A Chef's Table Evening at Pizza Express Lippo Mall Kemang

I'm warning you guys from the very beginning... this post is going to be so long and it's going to make you super hungry!!!

Around last week, I got the splendid invitation to join A Chef's Table Evening by Pizza Express Indonesia at Lippo Mall Kemang. Just in case if you're not very familiar with the name "Pizza Express", please let me refresh your memory. Pizza Express was formerly more well known as Pizza Marzano, originally, the brand "Pizza Marzano" was a part of "Pizza Express" (which was originating in Soho, London in 1965) and since the brand "Pizza Express" is getting more and more well known in a global scale, starting in October 2012, they're adjusting the whole outlets to move-on from the name "Pizza Marzano" to "Pizza Express". However, they still currently have 5 outlets with "Pizza Marzano" and 5 others with "Pizza Express". When it comes to this brand, no matter how the old name was or the new name is, the most important thing is...the same beautiful pizza.

This event was held to celebrate Pizza Express' Indonesia 7th Anniversary!!! and the celebration even got more special because they're releasing 17 new menus to public, and I got the chance to taste most of them. Prepare your napkin guys!

I've been a loyal costumer of Pizza Express for years, thanks to their signature Dough Balls and selection of great Italian cuisine, this brand just really knows how to fulfil my cravings for gorgeous Italian food.

The event took place at its own outlet at Lippo Mall Kemang, and again, thanks to this event, this was the first time EVER for me to go to Lippo Mall Kemang. I live at the western part of Jakarta and Kemang is pretty far from my place, but my curiousity and desire to join this event is so big I can't help it.

Let me take you to a quick tour the place first...

Say hi to Chef Endang, he is the executive chef of Pizza Express, he has magic hands (going to tell you more about that later on).

The event began with a short video about Pizza Express, starting from the history to how they're now one of the top leading Pizza brands in the world. Chef Endang then gave a little presentation and sharing his knowledge about Pizza, I feel like my Pizza encyclopedia just finished adding its own chapter, especially in Pizza Express, they focused on a few types of pizzas: Classic Pizza, Romana Pizza (thin crusted), Speciality Pizza (thin and rectangular), Calzone and Leggara. FYI, that round iron plate he's holding is the one that Pizza Express's using to make their fabulous Calzones.

The presentation got even more exciting as they served us with lovely treats!
Sjora Mango Peach Drink
This drink is definitely a good choice for you all mango lovers like I do!

Signature Baked Dough Balls
IDR 23k
For everyone who's been a loyal costumer of Pizza Express, this is certainly too crazy to be missed, I bet this one is the most popular dish in this restaurant, since it's not just an ordinary dough balls, it's Pizza Express' Signature Dough Balls! Gotta have emphasize on that one. They are fluffy dough balls that loves to play around in your mouth, make sure you butter the bread before they melt in your mouth <3.

Garlic Bread with Mozarella Cheese
IDR 30k
Fluffy bread with generous amount of cheese and a hint of garlic? Check!

What makes a beautiful and delicious pizza? A perfect pizza dough!
According to Chef Endang, a pizza dough can be made out of flour, fresh yeast, water, vegetable oil, sugar, salt and cream sugar, and in Pizza Express, the dough is made and staged into three categories, the one that's considered the perfect-to-cook dough is the one that's been left to bloat for 12 hours (proofing process).

Picture number two is the ready-to-baked pizza dough!

STEPS TO YOUR PERFECT PIZZA!
1. Prepare Your Plates and Layer Them with Butter!
Three different plates for each different Pizza style (from left to right) -> Romana Pizza (round, thin crusted) - also for Calzone, Classic Pizza (also Leggara), and Speciality Pizza (thin and rectangular).

2. Flour the Dough Out!
A pretty generous amount of flour is needed to make a gorgeous pizza, the flour is used to make sure that the dough won't stick on the marble pan, also to lock the moisture of the dough.

3. Stretching Process
The strecthing is done to make the dough to appear thin as what Pizza Express' pizza looks like: thin and crispy! There's definitely an advantage to a thin and crispy pizza, it's that the dough won't overpower the topping, the best things in life are the ones in balance, right? :).

4. Top It Up with Toppings!
The most basic pizza would be a Margherita Pizza, which consists of Mozarella cheese and tomato sauce, but since some people love to have fun with their pizzas like I do, I'd love to have meat and mushroom!!! Such a beast I am!

Those are the four keys as the golden tickets to your wonderful pizza! Those steps bring us to series of gorgeous pizzas by the magic hands of Chef Endang from Pizza Express like:

Classic Pizza Giardiniera

IDR 75k

This pizza contains artichokes, mushrooms, red peppers, santos tomatoes, courgettes, olives, garlic oil, tomato and pesto. Certainly fits your good old classic pizza cravings!

Romana Pizza - Rustichella

IDR 90k

Want a thinner yet crispier slice of pizza? Go for this one! This pizza consists crispy beef bacons, watercress, Grand Padano, roasted tomatoes finished with Caesar Dressing.

Speciality Pizza - Gamba Piccante

IDR 95k

This pizza consists of king prawns, arrabiata sauce (it's going to be spicier), jalapeno peppers, mixed peppers, chili oil, parsley, lemons, watercress and Grand Padano.

Leggera Pizza "Podomoro Pesto Leggara" and "American Hot Leggara"

Leggera Pizza is a new invention of Pizza Express, it's slightly different from the common pizza here because it intentionally has a hole in the middle of the dough, almost like a thin doughnut pizza. Why is that?? Because then the middle part will be filled with salad (with balsamic syrup dressing), short to say, this pizza is perfect for costumers who are on diet!!! Everything will be less in calories.

Guess what? This one round of pizza consists LESS THAN 500 CALORIES

Friggin good deal for a pizza b(T.T)d

Calzone "Pollo Pesto"

IDR 99k

One of my most favorite dish of the night must have gone to this delicious Calzone!!! It's so cheesy and I could even see strands of cheesy goodness coming from the freshly baked Calzone, wait, the sensation doesn't stop there, when you put it in your mouth, it is HEAVEN exploding in your mouth!!!

Consists of chicken ham, roasted mushrooms, roasted red onions, spinach, Gyuruye cream sauce and definitely, Pesto!

Secrets to tell, when it comes to eating pizza, I am so not the calm type, eating them with forks and knifes, I couldn't even pretend to act that way, so mostly I would just take it with my hands, roll it and then joyfully put it in my mouth for tasting, but somehow, when you roll the pizza, the sauce, the toppings, the cheese, everything mixed together and it creates an amazing sensation in your mouth. Try it, you'll probably forgot about using forks and knifes for your pizzas.

PASTA!

Penne Arrabiata with N'Duja

IDR 72k

Just like what I've told you earlier, anything with Arrabiata sauce will result a spicy touch to the food, which by the way is a good thing for me since I love spicy food...in a reasonable proportion. Usually, N'Duja sausages are made of pork but Pizza Express made the sausage out of beefs, I love how creamy and thick the sauce is, still not overpowering the proper tasting, it's so good for my liking. The Mascarpone sauce on top of the pasta is like the neutralizer so for some people, the spiciness won't overpower your tounge.

Spaghetti Ala Genovese Con Pollo

IDR 70k

HANDS DOWN! This one is my favorite dish of the night, this succesfully won my heart and somehow I'd love to attack the plate just for myself if I stop caring for the other bloggers #justkidding. It's super creamy and thick, yet with the glimpse of yummy Pesto Sauce, sliced chickens and dice cut potatoes. Totally recommended!!!

STARTERS!
Baked Mushrooms with Pesto and Mozarella
IDR 45k
Can I just share a little thing with you? I am typing this blogpost in the middle of the night with my eyes looking straight to the pictures I took from the event and I am so very mouthwatered right now, like I needed those food urgently. I'll probably rush to the nearest Pizza Express tomorrow *stressed*. Anyway, back to the dish, this is totally my most favorite starters menu! OMG those mushrooms are insanely delicious, I don't know how more genius can they be for putting Pesto and Mozarella together in a dish, and on a mushroom, they're totally making a lot of love in my mouth!!! Just look at the picture, I think this talks a lot of words.

Bruschetta Arrabiata Con Pollo

IDR 49k

Garlic bread with Arrabiata sauce (yes, that spicy sauce), chicken, watercress, mixed peppers and Grana Padano. The garlic bread is surprisingly soft and in a way that I imagined how it would have tasted.

Bruschetta Originalle Pizza Express
A lighter version of Bruschetta, with no usage of meat, with toppings of red onions, tomatoes, garlic and pesto.

Additional Complimentary :) - Thank You!!!

Strawberry Mint Ice Tea
IDR 28k
How do you spell this Strawberry Mint Ice Tea? F.R.E.S.H!

Lychee Ice Tea
IDR 28k

Can you guess what this is?
I bet you can't! Because this one is a part of the story that I'm about to tell you guys! So Pizza Express created this game called "Make Your Beautiful Pizza". Each person was given a dough to create their own version of beautiful pizza and with maximum usage of 3 toppings. I am not a great cook, and I'm not even a cook, the furthest level of cooking that I've ever achieved is fried rice, and this one...pizza? Not sure.

So I go with the good old beef pepperoni mushroom pizza, everything that I did here was fully based on instinct, I love rich mozarella cheese on my pizza and definitely lots of mushrooms! Never did I care about winning, it was just pure fun, but maybe that night, the luck cupid is probably slipped its luck arrow and it somehow hit me, my pizza was one of the winning pizza and I took home a gorgeous bottle of wine, I gave it to my dad instead because he loves wine much more than I do. Okay, I'll probably focused on opening my pizza cafe.

Hello dear mothers out there! If you're reading this blog post and you have kids around 7-12 years old, let your kids have the time of their life by joining...

Pizza Express Kids Pizza Making Cooking Class!

with only IDR 50k++, you'll get... one set of cooking set menu: apron, chef paper hat, and the best one...PRICELESS EXPERIENCE! What are you waiting for? If you love your kids, you'd love to see those cute smiles on their faces right? Who knows you can start planting their potential from the earliest ages :).

Overall, I HAD A FABULOUS TIME THAT NIGHT!
It was slightly different from the other invitations I've attended, it's much more interactive and communicative and I love how it actually adds informations that I've never known in my life about pizza and surrounding.

Thank you Pizza Express for such a tremendous night!!! and HAPPY BIRTHDAY <3

Going to end this post with a photo of the Pizza Express crew serving us that night. Thanks for being awesome!