Pretty much any kind of food can be reinvented as vegan. Asian cuisine calls out for marinated tofu and crisp, fresh vegetables. Fast food is equally easy to translate into plant-based dishes: burgers, sausages, chips and the like. Pasta has always been a standby for vegans of all ages and cooking abilities, from students on a budget to whole families, from humble ramen noodles to handmade ravioli. But me, what I’ve always missed most, is a damn fine pizza.
Which is why, every now and again, I simply have to visit Purezza, the UK’s first fully vegan pizzeria, founded in Brighton back in 2015.
It’s not that vegan pizza didn’t exist before that; it did. It’s just that many of its incarnations were, frankly, distinctly underwhelming.
The aim of Purezza was to change both the reality and the perception of vegan pizza. It certainly managed to do that.
The restaurant quickly built a loyal following thanks to its slow-fermented dough, blistered wood-fired crusts and carefully developed vegan mozzarella, before expanding to Camden in London and later Manchester.
This week I was lucky enough to visit Brighton, and was unable to resist the lure of a pizza. I’m far more familiar with the Camden branch, but the Brighton restaurant is every bit as good.
The One and Only Parmigiana Party really put Purezza on the map. When it was introduced, it reached the finals of a national pizza competition – a remarkable achievement for a vegan dish competing in an omnivore world. It features a tomato base, smoked vegan mozzarella, aubergine parmigiana, crumbled vegan sausage and a dusting of nutritional yeast.
The One with the Truffle is my favourite and is made with a black truffle base, vegan mozzarella, wood-smoked tofu, wild mushrooms and micro herbs. Add a swirl of chilli oil, and you’re in pizza heaven.
Alongside them came the deceptively simple Rocket Salad, a peppery tangle of leaves, sweet tomatoes and generous shavings of vegan parmesan. It was fresh, vibrant and the perfect foil to two gloriously rich pizzas.
Occasionally, I’ve managed to save a modicum of room for dessert, but this time, sadly, it was all about the pizza. I am, however, off to the Camden branch in two weeks, and determined to save that space for pudding. Famous last words!
Bardo Burner 