Neapolitan Pizzeria From Japan Helmed By Pizza World Championship Winner Opening In S’pore

The brand’s group executive chef is Junichi Shoji, from Yokohama. According to Logic's PR rep, he was the winner of the prestigious 2012 World Pizza Championship held in Naples (believed to be the birthplace of pizza), Southern Italy, where chefs from all around the world battle it out to make the best traditional Neapolitan-style pizza. Not only is Junichi in charge of crafting the brand’s pizza recipes and training the chefs, he oversees all of the Logic restaurants in Japan and moves around the various outlets to cook.

Why is a Japanese chef so good at making pizza? Well, there’s actually a serious artisanal Neapolitan pizza scene in Tokyo, with some pizzaiolos (pizza makers) who trained in Naples turning our superb pies that put their original masters to shame. That being said, we’ve never heard of, much less tried Logic’s offerings when we were in Tokyo. Well, guess we can try it in Singapore now.

Trattoria Pizzeria Logic’s speciality is its Neapolitan pizza, of course. Originating from Naples, Neapolitan pizza dough is more delicate than your usual pie, with a crackly-chewy crust and a juicier centre. It’s often dressed simply with fresh ingredients such as tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella cheese,and basil leaves. The pizza is then baked in a wood-fired kiln at a very high temperature for less than 2 minutes.

There will be about 16 types of pizzas offered in the Singapore branch, and one of the signature pies is the Margherita D.O.C ($26), which comprises the aforementioned classic topping combo. One pizza feeds about two pax.

FYI: D.O.C stands for denominazione di origine controllata in Italian, which translates to Controlled Designation of Origin. It might amuse you to know that Margherita and Marinara pizzas were branded protected foods by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture back in 2004. This ensures that all D.O.C-branded Margherita pizzas are upheld to the same level of quality of those found in Naples.

There’s also the Quattro Funghi ($20, pictured), featuring smoked mozzarella, four types of mushrooms and a mushroom sauce.

Besides pizza, the restaurant also serves appetisers, pastas and salads. Such as the Spaghetti Carbonara Angelo ($16), Smoked Salmon and Avocado Salad ($20) and a D.O.P Certified Mozzarella Cheese "Caprese" ($20, pictured). Expect to pay about $30 or more per head for a meal here, without drinks.

Trattoria Pizzeria Logic’s Singapore branch is a full-service restaurant that sits up to 79 people. Japanese chef Atsushi Terashima, who worked in two Michelin star Mediterranean restaurant Don Alfonso 1890 in Italy, will be permanently based in the kitchen here. Meanwhile, group executive chef Junichi Shoji will be in Singapore for the restaurant’s opening week and will return from time to time to oversee the cooking. So yeah, probably best to dine here when Junichi-san is in town.

Trattoria Pizzeria Logic opens on Oct 4 at #01-03 Craig Place, 20 Craig Rd, S089692. Tel: 6226-2250 https://www.facebook.com/pizza.logic.sg/