As a Kloof Street resident I routinely walk past the Blah Blah bar. Its name has always been a point of fascination for me, but, being an average Joe, I’d always been a little intimidated by the crowd of hipsters out front.
However, come last Friday night I’d developed a hankering for real pizza that couldn’t be satisfied by the likes of generic takeaways. And where to find it but at Ferdinando’s pizza, located inside the Blah Blah Bar.
The interior is warm, intimate and the right kind of funky – think hunting trophies with red posies in the eye sockets and a dizzying disco ball hanging overhead.
Starters included delicious doughy breadsticks complemented by Ferdinando’s creamy aioli. The key ingredient is a generous dollop of garlic, which the menu promises will ‘keep the vampires at bay’. Our waitress was on point, doling out menus and suggestions with an unwavering smile upon her face.
The only slight inconvenience is the arrangement that Ferdinando’s has with Blah Blah Bar vis a vis drinks. All liquids have to be ordered separately from the adjoining bar. But it’s not too much of a problem – so long as you remember to settle your tab at the end of the night, you can order drinks without having to leave the table. We tried the Leopold V, a mild Belgian beer that leaves you feeling quite relaxed.
The menu has a style in its own right. Not only boasting an impressive array of meaty and vegetarian pizza choices, each menu is painstakingly handwritten with heartfelt anecdotes and illustrations.
The first couple of pages tell you the story leading up to the restaurant’s inception. Kiki, a South African artist, meets Diego Milesi upon her international travels. They fall in love, sharing a fondness for French kissing and pizza. They relocate to the Mother City, wanting to share their love of pizza with Capetonians. And thus, Ferdinando’s pizza joint is opened to the public.
And who is Ferdinando? He’s their four-legged, furry child, who patrols the premises keeping an eye on things.
Our pizza is brought out by Kiki herself, who wishes us a ‘buon appetito’. And enjoy our meal we did.
Being a group who likes to share food, we ordered three pizzas and split them. Our choices included a classic four-cheese with blue, Brie, Camembert and Parmesan (a cheese overload you would think, but no) and the recommended ‘Kimonster’, which sees the unusual pairing of pineapple and spicy salami.
With thin bases lathered in a home-made tomato sauce, a sprinkling of Mozzarella cheese to balance out the strong tomato flavour and a selection of unique toppings, Ferdinando’s offers the entire package and is certainly in the running for the title of Cape Town’s best pizza joint
OF NOTE
Where The Blah Blah Bar, 84 Kloof Street, Gardens
When Tuesday to Saturday 6–10 pm
Cost R70–R100
Contact + 27 84 771 0485, [email protected]