Cut with scissors and sold by weight
Roman Al Taglio
A long tray pizza at eighty per cent hydration, proofed two days, baked twice, cut with scissors and sold by the weight of what you take.
Al taglio means by the cut, and in Rome that is exactly what it is: you point at a tray, somebody cuts you the piece you want with a pair of scissors, and it is weighed. There is no slice size and no pie size. If you want a hand's width of one and a thumb's width of another, that is a normal order and nobody will find it strange.
The dough is the wettest thing in this building at eighty per cent hydration, which means it is barely handleable and has to be folded rather than kneaded. Two days in the cold room, then a very gentle transfer into an oiled tray, then no touching. What that buys you is a crumb like a honeycomb sitting on a base that is genuinely crisp — two things that normally trade off against each other.
It is baked twice. The base goes in bare and part-bakes; toppings go on and it goes back. Baking a topping for the full time is what makes tray pizza soggy, and this is the fix.
What goes on it
The dough
Eighty per cent hydration, two days cold, folded rather than kneaded, and never punched down.
The toppings
Whatever is on that day — usually a plain tomato, a mozzarella and tomato, a potato and rosemary, and a vegetable one.
The base bake
Bare, on the oven floor, until it is set and pale.
The finish
Fresh things — rocket, cured ham, cherry tomato — go on after the second bake rather than into it.
How it is made here
Folded, not kneaded
Four sets of folds over the first two hours. A dough this wet cannot be kneaded and does not need to be.
Two days cold
It develops flavour and, more importantly, enough strength to hold the bubbles it will make.
Baked twice
Bare first at 575°F until set, then topped and returned. This is the entire reason it is not soggy.
Cut with scissors
Because a wheel compresses a crumb this open. Scissors keep the honeycomb intact.
Roman Al Taglio — what it costs
- Per 100g$4.20
- Quarter tray$16
- Full tray, catering$58
Prices include every topping listed above. Extras are $3 for vegetables and $4 for meats. Prices change when our costs do; the menu here is the menu in the shop.
Before you order this
A shared flour kitchen, and what that rules out. Our kitchen handles wheat flour in open air all day, along with milk, eggs, soy, tree nuts and fish. Flour becomes airborne every time a dough ball is opened, and it settles on every surface in the room, including the peels, the oven floor, the cutting board and the wheel. We can tell you what we put on a pizza, and we will tell you honestly. We cannot tell you that anything leaving this kitchen is free of an allergen, and we will not say it. If a reaction would send you to hospital, this is not a safe kitchen for you, and we would far rather say so than take the order.
The kitchen is one room. Every pizza here is opened on the same bench, baked on the same floor and cut with the same wheel, and that is true of this one as much as any other. The pages on allergens and cross-contact and vegetarian, vegan and dietary questions set out plainly what we can and cannot tell you, including the things most shops leave you to assume.
The rest of the menu
Other things worth ordering
Margherita
The Neapolitan build: a puffed, leopard-spotted rim, fior di latte in patches rather than a blanket, basil and a thread of olive oil.
From $22
Marinara
No cheese, and none missing: crushed tomato, sliced garlic, dried oregano and olive oil on a blistered Neapolitan base.
From $18
Diavola
Spicy soft salami and chilli over tomato and fior di latte, hot enough to notice and not hot enough to hide the pizza.
From $25Asked at the counter
Roman Al Taglio — questions
How much should I order?
About 200g is a decent lunch for one person. Point at what you want and say roughly how much, and Danny will cut it and show you the scale before he wraps it.
What is on it today?
It changes. There are usually four trays going and at least one is vegetarian. It is worth telephoning if you are coming specially for one in particular.
Can I order a full tray for a party?
Yes, $58, cut to whatever size you ask for. Two days' notice, because the dough needs two days and there is no way to shorten that.
Twelve to fifteen minutes, and worth the wait
Order a pie
Telephone the shop and we will tell you honestly how long the kitchen is running before you commit to anything. Collection is always quicker than delivery and the pizza is always better for it. If you are ordering for a crowd, the catering page has the trays and the notice we need.