine, the dish has become popular in many parts of the world. An establishment that makes and sells pizzas is called a "pizzeria"...
. Signature dishes include its dough balls.
In each PizzaExpress every pizza is handmade, prepared in each restaurant’s open kitchen.
PizzaExpress introduced the lighter pizza ‘Leggera’, the first pizza range on the high street that contains around 500 calories.
In 2008 PizzaExpress started a Guest Chef Series with chef Theo Randall, of Theo Randall at InterContinental London
InterContinental London
InterContinental London Park Lane is a luxury 5-star hotel in London, England. It is located at 1 Hamilton Place on Hyde Park Corner with Park Lane, very close to the shopping centre of Knightsbridge.The hotel is operated by the InterContinental hotel group....
, creating exclusive dishes for its menu. Francesco Mazzei, of L’Anima, came onboard in 2010 to develop a menu inspired by his hometown of Calabria
Calabria
Calabria , in antiquity known as Bruttium, is a region in southern Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian Peninsula. The capital city of Calabria is Catanzaro....
.
Music
PizzaExpress has supported the jazzJazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
community from its early days when it opened its first jazz club
Jazz club
A jazz club is a venue where the primary entertainment is the performance of live jazz music. Jazz clubs have been in large rooms in the eras of Orchestral jazz and big band jazz and when its popularity as a dance music was common...
in 1969 in Dean Street
Dean Street
Dean Street is a street in Soho, London, England, running between Oxford Street to the north and Shaftesbury Avenue to the south.-Historical figures:The street has a rich history. In 1764 a young Mozart gave a recital at 21 Dean Street...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Since then an array of artists have played from Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
and Amy Winehouse
Amy Winehouse
Amy Jade Winehouse was an English singer-songwriter known for her powerful deep contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres including R&B, soul and jazz. Winehouse's 2003 debut album, Frank, was critically successful in the UK and was nominated for the Mercury Prize...
, to supporting early performances by Norah Jones
Norah Jones
Norah Jones is an American singer-songwriter and occasional actress.In 2002, she launched her solo music career with the release of the commercially successful and critically acclaimed album Come Away With Me, which was certified a diamond album in 2002, selling over 20 million copies...
and Jamie Cullum
Jamie Cullum
Jamie Cullum is an English pop and jazz-pop singer-songwriter. Though he is primarily a vocalist/pianist he also accompanies himself on other instruments including guitar and drums. Since April 2010, he has been presenting a weekly jazz show on BBC Radio 2, broadcast on Tuesdays from 19:00.- Early...
.
PizzaExpress currently runs three jazz clubs in the UK, they include 10 Dean Street in Soho, The Pheasantry and Maidstone.
PizzaExpress holds an annual competition, the "Big Audition with Jamie Cullum
Jamie Cullum
Jamie Cullum is an English pop and jazz-pop singer-songwriter. Though he is primarily a vocalist/pianist he also accompanies himself on other instruments including guitar and drums. Since April 2010, he has been presenting a weekly jazz show on BBC Radio 2, broadcast on Tuesdays from 19:00.- Early...
" for singers, songwriters and musicians. The competition gives artists the chance to gain exposure and win £5000 and a residency a the Dean Street Jazz Club. In 2011, the competition was won by "Offbeat South" with runners up The Yesberger Band and Elle Watson.
Design/Art
Peter Boizot teamed up with Italian restaurant designerDesigner
A designer is a person who designs. More formally, a designer is an agent that "specifies the structural properties of a design object". In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, such as consumer products, processes, laws, games and graphics, is referred to as a...
and cartoonist
Cartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
, Enzo Apicella in the 60s to design the PizzaExpress identity and over 80 restaurants.
In 2002, PizzaExpress launched PizzaExpress Prospects Contemporary Art Prize with pop artist
Pop art
Pop art is an art movement that emerged in the mid 1950s in Britain and in the late 1950s in the United States. Pop art challenged tradition by asserting that an artist's use of the mass-produced visual commodities of popular culture is contiguous with the perspective of fine art...
Peter Blake
Peter Blake (artist)
Sir Peter Thomas Blake, KBE, CBE, RDI, RA is an English pop artist, best known for his design of the sleeve for the Beatles' album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. He lives in Chiswick, London, UK.-Career:...
. Peter Blake’s connection with PizzaExpress was extended when he donated 26 original pieces to the Chiswick
Chiswick
Chiswick is a large suburb of west London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It is located on a meander of the River Thames, west of Charing Cross and is one of 35 major centres identified in the London Plan. It was historically an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex, with...
restaurant.
PizzaExpress created a ‘Living Lab’ in October 2010, in Richmond
Richmond
Richmond often refers to:*Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia*Richmond, North Yorkshire, the original Richmond in Yorkshire.*Richmond, London, previously Richmond, Surrey*Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Metro Vancouver...
, trialling new ideas from design
Design
Design as a noun informally refers to a plan or convention for the construction of an object or a system while “to design” refers to making this plan...
to sound
Sound
Sound is a mechanical wave that is an oscillation of pressure transmitted through a solid, liquid, or gas, composed of frequencies within the range of hearing and of a level sufficiently strong to be heard, or the sensation stimulated in organs of hearing by such vibrations.-Propagation of...
, collaborating with designer Ab Rogers.
Charity
PizzaExpress introduced the Pizza Veneziana in 1977 to help save VeniceVenice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
from sinking by donating 5p of every pizza sold to the Venice in Peril Fund
Venice in Peril Fund
The Venice in Peril Fund is a British registered charity. It raises funds to restore and conserve works of art and architecture in Venice, and to investigate ways to protect them against future risks, particularly rising sea levels...
. Over the years the amount donated from each pizza has increased to 25p. From 2008, donations from the Veneziana pizza go to the Veneziana Fund, where 50% is donated to the Venice in Peril Fund and 50% is given to the restoration, repair and maintenance of buildings, fixtures and fittings of buildings and works of art created before 1750. Over £2m has been raised so far from sales of the Veneziana pizza.
In 1999 PizzaExpress introduced its Schools Programme, a programme where the company turns its restaurants into classrooms, educating children about fresh ingredients, how to run a local business and how to cook for themselves.
Retail
PizzaExpress launched into the retail sector with pizza, dough balls, salad dressings and pasta sauces.2011 rebranding
In 2011 Pizza Express launched a major rebrand of its UK restaurants, with menu changes, a black and white logo and the widespread use of stripes, both for staff uniforms and for restaurant decor.Ownership
PizzaExpress was floated on the London Stock ExchangeLondon Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...
in 1993 with franchises opening across the UK. UK franchises were then bought back en mass in 1996. TDR Capital and Capricorn Associates then bought the company
Company
A company is a form of business organization. It is an association or collection of individual real persons and/or other companies, who each provide some form of capital. This group has a common purpose or focus and an aim of gaining profits. This collection, group or association of persons can be...
in 2003 turning it private again. In 2005, PizzaExpress floated on the London Stock Exchange, as part of the Gondola Holdings PLC. It was then bought by private equity
Private equity
Private equity, in finance, is an asset class consisting of equity securities in operating companies that are not publicly traded on a stock exchange....
group Cinven
Cinven
Cinven is a British private equity firm founded in 1977 with offices in London, Paris, Frankfurt, Milan and Hong Kong. Currently, the company has raised four funds, with the last one signing up €6.5 billion...
as the Gondola Group
Gondola Group
Gondola Group is a chain restaurant operator in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. It operates in 600 locations using several casual dining brands:*Ask, Italian food*Milano, pizzeria *PizzaExpress, pizzeria...
in 2007. Cinven is still the current owner.