At the end of Chapel Market, you'll find Little Pizza Hicce on the corner.
Little Pizza Hicce - is that related to Hicce Hart?
It is indeed. We visited Hicce hart earlier this year, which saw the team from Hicce in King's Cross take over a pub on Islington's Chapel Market. What we didn't realise at the time was that they also had their eye on a property just across the road as well. This has now become Little Pizza Hicce. It's something that they had already launched in Wood Green at the Goodness Brew taproom but this sees the project getting its own space.
Where exactly is it?
In Islington, right down the far end of Chapel Market (if you're walking from the Angel end). if you've been to Hicce Hart, it's directly opposite that. So close, in fact, that if you're sitting outside the pub, you can pop across to the pizza restaurant and order from their handy hatch. So the new pizzeria is its own thing, but can also supply the pub with pizzas too.
So what kind of pizzas are we talking about?
In charge of the pizzas are brothers Val and Marian and long-time friend Ciprian. They're using a 48-hour fermented dough as the base (and they've managed to get a great crust on it).
As for the toppings, they're put together by Hicce's Pip Lacey and are refreshingly different from a more traditional pizzeria. We have a lot of time for the usual margheritas, marinaras and the like but really do like to see something a little more unique from time to time - and that's what we have here. The ingredients chosen are local, seasonal and seem to fit in well with the whole Hicce ethos. Here's a taster of three of their pizzas:
Italian fennel sausage, tomato, mozzarella fior di latte, curtido "cult jar" ferment (£12.50) - one of their most popular pizzas, probably due to that excellent fennel sausage.
Mushroom, tomato, mozzarella fior di latte, green chilli, garlic, parsley (£11.50) - a great kick to this one.
Grilled peppers, tomato, mozzarella fior di latte, goat's cheese, shallot, honey, walnut, rosemary (£14) - One of the newer pizzas on the menu with the goat's cheese and the walnut working wonders here.
That's just a taste though. There are eight pizzas on the menu, and expect a few of them to change as the seasons progress. A pizza that we'd definitely try on a return visit is the one with egg, tomato, fior di latte, radicchio, pine nuts, black garlic, parmesan and basil.
The list also has plenty of vegetarian options (five out of the eight were vegetarian) and you can choose any pizza "red" - i.e. without cheese - if you like too.
And dessert afterwards?
For dessert, they've teamed up with Hackney Gelato, so a cone to finish up is certainly a good idea (from £3.50 for one scoop). That said, the desserts across the road at Hicce Hart are incredibly good too so it may well be worth wandering over there for dessert and one last drink.
TBC
What about drinks?
While we'd certainly recommend the cocktail below, it's well worth paying attention to the excellent wine list here too. It'll change regularly, as they'll only have a few bottles of each wine on this list. So it's well worth taking a proper look through it on return visits. The pizzeria also works as a bottle shop so if you want to grab a pizza and a bottle to go, that's an option here.
As with Hicce Hart, there's a strong focus on organic and natural with a good selection of orange wines on the list if that's your thing. Bottles start at an extremely reasonable £23.50 (with some English perry available for £20 too) and most of the wines are under the £35 mrk, with lots in the £20s. It's an affordable, interesting list with much available by the glass - definitely one of the most interesting lists in Islington (along with Hicce Hart) right now.
In addition to the wine list, we can also recommend this little number - their Mezcal Tonic (£7)
Overall thoughts
Little Pizza Hicce is a great little pizzeria. Good pizzas with an excellent base and different, interesting toppings matched with a really good wine list. Whether you're coming into the petite pizzeria itself or grabbing one to have on the tables outside the pub, this is well worth your time.
More about Little Pizza Hicce
Where is it? 99 Chapel Market, London N1 9EY
Find out more: Visit their website or follow them on Instagram @littlepizzahicce.
Hot Dinners ate as guests of Little Pizza Hicce. Prices are correct at the time of writing.
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