Pizza Connection

The story

Crafted with passion, served with love

The Story Behind the Name

Pizza Connection started, by its founders' own admission, as a joke. A group of Italian friends sat up late one night, drinking wine and searching for a name for their new pizzeria. The conversation turned to a notorious chapter of the Italian diaspora: the 1987 "Pizza Connection" trial, in which 18 members of the Sicilian and American mafias were convicted of running a vast drug operation, using ordinary pizzerias as distribution fronts. Someone asked how funny it would be to borrow that name — and inspiration, as they put it, "sizzled through the night like mozzarella in a wood oven."

The self-awareness is part of the charm. This is a place that takes its pizza seriously while refusing to take itself too seriously.

What Goes Into the Dough

The operation — their word — is built on two pizza base styles: Napoletana and Romana. Both are made using what the team describes as a scientific, contemporary method to achieve the ideal balance of crispiness and fluffiness. The tomato sauce is made from Italian San Marzano tomatoes. Fior di Latte Mozzarella, salami, Italian sausage, mortadella, guanciale, and pancetta are all imported directly from Italy. Alongside these, the kitchen draws on fresh, locally sourced fruits, vegetables, olive oil, and seafood — a combination that gives the pizza a distinctly Cape Town character without compromising its Italian backbone.

Dishes on the menu carry names that reflect the kitchen's personality: "The Di Mare Symphony," "The Capetonian," "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me," and "The complex septicity of Jonny Love." A Lamb Ragù and house Polpette round out the offering, and Pastry Chef Valentina Russo's Tiramisu — built on espresso-soaked ladyfingers, mascarpone cream, and cocoa — closes things out with a modern take on a classic.

Recognition and Setting

Gambero Rosso, the authoritative Italian food guide, awarded Pizza Connection one of its coveted slices — a mark of credibility that carries particular weight for an Italian pizza operation operating outside Italy. For a pizzeria on Roodebloem Road in Woodstock, that recognition places it firmly on the map of serious pizza destinations in South Africa.

The neighbourhood itself suits the spirit of the place: Woodstock is one of Cape Town's most characterful areas, and Pizza Connection fits in without trying too hard. Dine in or take away — the pizza travels well.