North London Food & Culture

Berbere Kentish Town

So you’ve never been to…Berberè, Kentish Town

If you like a filling sourdough base, these award-winning pizzas are for you

Where exactly is it? Although Berberè opened a while back, it had never quite climbed into my must-visits – purely because I generally choose other options than the wood-fired stuff. But the Kentish Town Road building that houses this pizzeria has seen it all, from the much-loved Kentish Canteen to Joe’s Southern Kitchen, Neighbour and The Rabbit Hole – before becoming Berberè in autumn 2022.

So what goes on there? Founded in 2010 by Calabrian brothers Matteo and Salvatore Aloe, Berberè are renowned for their signature dough, made using 24-hour proofed, live sourdough from a starter dating way back. There are two other locations: Clapham and (just opened) Tottenham Court Road. And the big news this week is that they came third in the UK and 6th overall in the world – no mean feat – at this year’s Top 50 Pizza awards for the Artisan Pizzeria Chain category. So it was about time I checked it out.

What else? The toppings and other ingredients are all specially sourced from small producers known for both high quality and taste, from Puglian tomatoes to fresh Neapolitan mozzarella.


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Berbere Kentish Town
Berbere Kentish Town. Photo: Stephen Emms

So, does it live up to the hype? The short menu of a dozen options bodes well. The pizzas are smaller than you might expect – see above, right – but the main learning for us was that the signature sourdough base is actually quite filling. Toppings, however, are interesting and packed with flavour: the umami-packed Napoli was laced with meaty anchovies from Amalfi, along with black olives, fior di latte from Napoli and organic tomatoes. Just less dazzling was a special, the Natale, which paired cubes of slow-cooked cotechino sausage with cavolo nero, Alpine-style nutty Asiago cheese, fior di latte and the fiery hit of both Dijon mustard and horseradish. And prices are very fair and range from £7.90 to £14.

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Should I order dips? Yes, don’t forget a creamy aioli or – better still – the basil and walnut pesto. A side salad came slightly over-laden with balsamic.

The interior: discuss. Simple, functional and airy – with that rather romantic view across the railway lines, and a terrace now mature with Mediterranean olives trees.

And what do I drink? Well, we’re in Italy so surely a negroni (a reasonable £8.50) And house wine comes in at £6.60 or £26 a bottle.

In summary? It’s not going to change your life – and you will certainly feel full for hours afterwards – but this is careful, considered artisan pizza, whose flavours set it apart from the pack.

Kentishtowner ate as guests of Berberè

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The award-winning print and online title Kentishtowner was founded in 2010 and is part of London Belongs To Me, a citywide network of travel guides for locals. For more info on what we write about and why, see our About section.