Co owners Louisa Smith of Smith’s Seaview Cafe and former Minchella & Co factory manager Jonnie Halling shared a love for artisan pizza and a vision of growing the prom facing takeaway side of Louisa’s business during lockdown.

Initially envisaged by Louisa’s brother Jak, he amalgamated the pair to join forces utilising Louisa’s years of expertise in the fish and chip industry and Jonnie’s skill for pizza making and product development in ice cream, to bring a new and exciting concept to the South Shields seafront.

 

Having seen the success of Neapolitan pizza businesses opening across the UK and a growing independent artisan food and drink movement in the region, the pair set out to master the Pizza Al Taglio style and to materialise their goals.

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After a long tough year putting the formalities and construction in place, Ritrovo was finally born in October 2021.

 

Ritrovo aims to create an informal outdoor pizza bar with warm afternoon and evening vibes in an excellent seaside prom location by serving up soulful slabs of Roman al taglio inspired Slices paired with the best beers from the UK & Germany.

 

Originating in Rome, Pizza “al taglio” translates to “by the cut”. In Italy, it generally refers to a style of pizza that is baked in a large rectangular tray, served by the slice. Ritrovo has drawn inspiration from this style and taken other attributes like long dough fermentation, which enhances taste, texture & digestibility then blended it with championing local ingredients as toppings where possible, delivering unique flavour concepts.